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Chinese Journal of Management Science ›› 2026, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (11): 59-71.doi: 10.16381/j.cnki.issn1003-207x.2024.2347

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The Mechanisms through Which Government Venture Capital Funds Promote Firms’ Digital Transformation

Zhongqiang Zhou1,4, Zhuoqi Wang1,4, Xiong Xiong2,3()   

  1. 1.School of Applied Economics,Guizhou University of Finance and Economics,Guiyang 550025,China
    2.College of Management and Economics,Tianjin University,Tianjin 300072,China
    3.Laboratory of Computation and Analytics of Complex Management Systems (CACMS),Tianjin University,Tianjin 300072,China
    4.Guizhou Digital Economy Institute,Guiyang 550025,China
  • Received:2024-12-27 Revised:2025-09-20 Online:2026-11-25 Published:2026-11-10
  • Contact: Xiong Xiong E-mail:xxpeter@tju.edu.cn

Abstract:

The causal effect of government venture capital (GVC) on firms’ digital transformation is evaluated. The staggered rollout of GVC investment policies is exploited as a quasi-natural experiment and estimate a time-varying difference-in-differences (DID) model with firm and year fixed effects using Chinese A-share listed firms from 2006 to 2024. The empirical identification is reinforced through event-study analyses, placebo tests, matched DID estimation, and alternative measures of firms’ digital transformation.The results show that GVC investment significantly enhances firms’ digital transformation. Mechanism analyses indicate that the effect operates through increased digital-related investment, stronger inflows of high-skilled talent, improved corporate governance, and alleviation of financing frictions. The promotion effect is more pronounced in industries with higher concentration and in regions with lower market openness. Furthermore, GVC-induced digital transformation leads to tangible economic outcomes, including higher R&D spending, firm-scale expansion, and increased innovation output, indicating sustained capability building.It contributes micro-level causal evidence on how public equity capital with a market-oriented mandate advances digital transformation in this study. It clarifies the roles of talent agglomeration and governance enhancement in facilitating digital upgrading and documents systematic heterogeneity across industries and regions. Policy implications suggest that GVC should be structured as patient capital with governance-enhancing mechanisms and coordinated with talent programmes and digital infrastructure development to amplify digital dividends.

Key words: government venture capital funds, digital transformation level, digital economy, time-varying DID

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