Digital Transformation and Supply Chain Resilience in Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Firms: Evidence from China

Jiang Hu, Yu Chen, Jiayue Wang, Xinyu Ai

Electric vehicle manufacturing firms face increasing supply chain vulnerability due to component shortages, technological interdependence, raw material volatility, and demand uncertainty. This study aims to examine whether digital transformation can be translated into a resilience-building capability and to identify the transmission channels. Using panel data from Chinese A-share listed electric vehicle manufacturing firms from 2014 to 2023, we employ a double machine learning framework to estimate the relationship between digital transformation and supply chain resilience while accounting for high-dimensional firm-level controls. The results show that digital transformation is positively associated with supply chain resilience. This finding remains robust across alternative sample-splitting ratios, different machine learning algorithms, alternative winsorization thresholds, and sample restrictions. It also holds after addressing potential endogeneity using instrumental variable estimation. Mechanism tests indicate that digital transformation contributes to resilience by promoting technological innovation and reducing managerial transaction costs. Heterogeneity analysis further shows that the effect is more pronounced among firms with stronger market positions, larger firms, and vehicle manufacturers. These findings suggest that digital transformation is not merely a tool for operational upgrading but also an important organizational capability for strengthening supply chain resilience in electric vehicle manufacturing.