From bits to profits: exploring the digitalization-performance nexus

Researchers and practitioners agree that digitalization is an indispensable step for any contemporary business. However, despite many studies conducted on the topic, it is still unclear how investments in digital technologies affect company performance. Moreover, effectively measuring the level of business digitalization is a demanding challenge. Our study aims at contributing to this stream of research using a panel dataset of Italian listed companies. We propose a digitalization index built through an in-depth analysis of corporate disclosure in order to identify the company’s true commitment to digitalization. In addition, our disclosure analysis allowed us to identify the different types of digitalization investments carried out by companies and study their link with business performance. Specifically, we differentiate ten distinct investment categories and examine how each category is associated with firm performance outcomes. Results show that digitalization investments tend to be positively related to firm performance, with certain categories (e.g., Integrated Business Management Systems and Generic Software) displaying particularly strong associations. These findings underscore the relevance of distinguishing among digital investment types when analysing digitalization–performance relationships.