关键词: 数字经济, 企业内部控制质量, 代理成本, 债务融资

Abstract: This study takes the digital economy as the external environment of enterprise operation, makes a theoretical analysis from the two dimensions of agency cost and debt financing, and then conducts an empirical analysis based on the provincial digital economy development index and the data of A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2019, so as to explore the impact of the digital economy on the quality of enterprises' internal control and its mechanism. Findings of the study are as follows: First, there is an inverted U-shaped nonlinear relationship between the digital economy development index and the quality of enterprises' internal control, and there is a critical point in the digital economy development index. Second, according to the benchmark regression results, the critical value of the digital economy development index is 1.2109. When the regional digital economy development index is lower than 1.2109, the development of the digital economy can improve the quality of the internal control of enterprises. When the index exceeds 1.2109, the further development of the digital economy will reduce the quality of enterprises' internal control. Third, the mechanism of the digital economy affecting the quality of enterprises' internal control lies in the agency cost effect and the debt financing effect of the digital economy. The digital economy can improve the quality of enterprises' internal control by reducing the information asymmetry between shareholders and managers, strengthening the audit supervision and reducing the agency cost between shareholders and managers. The quality of the internal control of enterprises can be reduced by promoting the development of the financial technology, reducing the information asymmetry between banks and enterprises, and improving the debt financing level of enterprises.

Key words: Digital Economy, Quality of Enterprise Internal Control, Agency Cost, Debt Financing