A Study On The Impact Of Tracle Liberalization On Technological Innovation Of Chinese Manufacturing Enterprises

Technological innovation is the most important driving force leading economic development,and the relationship between international trade and technological innovation is always a research hotspot in the field of industrial economics and international economics.Based on literature review,it is found that the studies in existing literature have carried out sufficient research on trade liberalization and innovation,but there are few studies about innovation quality.High-quality economic development urgently needs high-quality innovation from market entities.This thesis aims to compare the differential effect of trade liberalization on the “quantity” and “quality” of enterprises' technological innovation.Specifically,after exploring the development features of China's foreign trade and technological innovation,combining previous research results,this thesis constructs an analysis framework for the impact of trade liberalization on enterprise technological innovation.Furthermore,based on 18 years of China's long term and large scale micro data from 1998 to 2015,this thesis uses various econometric approaches such as difference-in-differences approach,instrumental variable approach,ordinary least squares approach and PSM-DID approach,to empirically test the effect of trade liberalization on the“quantity” and “quality” of technological innovation of Chinese manufacturing enterprises,from the three aspects of intensified import competition,input-trade liberalization and export trade liberalization.The study can provide a reference for the adjustment of trade policies and the formulation of innovation policies under the new system for higher-level open economy.The innovation of this thesis includes: in terms of research perspective,this thesis studies the enterprises' innovation impact of international trade from the perspectives of “quantity” and“quality”;in terms of research content,this thesis systematically examines the impact of trade liberalization on technological innovation from three aspects: intensified import competition,input-trade liberalization,and export trade liberalization;in terms of time span,this thesis uses long-term data to accurately reveal the internal laws of the impact of import and export on innovation.This thesis is generally carried out in the logical sequence of “Research Overview — Reality Inspection — Analysis Framework Construction — Empirical Analysis— Policy Extension”,and the following five important parts are included.Firstly,the thesis reviews the development of China's trade liberalization and technological innovation.The thesis systematically examines the features of China's foreign trade and technological innovation at different development stages since the founding of People's Republic of China,and makes a preliminary qualitative analysis of the relationship between China's trade and innovation.Secondly,the thesis constructs the analysis framework for the impact of trade liberalization on enterprise technological innovation.Combining research results of existing literature,the thesis systematically explores the innovation effect of trade liberalization from following aspects: intensified import competition caused by final product trade liberalization,input-trade liberalization,and export trade liberalization.Thirdly,the thesis puts an empirical study on the impact of increased import competition caused by final product trade liberalization on enterprise technological innovation.Taking China's accession to the World Trade Organization as a quasi-natural experiment,based on the large variations in import tariff reduction across industries,this thesis constructs a difference-in-differences model,and empirically tests the impact of increased import competition on the innovation scale and innovation quality of Chinese manufacturing enterprises.Combining the heterogeneous firm trade theory,the thesis further analyzes the innovation effect of increased import competition on enterprises with different productivity levels,different subsidies,different trade modes and different geographic locations.Fourthly,the thesis makes an empirical study on the impact of input-trade liberalization on enterprise technological innovation.With the merging data of China's industrial enterprise database,customs database and enterprise patent data,this thesis investigates the impact of input-trade liberalization on enterprises' intermediate imports,systematically analyzes the impact of intermediate imports on enterprise technological innovation from the two dimensions of import amount and import variety,and uses the input import tariff as an instrumental variable to alleviate endogenous problems.Furthermore,the thesis examines the moderating effect of technology absorptive capacity on intermediate input imports and technological innovation,and constructs a mediation model to explore the mechanism of intermediate input imports on enterprise technological innovation.Fifthly,there is an empirical study on the impact of export trade liberalization on enterprise technological innovation.This thesis firstly analyzes the impact of export trade liberalization on enterprise exports,then applies the ordinary least squares approach to examine the relationship between export trade and the innovation of Chinese manufacturing enterprises,and lastly uses PSM-DID method to assess the causal link between exports and enterprise technological innovation.Combining the enterprise characteristics such as industrial sectors,business scale,trade mode and pre-export R&D,the thesis further explores the impact of exports on heterogeneous enterprises' technological innovation.On the basis of theoretical analysis and empirical testing,the main conclusions of this thesis are as follows:(1)Intensified import competition generally hinders the expansion of enterprise innovation scale;but intensified import competition improves the innovation scale and innovation quality of high-productivity enterprises,which further promotes the structural adjustment within the industry.On the one hand,increased import competition has generally hindered the expansion of the innovation scale of enterprises,and the conclusion is very stable.Heterogeneity analysis shows that,the productivity levels of the enterprises directly affect the innovation effect of import competition.When the enterprise' total factor productivity is higher than certain threshold,the intensified import competition actually increases the innovation scale.The negative impact of intensified import competition on the innovation scale of enterprise is more obvious in enterprises with low subsidy income,general trade enterprises and enterprises in eastern regions.The regional institution environment strengthens the negative impact of increased import competition on the innovation scale of enterprises.On the other hand,intensified import competition generally has no significant impact on the innovation quality of enterprises.However,when taking into consideration of enterprises heterogeneity,the thesis shows that,increased import competition has a smaller negative impact on the enterprises with higher productivity level and higher subsidy income.When the total factor productivity of the enterprise exceeds certain threshold,the intensified import competition even has a significant positive effect on the innovation quality of the enterprise.(2)Input-trade liberalization significantly promotes the import of intermediate goods;the intermediate input imports expand enterprises' innovation scale from the two aspects of quantity and variety,but only promote the enterprise innovation quality from the aspect of variety,and R&D incentive effect is the most important transmission mechanism.In terms of innovation scale,rising amount and variety of enterprises' intermediate input imports lead to more invention patent applications.This conclusion is still valid after the robustness test.The increase in the import value and the expansion of import variety of primary products,semi-finished products,parts and capital goods can all promote the innovation scale of enterprises.Moreover,the trade mode,location and industry technical level are all important factors affecting the effect of imported intermediates on the innovation scale of enterprises.The technological absorptive capacity of enterprise strengthens the promotion effect of input import value on the innovation scale of enterprise.Input imports promote the innovation scale mainly through technology spillover effect and R&D incentive effect.In terms of innovation quality,the increase of import variety of intermediate inputs has improved the quality of enterprises' invention patents.Heterogeneity analysis shows that,only imported semi-finished products significantly improve the innovation quality of enterprises.The innovation improving effect of input variety is more significant in general trade enterprises,enterprises in eastern regions,and enterprises in high-tech industries.The promotion effect of input import variety on innovation quality is achieved through technology spillover effect,technology complementary effect and R&D incentive effect,and among which R&D incentive effect is the most important transmission mechanism.(3)Export trade liberalization can significantly promote the export of enterprises;export participation has a significant positive effect on the innovation scale of enterprises,and the promotion effect of export on innovation quality only exists in enterprises in high-tech industries;furthermore,the innovation effect of export is affected by pre-export R&D.On the one hand,export has a significant positive effect on the innovation scale of enterprise,and this positive effect is more prominent among enterprises in high-tech industries,large enterprises,and non-processing trade enterprises.Enterprises that have pre-export R&D are more able to achieve the expansion of innovation scale after export,and as the duration of pre-export R&D increases,the positive effect of export on the innovation scale of enterprise is generally on the rise.On the other hand,although the impact of export on the innovation quality of enterprises is generally insignificant,export still has a significant promotion effect on the innovation quality of enterprises in high-tech industries.For different years of pre-export R&D,export can all promote the improvement of the innovation quality of enterprises.This promotion effect is largest among the enterprises that have engaged in R&D activities for five years before export.(4)Independent research and development of enterprise amplifies the positive effect of trade liberalization on enterprise technological innovation.Considering the positive effect of competition pressure on the technological innovation of enterprises with high productivity levels,the R&D incentive effect of the intermediate input imports,and the important role of pre-export R&D in the improvement of the innovation quality of exporters,it shows that whether enterprises can achieve innovation quality improvement through trade liberalization relies on enterprises' independent research and development.Based on the above conclusions,the following policy recommendations are put forward:Firstly,it is important to expand imports to encourage industrial restructuring and promote the allocation of innovative resources.Imports should be continuously expanded.The elimination and exit mechanism of market entities should be further improved,to promote the winning of high-quality enterprises and eliminating of laggard enterprises in the process of increasing import competition,so as to achieve industry-level innovation quality improvement.Secondly,it is important to optimize the import structure,enrich the variety of imports,and increase the import of high-quality intermediate inputs.We should continue to improve the import facilitation level of intermediate inputs.Considering China's high-quality development demands,the R&D incentive effect of imported intermediate inputs should be stipulated to increase enterprises' independent research and development.Thirdly,it is important to continue to optimize the structure of export products and actively expand the export of high-tech products.We should continue to promote all-round opening-up.Enterprises in high-tech industries should be guided to go abroad to increase exports of high-quality products,to promote manufacturing industry to ascend to the mid-to-high end of the global value chain.Fourthly,we should continuously improve the innovation policy and innovation system to stimulate the independent innovation vitality of enterprises.Targeted fiscal and taxation policies should be adopted to encourage enterprises to increase R&D investment,which will help to amplify the positive effect of international trade on enterprises' technological innovation and promote the technological innovation of enterprises from“quantity” accumulation phase to “quality” jump phase.Fifthly,precise policies should be implemented to enhance the synergy and balance of innovation development among regions and enterprises.Based on the regions' development characteristics,it is important to implement differentiated trade and innovation incentive policies in accordance with local conditions.Targeted innovation incentive rules should be implemented in combination with the productivity level,business scale,trade mode of the enterprise,and the technical level and maturity of the industry.