Assessing the triple effects of artificial intelligence at the corporate level in China: New insights from productive efficiency, salary gap, and financial risk

As artificial intelligence (AI) integrates into China's corporate sector, it significantly transforms operational paradigms. While existing studies have explored the individual impacts of AI on productive efficiency, salary gap, and financial risk, how AI simultaneously affects these three dimensions in an integrated manner remains insufficiently understood. Furthermore, existing studies often overlook the breadth of salary gap measurements and heterogeneity analysis. Drawing on panel data of Chinese A-share listed firms spanning 2005 to 2024, fixed-effects estimations demonstrate that AI adoption is significantly related to a tripartite corporate effect. AI enhances firms' productive efficiency, reduces financial risk, and narrows salary disparities. These findings remain robust across a series of validity tests. Heterogeneity analyses reveal that the triple effects vary significantly by firm size, geographical location, technological orientation, and ownership structure. This study elucidates the complex firm-level implications of AI, offering theoretical insights and policy directives for understanding the multidimensional effects of AI at the firm level.