Can digital technology adoption enhance supply chain resilience? Evidence from listed food firms in China

Abstract

As a sector vital to national welfare and people’s livelihoods, the food industry has supply chains characterized by perishable raw materials, pronounced seasonality, stringent safety standards, extended chain structures, and highly fragmented participants. These features make food supply chains particularly vulnerable to external shocks, making the enhancement of supply chain resilience essential for safeguarding food safety and industrial and supply chain security. Using a sample of food firms listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share markets from 2009 to 2024, we systematically examine the effect of digital technology adoption on supply chain resilience, its potential channels, and heterogeneous effects. First, digital technology adoption significantly enhances the supply chain resilience of food firms. Second, digital technology adoption is significantly associated with greater information transparency, weaker financing constraints, and lower supply chain concentration. Third, this resilience-enhancing effect is more pronounced among firms facing lower environmental uncertainty, firms with stronger corporate innovation capability, and firms located in regions with a higher level of regional marketization. Focusing on the unique context of the food industry, we examine the potential channels and heterogeneous effects of digital technology adoption and provide micro-level empirical evidence for advancing the digital transformation of food firms, safeguarding food safety, and maintaining stable supply.