{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,17]],"date-time":"2026-02-17T02:28:21Z","timestamp":1771295301062,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":72,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,10]],"date-time":"2025-01-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1736467200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities \u201cResearch on the Mechanism of Digital Empowerment on the Innovation Quality of Autonomous Vehicle Enterprises\u201d","award":["2023YJS163"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2023YJS163"]}]},{"name":"Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities \u201cResearch on the Mechanism of Digital Empowerment on the Innovation Quality of Autonomous Vehicle Enterprises\u201d","award":["2023JBWB004"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2023JBWB004"]}]},{"name":"Humanities and Social Sciences Key Cultivation Project \u201cResearch on the Dynamic Mechanism and Evolution Path of the Formation of China\u2019s Intelligent Connected Automobile Industry Convergence Cluster\u201d","award":["2023YJS163"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2023YJS163"]}]},{"name":"Humanities and Social Sciences Key Cultivation Project \u201cResearch on the Dynamic Mechanism and Evolution Path of the Formation of China\u2019s Intelligent Connected Automobile Industry Convergence Cluster\u201d","award":["2023JBWB004"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2023JBWB004"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Systems"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The acquisition, integration, and exchange of digital technologies considerably contribute to the improvement of corporate innovation quality, as autonomous vehicles are a complex amalgamation of multiple industrial chains. In order to address the intense global competition in the autonomous vehicles industry and help China\u2019s enterprises establish a prominent position in technological innovation, this study innovatively integrates the concepts of digital empowerment, digital platform capabilities, and boundary-spanning search into a cohesive framework, examines the pathways of influence, and methodically builds a multiple-chain mediation model. It employs various quantitative models, such as reliability and validity testing, confirmatory factor analysis, common method bias testing, mediation effect analysis, and robustness testing. The study focuses on over a hundred companies related to autonomous vehicles in China, employing software such as SPSS26.0, AMOS26.0, PROCESS4.0, and MPLUS8.3 to conduct this analysis. The findings indicate that digital empowerment is a critical factor in the improvement of innovation quality within autonomous vehicle companies. The relationship between digital empowerment and innovation quality is partially mediated by digital platform capabilities, and the boundary-spanning search also functions as a partial intermediary. Additionally, the quality of innovation and digital empowerment are mediated by the boundary-spanning search and the capabilities of digital platforms. The results of this study provide valuable insights on how to accurately empower the high-quality development of the autonomous vehicle sector with digital technologies, revealing new perspectives on the innovation quality enhancement pathways for autonomous vehicle companies in China, offering pivotal insights amidst the escalating competition within the global autonomous vehicle sector.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/systems13010045","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,10]],"date-time":"2025-01-10T09:24:42Z","timestamp":1736501082000},"page":"45","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["How Can China\u2019s Autonomous Vehicle Companies Use Digital Empowerment to Improve Innovation Quality?\u2014The Role of Digital Platform Capabilities and Boundary-Spanning Search"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2052-5456","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mu","family":"Li","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Economics and Management, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China"}]},{"given":"Yingqi","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Economics and Management, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China"}]},{"given":"Ruiyu","family":"Feng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Economics and Management, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"52","article-title":"Research on the impact mechanism of technological change on the production process in the digital economy era","volume":"1","author":"Wang","year":"2020","journal-title":"Economist"},{"key":"ref_2","first-page":"99","article-title":"Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage","volume":"17","author":"Barney","year":"1991","journal-title":"J. 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