数字化转型有助于企业抑制内部控制缺陷吗?

Research on the Influence of Enterprise Digital Transformation on Internal Control Deficiencies

数字化转型是企业顺应数字经济发展的关键举措,会对企业的经济行为产生深远影响。本文以沪深A股2011—2021年度上市公司数据为研究样本,考察了数字化转型对企业内部控制缺陷的影响,研究发现,数字化转型能够显著抑制企业内部控制缺陷;进一步研究发现,企业数字化转型通过缓解信息不对称与降低代理问题来抑制内部控制缺陷,大数据技术、云计算技术、区块链技术与人工智能技术作用尤为显著,但商业模式变革并不会显著抑制内部控制缺陷。在董事长与总经理两职合一的企业中,数字化转型对内部控制缺陷的抑制作用更强,在女性独立董事较多与市场竞争程度较强的企业中,数字化转型对内部控制缺陷的抑制作用较弱。本文为企业通过实施数字化转型减少内部控制缺陷提供了经验证据,同时也为监管机构在数字经济发展中推动企业内部控制建设提供理论参考。

Reducing internal control deficiencies is a crucial approach to enhancing the quality of enterprise internal control.Digital transformation has become a strategic transformation for enterprises to adapt to digital development,which will inevitably have a widespread and profound impact on corporate internal control deficiencies.However,existing literature exploring the reduction of internal control deficiencies from the perspective of digital transformation is scarce,especially lacking in revealing the mechanisms by which digital transformation suppresses internal control deficiencies,as well as in-depth studies on the differences caused by various digital technologies and governance structures.This article selects China's A-share listed companies from 2011 to 2021 as research samples,utilizing the CSMAR database and the DIB Internal Control and Risk Management Database.It adopts research methods in Wu et al.(2021)to examine the impact of digital transformation on corporate internal control deficiencies.The empirical study shows that digital transformation can significantly suppress corporate internal control deficiencies.Further research shows that digital transformation suppresses internal control deficiencies by alleviating information asymmetry and reducing agency problems.Technologies such as big data,cloud computing,blockchain,and artificial intelligence can significantly curb internal control deficiencies,but business model transformation does not significantly suppress internal control deficiencies.Moreover,there are heterogeneous impacts present depending on whether the chairman and general manager positions are combined,the number of female independent directors,and the degree of market competition.Compared to previous literature,this article makes extensions in three aspects.Firstly,it expands the perspective of studying the impact of digital transformation on business management activities,enriching existing literature concerning digital transformation's impact on enterprise operations from a new perspective.Secondly,unlike existing literature that focuses on factors reducing internal control deficiencies from the perspectives of corporate governance and accounting information quality,this article examines the impact of digital transformation on internal control deficiencies and empirically tests the mechanisms of digital transformation's impact and the heterogeneous effects of corporate governance characteristics.Thirdly,it deepens research on digital transformation suppressing internal control deficiencies,further exploring the impact mechanisms of different digital technologies on internal control deficiencies.This article explains the internal logic of how digital transformation suppresses corporate internal control deficiencies,helping enterprises to suppress internal control deficiencies through digital transformation and continuously enhancing the suppressive effect of digital transformation on internal control deficiencies during organizational structure adjustment and optimization of corporate governance.It also helps government departments promote digital transformation integrated with internal control systems under the goals of digital economy development,guiding enterprises to enhance the quality of internal control.