Digital Empowerment, Market Segmentation and Export Product Quality.

Amidst the global economic downturn and contracting international markets, China's industrial export trade faces constraints imposed by international environmental standards, domestic resource limitations, and a heavy reliance on foreign core technology. These factors elevate the imperative for enhanced quality in Chinese export products, essential for propelling high-quality economic development and bolstering trade prowess. Notably, Chinese enterprises predominantly export low-value-added, labor-intensive goods. The burgeoning digital economy significantly influences enterprise production and trade behaviors, emerging as a pivotal driver for unlocking China's dual circulation strategy both domestically and internationally. Moreover, it furnishes a distinctive competitive edge vis-à-vis foreign counterparts by ameliorating financial constraints on industrial enterprises and augmenting the quality and value addition of export products. Consequently, the advancement and application of digital technology play an instrumental role in fostering trade growth models and reshaping industrial structures. Thus, embracing digitalization, harmonizing the domestic market, and leveraging policy synergies are pivotal for enhancing export product quality and value addition. This study uses data from the Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share Listed Enterprises Database alongside the Customs Database spanning 2011 to 2015. Employing panel fixed effect and mediation effect models, the research scrutinizes the impact and mechanisms of digital empowerment on export product quality through the perspective of market segmentation. Empirical findings affirm the positive impact of both digital empowerment and market segmentation on export product quality. However, the interaction between digital empowerment and market segmentation impedes product quality enhancement. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that this interaction substantially diminishes export product quality for state-owned enterprises with overseas subsidiaries, those situated in China's middle and western regions, and those engaged in non-high-tech products. Additionally, digital empowerment and market segmentation influence export product quality via avenues such as enhanced market dominance, alleviation of financial constraints, and heightened import penetration. This paper contributes to literature in multiple dimensions. First, it underscores the imperative of comprehensively assessing the digitalization ecosystem and its influence on enterprise operations. By scrutinizing the nexus between digital empowerment and export product quality, this study advances understanding of the digital economy's impact on export product quality. Second, by delineating the interplay between digital empowerment and market segmentation, it elucidates why fostering digital capabilities and establishing a unified national market are imperative. Third, through heterogeneity analysis and mechanism testing, this study explores the nuanced effects of digital empowerment and market segmentation on export product quality across different enterprise attributes such as ownership, internationalization level, geographic location, and product technology content. It also delves into the mediating effects of market dominance, financial constraints, and import penetration--a dimension seldom explored within this context. In conclusion, this paper holds considerable significance in propelling China's digital economy forward and fostering the establishment of a unified national market. It carries profound implications for enhancing enterprises' international competitiveness and propelling Chinese enterprises' participation in the global value chain amidst international competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]