Industrial Digitalization and the Fairness of Benefit Distribution in Global Value Chains: A Perspective Based on Trade Gains and Embodied Carbon Emission Costs
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Digital transformation has driven the restructuring of the global value chain (GVC) division of labor and reshaped the landscape of benefit distribution. Adopting the perspective of GVC benefit-cost tradeoffs, this paper constructs a bilateral trade and environmental inequality index and systematically examines the impact of industrial digitalization on the inequality of benefit distribution in trade relations along with its underlying mechanisms. The findings show that industrial digitalization alleviates trade and environmental inequality, promoting a more balanced distribution of trade gains and trade-embodied carbon emission burdens across countries. Mechanism tests reveal that enhancing technology spillovers through intermediate goods trade and narrowing the GVC division-of-labor status gap are important channels through which industrial digitalization reduces trade and environmental inequality. Further analysis shows that joint synergy among countries across three dimensions—economic openness, technological innovation, and rule-based governance—strengthens the ameliorative effect of industrial digitalization on trade and environmental inequality. This paper provides industry-level evidence on the trade and environmental benefit distribution effects of industrial digitalization and offers potential references for accelerating the process of industrial digitalization, strengthening joint synergy among countries, and ultimately advancing a new paradigm of economic globalization that balances efficiency, fairness, and green development.
Institutions: Nanjing Audit University, Hunan University
Language: English
Subfield: Strategy and Management
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid:
OpenAlex ID: W7213556365