Does the “Productivity Paradox” Exist in IT Investment of Chinese Manufacturing Enterprises?—An Analysis from the Perspective of Skill-biased Technical Change

Abstract

Abstract: Accelerating the deep integration of new-generation information technology with the real economy is an essential path to foster new quality productive forces, promote the high-quality development of manufacturing industry, and achieve new industrialization. Based on the general-purpose and skill-biased characteristics of information technology (IT), this paper analyzes the direct mechanism and complementary mechanism through which IT investment influences the total factor productivity (TFP) of manufacturing enterprises, and conducts an empirical analysis using the data of A-share listed companies in China's manufacturing industry from 2007 to 2022. Study results show that IT investment can significantly improve enterprise TFP, and there exists a complementary effect between IT investment and the structure of labor skills, which can strengthen the promoting effect of IT investment on enterprise TFP. Furthermore, heterogeneous analysis reveals that there is a strong complementary effect between highly educated labors and IT software investment, which is beneficial to improving the TFP level of non-state-owned enterprises and enterprises in strategic emerging industries. Highly skilled labors exhibit a complementary effect with both IT hardware and software investment, significantly enhancing the enterprise TFP across different ownership structures and those in strategic emerging industries. Therefore, to further leverage the critical role of IT investment in optimizing the supply structure, this paper recommends continuously promoting the deep integration of informatization and industrialization, enhancing support for enterprise IT investments, guiding enterprises to optimize resource allocation, and accelerating the development of a highly skilled workforce.

Key words: information technology investment, labor skill structure, total factor productivity, integration of informatization and industrialization

Fu Chenyu, Yang Yanlin. Does the “Productivity Paradox” Exist in IT Investment of Chinese Manufacturing Enterprises?—An Analysis from the Perspective of Skill-biased Technical Change[J]. Management Review, 2026, 38(3): 55-67.

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