The Impact of 5G Factory Construction on Corporate Financial Efficiency— An Empirical Analysis Based on Manufacturing Listed Companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen A‑Share Markets
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Keywords
5G factory, total factor productivity, difference-in-differences method, digital transformation
Abstract
In the era of digital economy, 5G factories, as the core carrier of intelligent manufacturing, represent an important manifestation of the transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry. This paper takes the manufacturing listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets from 2020 to 2024 as the sample. Using the “5G Factory List” released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology as the experimental group, a multi-period difference-in-differences model is employed to empirically examine the impact of 5G factory construction on the financial efficiency of enterprises. The research found that the construction of 5G factories significantly enhanced the total factor productivity of manufacturing enterprises. This conclusion remained robust after undergoing Parallel Trend Tests, Propensity Score Matching–Difference-in-Differences Model, and Placebo Tests. The Mechanism Test shows that although individual production, inventory or innovation indicators did not show significant changes in the short term, the 5G factory improved overall efficiency through systematic resource allocation optimization. This study provides microeconomic evidence for understanding the empowerment of the real economy by digital technologies.
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