Digital Transformation and Enterprise Sustainability: The Moderating Role of Regional Virtual Agglomeration

Abstract

As digital transformation reshapes the world, businesses are becoming increasingly concerned about its impact. This study examines the regional data of 29 provinces and cities in China from 2013 to 2020 and uses the entropy method to calculate the regional virtual agglomeration level. This paper analyzes the panel data of listed companies in China to evaluate the economic impact of digital transformation on the sustainable development of enterprises and the moderating effect of the regional virtual agglomeration level. This study reveals a significant positive U-shaped relationship between digital transformation and enterprise sustainability. The level of regional virtual agglomeration can alleviate the initial negative impact of digital transformation on sustainability and enhance the economic growth capacity of enterprises. This paper found that the impact of digital transformation on sustainable development is particularly pronounced in the eastern region. All in all, based on the transaction cost theory and new geoeconomics, this paper analyzes the impact mechanism of digital transformation on the sustainable development of enterprises, verifies the relationship between the regional virtual agglomeration on digital transformation and sustainable development of enterprises, and identifies the adjustment mechanism. Our research provides theoretical support and practical guidance to promote digital transformation and enterprise sustainable development.