Abstract: Cross-border mergers and acquisitions serve as a primary pathway for enterprises to rapidly achieve global resource integration and market expansion. With the rapid development of the digital economy, cross-border M&A activities are increasingly focusing on technological innovation, data assets, and global synergy. Examining how the digital economy influences cross-border M&A is of great significance for advancing China’s high-level opening-up. To systematically investigate the impact of digital economy development on corporate cross-border M&A, this study employs the data from Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies from 2013 to 2019, the Zephyr database, and the city-level macroeconomic data to conduct an empirical study with a two-way fixed effects model. The findings indicate that digital economy development can significantly promote cross-border M&A activities among listed companies. The moderating effect test results show that the management capabilities and integration capabilities of enterprises play a significant positive moderating role in the process through which digital economy development facilitates cross-border M&A. The mechanism test results reveal that digital economy development promotes the implementation of cross-border M&A strategies by enterprises through two pathways: enhancing production efficiency and increasing retained earnings. The results of the heterogeneity test indicate that, for both same-industry and cross-industry cross-border mergers and acquisitions, the development of the digital economy significantly promotes corporate cross-border M&A. However, the promoting effect is more pronounced in the sample of same-industry cross-border M&A. In the sample of provincial capitals and cities at higher administrative levels, the promoting effect of digital economic development on cross-border mergers and acquisitions by enterprises is even more pronounced. Therefore, to further enhance the role of digital economy development in cross-border M&A, it is essential to continuously promote the high-quality growth of the digital economy and implement differentiated digital economy development strategies tailored to local conditions.

Key words: digital economy, cross-border M&A;, labor productivity, retained earning, opening up to the outside world