From Digital Roots to Sustainable Routes: Integrating Sharing Economy and ESG for SMEs' Sustainable Export Competitiveness

ABSTRACT This study examines how digital capabilities enhance the sustainable export performance (SEP) of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) through the mediating roles of sharing economy (SE) practices and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) engagement. Drawing on the Resource‐Based View (RBV), Transaction Cost Theory (TCT), and Legitimacy Theory (LT), the study articulates a capability–coordination–legitimacy perspective to explain sustainability‐oriented export outcomes. Empirical evidence is drawn from survey data collected from 388 middle managers in exporting SMEs in an emerging Asian economy. The hypothesized relationships are tested using covariance‐based structural equation modeling (CB‐SEM) with maximum‐likelihood estimation and bias‐corrected bootstrapping to assess direct, indirect, and sequential effects. The results indicate that digital capabilities contribute to SEP through a sequential mechanism in which SE practices enhance coordination efficiency, followed by ESG engagement that strengthens stakeholder legitimacy. This pattern suggests that digital transformation supports export competitiveness when embedded in collaborative and responsibility‐oriented organizational routines. Overall, the findings highlight that digitalisation in SMEs functions not simply as technological adoption, but as a strategic process through which capabilities, coordination, and legitimacy are jointly orchestrated in emerging‐market contexts.