How does Confucian thought influence the development of digital product manufacturing: evidence from Chinese cities

Digital product manufacturing is crucial to China's high-quality economic development. Confucian thought, a cornerstone of traditional Chinese culture, has had a significant impact on the country's development. Using data from Chinese cities, this study tests a hypothesis based on the theory of planned behavior. The study utilizes city and year two-way fixed-effects panel models to examine the influence of Confucian thought on the development of the city's digital product manufacturing industry. The findings reveal that Confucian thought significantly positively impacts the industry's development. Specifically, a one standard deviation increase in Confucian influence is associated with a 0.2536 standard deviation increase in the industry's development level. These conclusions hold even after addressing endogeneity and controlling for the industry's digitalization level. Additionally, Confucian thought promotes the growth of data-element-driven and fintech industries, both of which support digital product manufacturing.