The impact of regional digital economy development on new quality productive forces in manufacturing enterprises

This study examines how regional digital economy development influences new quality productive forces in manufacturing firms by applying a Bartik instrumental variable approach to panel data of Chinese listed manufacturing firms from 2011 to 2021. New quality productive forces refer to advanced productivity achieved through qualitative enhancements to traditional production elements. We capture this concept using two key measures: (1) firms' investments in improving the quality of labor, production tools and equipment, and production processes, and (2) their total factor productivity. Our findings indicate that regional digital economy development significantly boosts firms' investment in high-quality productive elements. However, its impact on productivity varies substantially, with the most pronounced positive effects occurring in large high-end equipment manufacturers operating in concentrated markets with high levels of marketization. These results suggest that the development of the digital economy does not uniformly improve productivity in the short term; rather, its effectiveness depends on the interplay between firms' technological capabilities and factors such as market structure, institutional environment, and firm size. This study contributes to the understanding of the complex relationship between digital infrastructure development and productivity growth in emerging economies, offering important implications for policy and corporate strategy.