Impact of Digital Supply Chain on Sustainable Trade Credit Provision: Evidence from Chinese Listed Companies

Abstract

Given the trend of digitization, it is imperative to ascertain the role of the digital supply chain on sustainable trade credit provision. Based on data from Chinese listed firms from 2008 to 2020, we utilized the TF-IDF algorithm to measure the digital supply chain and ascertained its impact on trade credit. We found that the digital supply chain was positively associated with trade credit provision. Specifically, we arrived at the following conclusions: (1) the digital supply chain strengthens trade credit provision, including to customers and suppliers; (2) top management team power positively and significantly moderates the effect of digital supply chain; (3) among the sub-indicators of the digital supply chain, the dimensions of logistics, products and information have significant and positive impacts, while cash is insignificant; (4) curbing financialization and enhancing asset specialization are the mechanisms of the effect of the digital supply chain; and (5) the effect is more pronounced in firms with higher agency costs and lower supply chain collaboration and non-state ownership, and it is more salient in industries with higher competition and non-national support. We extend the theory of trade credit and enrich the literature on the digital supply chain. Our study offers managerial insights into the digital supply chain for emerging countries and enterprises.