CEO Age and Firm Digital Transformation in China: The Moderating Role of Digital Financial Inclusion
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32890/ijbf2026.21.2.1Keywords:
Firm digital transformation, CEO age, digital financial inclusion, upper echelons theory, resource dependence theoryAbstract
This study examines how CEO age influences firm digital transformation and how regional digital financial inclusion moderates this relationship, using a large panel of Chinese listed firms. Drawing on upper echelons theory and resource dependence theory, the study conceptualizes digital transformation as a resource-intensive, high-uncertainty strategic investment that depends critically on executive capabilities and the surrounding financial environment. Employing firm-level panel regressions with industry and year-fixed effects, the analysis documents that CEO age is positively associated with firm digital transformation, suggesting that older CEOs are better able to mobilize resources, exercise authority, and sustain long-term digital initiatives. Further analyses show that digital financial inclusion negatively moderates this relationship: as regional digital financial infrastructure improves, the positive effect of CEO age on digital transformation becomes weaker. This finding indicates that digital financial inclusion serves as an institutional substitute for executive-specific experience and reputation by easing financing constraints through standardized, data-driven financial services. A series of robustness tests, including propensity score matching and placebo tests, confirms the validity of the baseline results and mitigates concerns about self-selection and spurious correlations. This study contributes to the literature by reconciling mixed evidence on the relationship between CEO age and digital transformation, highlighting the role of financial institutions in shaping managerial effects, and offering new insights into how executive characteristics and digital finance jointly influence firms’ strategic transformation in emerging economies.
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