Measurements of and influencing factors in the deepening of the convergence of manufacturing and the internet: evidence from China

Based on a manually collected data of listed companies in China's manufacturing industry from 2009 to 2020, this paper calculates the degree of technology convergence, business convergence, and market convergence, and empirically analyzes the effect of R&D investment, consumption-structure upgrading, and Internet development on deepening convergence. The results show that although the degree of convergence at each stage is gradually deepening, problems remain, such as the low degree of market convergence and difficulties in deepening from the business-convergence phase to the market-convergence stage. Furthermore, we find that R&D expenditure and R&D personnel investment are key factors that drive the deepening convergence of the manufacturing industry and the Internet. Consumption-structure upgrades and the development level of the Internet development are important factors. In addition, we find that compared to low-tech industries, such factors play a more important role in the high-tech industries.