Digital transformation and manufacturing company competitiveness

Digital transformation is playing an increasingly important role in ensuring the sustainable development and economic growth of companies, particularly manufacturing companies. In light of this, this paper investigates the impact of digital transformation on the competitiveness of companies and the underlying mechanisms that drive this impact. The research findings indicate that digital transformation has a positive effect on the competitiveness of manufacturing com-panies, with a 1 % increase in the degree of digital transformation leading to a 0.015 % enhancement in company competitiveness. Digital transformation achieves this by elevating the total factor productivity, research and development intensity, and human capital of companies, thereby enhancing their overall competitiveness. These findings enrich and extend the research on the influence of digital transformation on manufacturing companies and provide important policy implications for enhancing the competitiveness of manufacturing companies through digital empowerment.