Abstract:

In 2021， the development of the digital economy was incorporated into the outline of the 14th five-year plan. The digital economy includes digital industrialization and industrial digitization. Industrial digitization refers to the digital transformation of enterprises based on digital technology. The digital economy is becoming an important engine of China's economic growth， and consequently， the enterprise digitization level has become a micro variable that drives China's economic growth. Enterprise digitalization is inseparable from financial support. External financing is an essential choice for enterprises to obtain financial aid. Therefore， the enterprise digitization level may also affect enterprise leverage.How will the enterprise digitization level affect enterprise leverage？ This level is introduced into the production function of the representative enterprise， and the functional relationship between the enterprise digitalization level and enterprise leverage is obtained. Based on the theoretical derivation， the research hypothesis is presented. The National Bureau of statistics， as well as the CSMAR and Wind databases are utilized to conduct an empirical test. The impact of the enterprise digitization level on enterprise leverage and its mechanism can be examined. The results show that， first， there is a positive U-shaped nonlinear relationship between the enterprise digital level and the enterprise leverage： there is an inflection point at the enterprise digital level， and when it is lower than the inflection point， the improvement of the digital enterprise level will reduce the enterprise leverage. Beyond the inflection point， the improvement of enterprise digitization level will improve enterprise leverage. Second， there is a "positive U" nonlinear relationship between the enterprise digitization level and enterprise leverage because the former has profit inhibition and mortgage enhancement effects.On the one hand， enterprise digitalization improves labor productivity and enterprise profitability. According to the priority financing theory， the stronger the profitability， the more endogenous the financing available to the enterprise， the smaller the demand for debt financing， and the lower the enterprise leverage. This is the profit inhibition effect. On the other hand， enterprise digitalization has increased the proportion of fixed assets. Compared with intangible assets， the value of fixed assets is easier to measure and realize. This means that the higher the proportion of fixed assets， the better the collateral quality of the enterprise， and the smaller the degree of information asymmetry with banks. Moreover， it is easier for enterprise to obtain the debt funds of financial institutions such as banks， and thus the enterprise leverage is greater. This is called the mortgage enhancement effect.The findings of this article has reference significance for studying the economic impact of industrial digitization from the micro level， and also has certain reference value for studying the impact of enterprise digitization on the enterprise risk-taking.

Key words: digital economy, enterprise digitalization level, profit inhibition effect, mortgage enhancement effect