Abstract: In the era of the digital economy, a widely asked question is whether and how the booming digital technology can facilitate supply chain integration by food firms. Based on stakeholder theory and resource dependence theory, this study develops a conceptual model and explores the impact of an important emerging information technology, digital traceability, on supply chain integration while examining the dual moderating effects exerted by inter-firm trust and government support. The questionnaire survey method is used to investigate 250 food firms from four demonstration areas of traceability system construction in China, and the empirical test is carried out using hierarchical regression analysis and moderated effect test methods. The study finds that: (1) input traceability has a significant positive impact on supplier integration, process traceability has a significant positive impact on internal and customer integration, and output traceability has a significant positive impact on customer integration; (2) inter-firm trust has a moderating effect on the linkage between input traceability and supplier integration, and on the linkage between output traceability and customer integration, while government support plays a moderating role in the relationship between process traceability and internal integration; and (3) inter-firm trust and government support interaction terms moderate the relationship between input traceability and supplier integration. When the food firm maintains a high level of trust with supply chain members and is highly supported by the government, the implementation of input traceability can increasingly facilitate supplier integration.

Key words: digital traceability, supply chain integration, inter-firm trust, government support, food firm