How carbon emission trading mechanism and supply chain digitization affect manufacturing enterprises’ competitiveness? Evidence from China

Under the background of digitalization and green development concept, exploring the road of manufacturing power is an important hand to promote the high-quality development of economy. The article constructs a triple difference model based on the list of emission-control enterprises of carbon emissions trading mechanism and China's pilot cities of supply chain innovation and application, and empirically investigates the impact of policy synergies of carbon emissions trading mechanism and supply chain digitization on the competitiveness of manufacturing enterprises by using the data of listed companies in the manufacturing industry from 2010 to 2022. The results show that the policy synergy effect of carbon emissions trading mechanism and supply chain digitization can improve the competitiveness of manufacturing enterprises. The impact mechanism test shows that the policy synergy effect of carbon emissions trading and supply chain digitization can enhance the competitiveness of manufacturing enterprises by alleviating the degree of cost-price incomplete transmission, promoting technological innovation, and improving the efficiency of resource allocation in the manufacturing industry. The direct impact of product quality on carbon emissions trading mechanism and supply chain digitization has a "U"-shaped moderating effect, when product quality is below the bottleneck of 0.418, exacerbating the fluctuation of production costs of enterprises, carbon emissions trading mechanism and supply chain digitization will have an inhibitory effect on the competitiveness of manufacturing enterprises. The conclusion confirms that the policy synergy effect of carbon emissions trading mechanism and supply chain digitization can promote manufacturing enterprises to improve competitiveness. However, manufacturing enterprises should pay attention to product quality, and if product quality is not dominant, carbon quota constraints and supply chain digitization will likewise inhibit the competitiveness of manufacturing enterprises. This study provides important policy insights for countries to actively promote the construction of carbon emissions trading mechanisms and stimulate the momentum of digitalization and high-quality transformation of manufacturing industries.