The Economic Effects of Digital Transformation on Chinese Listed Companies: An Investment Efficiency Perspective

As China’s growth decelerates and its economic structure adjusts, the competitive advantages of traditional enterprises have eroded and corporate investment efficiency has declined. Understanding how corporate digital transformation transmits to the real economy is therefore the motivation for this study. Using Python-based text analysis, this paper constructs a corporate digital transformation index and, drawing on data from China’s A-share listed non-financial firms over the period 2012–2025, examines the impact of digital transformation on corporate investment efficiency. The analysis further explores the heterogeneous effects of digital transformation across firms differentiated by ownership structure, investment opportunities, and the intensity of external monitoring. The results show that higher levels of digital transformation alleviate financing constraints and reduce corporate governance costs, thereby enhancing investment efficiency. To address potential endogeneity concerns, a series of robustness checks are conducted, including instrumental-variable estimation, propensity score matching, the replacement of core variables and alternative estimation strategies, all of which yield results consistent with the baseline findings. Moreover, the positive effect of digital transformation on investment efficiency is particularly pronounced among firms with weaker external monitoring, non-state ownership, and more abundant investment opportunities.