A Review of the Theoretical Evolution and Research on Digital Technological Innovation in Enterprises
TL;DR
Analysis reveals that whilst digital technological innovation drives improvements in total factor productivity, business model iteration and industrial structure upgrading, it also gives rise to governance challenges such as ambiguous data property rights, algorithmic ethical distortions and digital monopolies.
Abstract
Digital technology innovation in enterprises is the core endogenous driving force behind the digital transformation of the real economy and is fundamentally reshaping the underlying logic of global industrial division of labour and competition. Through a systematic review of key domestic and international literature spanning the past two decades, this paper clarifies the origins of three foundational theories underpinning digital technology innovation: the digital extension of Schumpeter’s classical theory of innovation, the theory of digital platform ecosystems, and the theory of the value of data as a factor of production.The scope of existing research has expanded from the application of individual information technology tools to a multi-stakeholder collaborative innovation network comprising ‘data, algorithms, computing power and application scenarios’. Within the empirical research framework, academia has established a three-dimensional measurement framework encompassing ‘technology investment, data governance and scenario implementation’; influencing factors have moved beyond the traditional dual dimensions of internal resources and external institutions in conventional technological innovation, incorporating new variables specific to digitalisation such as the marketisation of data as a factor of production, computing power infrastructure and competition within platform ecosystems;The economic consequences encompass transmission pathways at three levels: micro-level enterprises, meso-level industries, and the macroeconomy. Analysis reveals that whilst digital technological innovation drives improvements in total factor productivity, business model iteration and industrial structure upgrading, it also gives rise to governance challenges such as ambiguous data property rights, algorithmic ethical distortions and digital monopolies.Future research should strengthen interdisciplinary integration across management, law and computer science, and focus on conducting localised studies tailored to China’s emerging market institutional context and the characteristics of domestic platform enterprises.