An Empirical Analysis on the Improvement of Informatization Management Efficiency of Small and Micro Enterprises

Abstract

Small and micro enterprises are the core component of China’s market economy entities, but they have long been constrained by extensive management, low efficiency, and high costs. Informatization is a critical path to break through the management bottlenecks of small and micro enterprises. Based on the TOE framework, resource-based view, and transaction cost theory, this paper constructs a theoretical model of “Informatization — Intermediary Mechanism — Management Efficiency”. Using balanced panel data of 302 small and micro enterprises in Yulin and Guigang, Guangxi from 2021 to 2025 as samples, it empirically examines the causal effect, transmission mechanism, and constraints of informatization on management efficiency by combining DEA‑BCC, SFA, PSM‑DID, chain mediation, moderating effect, and threshold regression.

The study finds that: informatization has a significant positive causal effect on the management efficiency of small and micro enterprises, with an average increase of 18.72% in comprehensive efficiency; the efficiency gain of system collaboration is 2.13 times that of single system application, and every 10% increase in process digitalization coverage improves management efficiency by 3.41%; informatization achieves efficiency improvement by reducing transaction costs, shortening operation cycles, and accelerating decision-making speed, with the mediating contributions of the three being 32.6%, 41.1%, and 26.3% respectively; digital literacy and institutional adaptation have significant positive moderating effects; and there are clear effective thresholds: investment intensity ≥2.51%, system coverage ≥50%, collaboration degree ≥0.3, below which there is no significant efficiency gain. This paper provides rigorous empirical evidence and operable paths for lightweight, low-cost, and high-efficiency informatization of small and micro enterprises.