数字经济与中小企业生存:促进或抑制?OACHSSCDCSTPCD

Promoting the survival of small and medium enterprises(SMEs)in the wave of digital economy development is an important path for the high-quality development of China's economy.Based on the theoretical analysis,this paper empirically tests the impact of the digital economy on the survival of SMEs and its mechanism,using the urban digital economy development index and the survival ability index of SMEs from 2014 to 2021 constructed by factor analysis.The results show that the development of the digital economy has a significant positive impact on the survival of SMEs,and this conclusion remains robust after conducting a variety of robustness tests.The mechanism analysis shows that the development of the digital economy has financing constraint-relieving effects and agency cost-saving effects.That is,the digital economy alleviates financing constraints by optimizing the financing capabilities and external financing environment of SMEs,and reduces agency costs by reducing information asymmetry and irrationality in the decision-making process of managers,thereby promoting the survival of SMEs.The heterogeneity analysis shows that the positive promoting effect of the development of the digital economy is more pronounced in the East and Central regions,the manufacturing industry,and SMEs with high management efficiency.