Does digitalization by firms spur participation in Global Value Chains (GVCs)? Rapid strides in information and communication technology (ICT) through cost-effective and reliable telecommunications have facilitated multinational firms to outsource complex production activities across borders over the years. While the rise of GVCs to prominence has coincided with the ICT revolution, there is very little systematic empirical evidence at the firm-level documenting the nexus between digitalization of firms and their participation in GVCs. By using rich firm-level data for a sample of 24,839 firms across 52 countries spanning the period 2006–2018, we empirically test the importance of digitalization in deepening GVC participation. After correcting for potential biases arising from self-selection and reverse causality, our empirical analysis shows that digitalization by firms positively influences GVC deepening. Our results are quite robust to various measures of GVCs and digitalization. Further, we also document how digitalization boosts GVC integration of firms that are financially constrained.

企业的数字化是否会刺激参与全球价值链 (GVC)？多年来，通过具有成本效益和可靠的电信技术，信息和通信技术 (ICT) 的快速发展促进了跨国公司将复杂的生产活动外包出去。虽然全球价值链的崛起与 ICT 革命同时发生，但在公司层面上很少有系统的经验证据证明公司数字化与其参与全球价值链之间的关系。通过对 2006 年至 2018 年期间 52 个国家的 24,839 家公司的样本使用丰富的公司级数据，我们实证检验了数字化在深化 GVC 参与方面的重要性。在纠正了自我选择和反向因果关系引起的潜在偏差之后，我们的实证分析表明，企业的数字化对全球价值链的深化有积极影响。我们的结果对全球价值链和数字化的各种衡量标准非常稳健。此外，我们还记录了数字化如何促进财务受限公司的 GVC 整合。