Digital Industry Clusters and Firm Markups: Low-price Competition or Premium Pricing for Quality

CHANG Wenbo; LI Jinhu

Volume 41 Issue 4

Jul. 2026

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CHANG Wenbo, LI Jinhu. Digital Industry Clusters and Firm Markups: Low-price Competition or Premium Pricing for Quality[J]. Journal of Guangdong University of Finance & Economics, 2026, 41(4): 77-91.

Citation:

CHANG Wenbo, LI Jinhu. Digital Industry Clusters and Firm Markups: Low-price Competition or Premium Pricing for Quality[J]. Journal of Guangdong University of Finance & Economics, 2026, 41(4): 77-91.

CHANG Wenbo, LI Jinhu. Digital Industry Clusters and Firm Markups: Low-price Competition or Premium Pricing for Quality[J]. Journal of Guangdong University of Finance & Economics, 2026, 41(4): 77-91.

Citation:

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Digital Industry Clusters and Firm Markups: Low-price Competition or Premium Pricing for Quality

School of Economics, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China

Received Date: 2026-02-25
Available Online: 2026-09-08
Publish Date: 2026-07-28

Abstract

Abstract

Building globally competitive digital industry clusters and guiding firms to shift away from vicious low-price competition toward premium pricing for quality constitute critical strategies to raise value creation capacity and advance high-quality economic development. This paper takes the construction of digital industry clusters as a quasi-natural experiment and adopts a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) model to investigate its impacts on firm markups. Empirical results reveal that digital industry cluster construction significantly lifts firm markups. Three transmission channels are verified via mechanism analysis: accelerating corporate digital transformation, deepening firm embeddedness within digital ecosystems, and stimulating digital technological innovation. Heterogeneity tests demonstrate that this policy effect is stronger for firms with large brand investment, labor-intensive enterprises, and businesses situated in regions with sound commercial credit systems. This paper delivers novel micro-level empirical evidence regarding the economic impacts of digital industry clusters, and supplies policy references to help enterprises lift value creation capabilities.
- digital industry cluster,
- firm markup,
- digital transformation,
- digital ecosystem,
- digital technological innovation

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References(33)

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