企業被迫將數位轉型作為解決數位技術進步帶來的競爭力增強的必要策略。政策制定者和學術界對這種變化對企業投資和融資選擇的經濟影響表現出了濃厚的興趣。企業可以透過採用人工智慧、機器人、大數據技術、雲端運算、區塊鏈等數位技術，提高資訊的數量和品質以及生產力。最終，它影響公司的決策過程。本論文旨在透過兩項研究檢驗上述情境。 第一篇文章探討了2001年至2019年數位化對中國製造業企業債務結構的影響。隨後的研究表明，數位科技的普及對降低破產成本有顯著影響。因此，這使得企業能夠在更長的時間內維持貸款償還，從而減少流動性和再融資。不確定風險因素的存在似乎降低了數位化對企業債務期限的正面影響。 第二篇文章旨在探討工業機器人的部署對企業風險承擔的影響。使用 1993 年至 2019 年的國際數據，我們發現機器人的採用通常會降低公司的風險承擔能力。經過一系列旨在解決潛在內生性問題和評估風險承擔的替代措施的嚴格測試後，這一結果保持穩定。此外，在競爭低的市場和貿易開放度高的國家，機器人部署的負面影響也存在，這些國家的企業面臨的直接財務壓力較小，並受益於多元化的收入來源和更廣泛的市場准入 ;The progress of digital technology has required firms to undertake digital transformation as an essential approach to deal with increased competitiveness. Policymakers and academia have shown great interest in the economic impacts of this change on enterprises′ investment and financing decisions. The adoption of digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, robots, big data technology, cloud computing, and blockchain, allows enterprises to enhance the amount and quality of information and productivity. Moreover, it influences firms′ decision-making process. This thesis intends to investigate the aforementioned situation through two research. The first study focuses on the influence of industrial digitalization on the maturity of corporate debt, while the second study examines the impact of adopting industrial robots on corporate risk-taking behavior. The first essay explores the influence of digitalization on the debt structure of Chinese manufacturing enterprises between 2001 and 2019. The findings indicate that the process of digitalization is associated with an increased percentage of long-term debt for firms. Subsequent research has demonstrated that the prevalence of digital technology has a significant impact on lowering bankruptcy costs. As a result, this allows firms to maintain loan repayment for a more extended period, thus reducing liquidity and refinancing costs. Furthermore, we find that organizations experiencing financial limitations derive greater advantages from adopting digital transformation. The existence of uncertain risk factors appears to reduce the positive impacts of digitalization on the debt maturity of businesses. The second essay aims to examine the impact of industrial robot deployment on firms′ risk-taking perspective. Using international data from 1993 to 2019, we find that robot adoption generally reduces firm risk-taking. This result remains stable following a set of rigorous tests aimed at addressing potential endogeneity issues and alternative measures for assessing risk-taking. Furthermore, the reverse effects of robot deployment are seen in low-competitive markets and countries with high trade openness, where firms face less immediate financial pressure and benefit from diversified revenue streams and broader market access.
