The Impact of Industrial Supply Chain "Chain Leader System" Policy on Firm Performance: A Quasi-Natural Experiment based on the Setting of A-share Listed Firms in Yangtze River Delta Region

Yiling Wan

doi:10.6981/FEM.202510_6(10).0002

Authors

Yiling Wan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6981/FEM.202510_6(10).0002

Keywords:

Chain Leader System; Supply Chain; Enterprise Performance; Double-Difference Method.

Abstract

In recent years, the industrial supply chain "chain leader system" has been widely implemented as an innovative industrial policy throughout China. The policy strives to improve the effectiveness of resource utilization across the industry chain and strengthen the stability as well as competitive edge of the industry chain's supply chain by integrating government direction with market mechanisms. As one of China's most prosperous areas, the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) has pioneered the implementation of the "Chain Leader System" policy, generating abundant case studies to analyze its real-world impacts. This study explores the impact of the chain leader system policy from the micro perspective of enterprise performance, which can reveal how the chain leader policy affects firm performance through multiple paths, such as technological innovation, digital transformation, government subsidies, and cost reduction, thus adding new connotations and influencing factors to the theory of firm performance. This study focuses on A-share listed enterprises in the Yangtze River Delta region, and takes advantage of the region as a typical area for the implementation of the "Chain Leader System" policy to construct a quasi-natural experiment in order to scientifically assess the impact of this policy on enterprise performance and help the regional economy to develop in a high-quality manner.

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