Digitization inputs and global value chain of manufacturing industry in China

Digitization inputs and global value chain of manufacturing industry in China | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Digitization inputs and global value chain of manufacturing industry in China Yonghua Yang, Taoli Zhang, Umar Muhammad Gummi, Ding Chen This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9264330/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 5 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The rapid advancement of digital economy has necessitated digital transformation in the global manufacturing industry. Information and communication technologies have significantly improved the output of manufacturing industry in China. However, the industry’s position in the global value chain (GVC) has been challenged by digital transformation and efficiency. Since 2011, China's digital economy has experienced rapid expansion, impacting various subsectors in the manufacturing industry. Previous studies have examined the effect of digitization on the global value chain (GVC) in China's manufacturing industry using aggregate and disaggregate analyses. However, the isolated impact of hardware and software digital inputs on the manufacturing industry’s GVC, and the sensitivity of digital inputs to production structure and efficiency are under explored. Using available data from 2007 to 2020 and 16 manufacturing subsectors, we examine the effect of hardware and software inputs on GVC in China’s manufacturing sector. The results from the benchmark and fixed effect regression models show that digital inputs significantly contribute to the length of forward value chain, which interacts with total factor productivity to positively influence the GVC in the manufacturing industry. However, the disaggregate analysis shows that the input of digital hardware promotes GVC in the manufacturing industry. Similarly, digitization inputs significantly increase the GVC of China's technology- and capital-intensive industries, implying that digitization inputs extend the length of the forward value chain and improve China's position within the GVCs. Therefore, we offer some policy suggestions based on the empirical findings. Business and commerce/Business and management Social science/Business and management Physical sciences/Engineering Business and commerce/Information systems and information technology Physical sciences/Mathematics and computing Social science/Science technology and society digitization inputs manufacturing industry global value chain China Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers invited by journal 24 Apr, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 24 Apr, 2026 Editor invited by journal 19 Apr, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 18 Apr, 2026 First submitted to journal 18 Apr, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9264330","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":634321297,"identity":"0a252736-f689-4655-82a8-4ebc3fdfa809","order_by":0,"name":"Yonghua Yang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Yunnan Normal University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yonghua","middleName":"","lastName":"Yang","suffix":""},{"id":634321302,"identity":"22a8b2f7-04f5-40e9-9587-b678f8339be8","order_by":1,"name":"Taoli Zhang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Yunnan Normal University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Taoli","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""},{"id":634321305,"identity":"c10167a8-5a7f-4337-a4c3-941363a2b142","order_by":2,"name":"Umar Muhammad Gummi","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA+0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACNvbGhgMfKv7LybM3GAC5MPEDuLXw8Rw++HDGGWZjw54DRGqRk0hLNuZtY05suJFApBY2njNmEjxsbMaMMx9vky4os5FjYD/8gJnnDD6/9JhJSPDwyLFLp5VJzziXZszAk2bAzHODgC0GEhLGjLNzzKR52w4nNjDkMDDzfMCjRSLHTCLBwCCx4eYZkJb/9Q38bwhpSUs2OJCQAPQ+D0jLgQQGCZAteB0GDOSGAweAgZxWbM1zLtmwTeKZwcE5eLwv397YcPjvvwPAqDy88TZPmZ08P3/ywwdvjuHWgsVeBryxMgpGwSgYBaOAGAAAu0dPSXSQS6wAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"University of Dundee","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Umar","middleName":"Muhammad","lastName":"Gummi","suffix":""},{"id":634321306,"identity":"6bd063d3-ccbd-4d6a-8270-b28b4f144759","order_by":3,"name":"Ding Chen","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Xi'an Shiyou University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ding","middleName":"","lastName":"Chen","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-03-30 08:39:05","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9264330/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9264330/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":108804713,"identity":"a461f6b0-d82a-4944-9664-2aba6efd9b42","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-08 15:22:55","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":435903,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"DIGVCinChinaAnonymous.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9264330/v1_covered_7c62b669-fa31-4f89-8e6e-2ccfe50da9e1.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Digitization inputs and global value chain of manufacturing industry in China","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"humanities-and-social-sciences-communications","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"palcomms","sideBox":"Learn more about [Humanities \u0026 Social Sciences Communications](http://www.nature.com/palcomms/)","snPcode":"41599","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/41599/3","title":"Humanities and Social Sciences Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Nature AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"digitization inputs, manufacturing industry, global value chain, China","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9264330/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9264330/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe rapid advancement of digital economy has necessitated digital transformation in the global manufacturing industry. 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