Abstract: As a new form of export trade, digital trade not only promotes the development of foreign trade, but also profoundly affects the labor employment behavior of enterprises. Based on the merged“enterprise-product”level data from the customs database and the listed company database, this study empirically analyzes the impact of digitalization of export trade on labor employment in enterprises from three perspectives: effectiveness, mechanism, and heterogeneity. The findings show that digitalization of export trade significantly increases labor employment in enterprises, and in the long run, there is a non-linear inverted U-shaped relationship between the two. From the perspective of the impact mechanism, digitalization of export trade has a scale creation effect on enterprise labor employment by reducing costs and increasing efficiency, and increasing enterprise output demand. Although some enterprises face competition substitution effects and platform substitution effects, overall, the creation effect is greater than the substitution effect. The digitalization of export trade has a positive net creation effect on enterprise labor employment. The heterogeneity analysis shows that the positive impact of digitalization of export trade on labor employment is more significant for high-tech industries, capital intensive and highly competitive enterprises, skilled workers, and the central and western regions with greater potential for labor employment growth. Further analysis reveals that compared to general products, the export of digital products has a significant positive effect on enterprise labor employment, and the digital product exports and the digitalization of export trade have a synergistic positive effect on enterprise labor employment. To this end, we must vigorously support the digital development of export trade, empower enterprises to optimize their labor structure, promote China’s high-level opening-up to the outside world, and ensure high-quality and full employment.

Key words: trade digitization, labor employment, export trade