Digital economy-driven export sophistication: mechanisms of market integration and human capital restructuring

Abstract Promoting the transformation of the foreign trade system and export upgrading has become necessary to promote high-quality economic development and build a new pattern of opening up to the outside world. This study constructs a theoretical framework of export upgrading driven by digital eco...

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Main Authors: Jie Liu, Yexuan Guan, Mengjie Guan, Jingya Yu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer 2025-06-01
Series:Digital Economy and Sustainable Development
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1007/s44265-025-00061-w
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author Jie Liu
Yexuan Guan
Mengjie Guan
Jingya Yu
author_facet Jie Liu
Yexuan Guan
Mengjie Guan
Jingya Yu
author_sort Jie Liu
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Promoting the transformation of the foreign trade system and export upgrading has become necessary to promote high-quality economic development and build a new pattern of opening up to the outside world. This study constructs a theoretical framework of export upgrading driven by digital economy and empirically tests the export upgrading effect of the digital economy through rigorous econometric analysis. It is found that the digital economy has a significant positive impact on export upgrading, and the results are robust after both robustness test and endogeneity test; the export upgrading effect of digital economy will weaken with the development of digital economy; the digital economy policy represented by "broadband China" has produced a significant export upgrading effect; the digital economy can drive export upgrading by reducing market segmentation and promoting market integration; the impact of the digital economy on export upgrading has a double-threshold effect with human capital as the threshold variable, which shows that when human capital is in the second threshold range, it is more closely integrated with the digital economy and can better exploit the export upgrading effect of the digital economy; the heterogeneity analysis reveals that the export upgrading effect of digital economy is more significant in central and western regions than in the eastern regions, and the export upgrading effect of digital economy is more significant in regions with higher degree of industrial structure optimization. The study's findings provide valuable references for decision making to break the "big-in, big-out" trade pattern and realize the transformation of the foreign trade system.
format Article
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institution Kabale University
issn 2731-9423
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher Springer
record_format Article
series Digital Economy and Sustainable Development
spelling doaj-art-0659d1ddfbc84cc89ce60c85f3719feb2025-08-20T03:26:48ZengSpringerDigital Economy and Sustainable Development2731-94232025-06-013112010.1007/s44265-025-00061-wDigital economy-driven export sophistication: mechanisms of market integration and human capital restructuringJie Liu0Yexuan Guan1Mengjie Guan2Jingya Yu3School of Public Policy and Administration, Northwestern Polytechnical UniversitySchool of Public Policy and Administration, Northwestern Polytechnical UniversitySchool of Public Policy and Administration, Northwestern Polytechnical UniversitySchool of Public Policy and Administration, Northwestern Polytechnical UniversityAbstract Promoting the transformation of the foreign trade system and export upgrading has become necessary to promote high-quality economic development and build a new pattern of opening up to the outside world. This study constructs a theoretical framework of export upgrading driven by digital economy and empirically tests the export upgrading effect of the digital economy through rigorous econometric analysis. It is found that the digital economy has a significant positive impact on export upgrading, and the results are robust after both robustness test and endogeneity test; the export upgrading effect of digital economy will weaken with the development of digital economy; the digital economy policy represented by "broadband China" has produced a significant export upgrading effect; the digital economy can drive export upgrading by reducing market segmentation and promoting market integration; the impact of the digital economy on export upgrading has a double-threshold effect with human capital as the threshold variable, which shows that when human capital is in the second threshold range, it is more closely integrated with the digital economy and can better exploit the export upgrading effect of the digital economy; the heterogeneity analysis reveals that the export upgrading effect of digital economy is more significant in central and western regions than in the eastern regions, and the export upgrading effect of digital economy is more significant in regions with higher degree of industrial structure optimization. The study's findings provide valuable references for decision making to break the "big-in, big-out" trade pattern and realize the transformation of the foreign trade system.https://doi.org/10.1007/s44265-025-00061-wDigital economyExport upgradingMarket integrationHuman capital
spellingShingle Jie Liu
Yexuan Guan
Mengjie Guan
Jingya Yu
Digital economy-driven export sophistication: mechanisms of market integration and human capital restructuring
Digital Economy and Sustainable Development
Digital economy
Export upgrading
Market integration
Human capital
title Digital economy-driven export sophistication: mechanisms of market integration and human capital restructuring
title_full Digital economy-driven export sophistication: mechanisms of market integration and human capital restructuring
title_fullStr Digital economy-driven export sophistication: mechanisms of market integration and human capital restructuring
title_full_unstemmed Digital economy-driven export sophistication: mechanisms of market integration and human capital restructuring
title_short Digital economy-driven export sophistication: mechanisms of market integration and human capital restructuring
title_sort digital economy driven export sophistication mechanisms of market integration and human capital restructuring
topic Digital economy
Export upgrading
Market integration
Human capital
url https://doi.org/10.1007/s44265-025-00061-w
work_keys_str_mv AT jieliu digitaleconomydrivenexportsophisticationmechanismsofmarketintegrationandhumancapitalrestructuring
AT yexuanguan digitaleconomydrivenexportsophisticationmechanismsofmarketintegrationandhumancapitalrestructuring
AT mengjieguan digitaleconomydrivenexportsophisticationmechanismsofmarketintegrationandhumancapitalrestructuring
AT jingyayu digitaleconomydrivenexportsophisticationmechanismsofmarketintegrationandhumancapitalrestructuring