How Does New Infrastructure Construction Affect the Supply Chain Risk of Enterprises? Perspective From Supply-Demand Balance

The stability of an enterprise's supply chains serves as a vital cornerstone in the progression of modern economic system development. New infrastructure, epitomized by network and information infrastructure construction, has emerged as a pivotal global strategy to stimulate economic growth. Its impact on the supply chain risk (SCR) of enterprises deserves in-depth exploration. Employing the staggered difference-in-difference (DID) approach, this study investigates the influence and mechanisms of new infrastructure construction (NIC) on the SCR of enterprises from a perspective of supply-demand balance, leveraging the 'Broadband China' strategy as a quasi-natural experiment. The results indicate that NIC can mitigate the SCR of enterprises, a conclusion that remains robust after rigorous endogeneity and robustness testing. Mechanism analysis suggests that the enhancement of the level of enterprises' intelligent manufacturing and the reduction of the concentration of upstream and downstream serve as two effective channels through which NIC reduces the SCR of enterprises. Heterogeneity analysis shows that NIC more effectively reduces SCR for large-scale and high-tech enterprises at the enterprise level. At the industry level, NIC is particularly effective in reducing SCR within highly competitive and technology-intensive sectors. Additionally, at the regional level, NIC significantly inhibits SCR for enterprises in areas prone to high natural disaster risk. This study validates the fortifying effect of NIC on the supply chain security of enterprises, providing theoretical references and empirical evidence for enhancing the resilience of global micro supply chains.