| The manufacturing industry holds a pivotal position in China’s industrial development,with its value added increasing from 16.98 trillion yuan in 2012 to 31.4 trillion yuan in 2021 over the past decade.It has become the cornerstone industry driving China’s economic growth.However,with the gradual depletion of the demographic dividend,traditional manufacturing can no longer rely solely on cheap labor for development.Its growth rate has continued to slow down.Therefore,realizing the high-end,intelligent,and green transformation of manufacturing through intelligent means has become a critical issue for the sustained development of the manufacturing industry.Manufacturing efficiency is a key indicator for evaluating the development of the manufacturing industry.It can be enhanced not only through the level of manufacturing intelligence but also through the auxiliary integration of producer services with manufacturing,leading to an improvement in industrial efficiency.Therefore,this paper analyzes the impact of intelligent producer services on manufacturing efficiency from the perspective of industrial intelligence.It dissects the mechanisms through which it achieves efficiency enhancement,focusing on the effects of cost savings and technological innovation.Furthermore,it delves into the spatial spillover effects of intelligent producer services on manufacturing efficiency.This paper,drawing on Value Network Theory,Industrial Division of Labor Theory,and Endogenous Economic Growth Theory,employs normative analysis and mathematical modeling to preliminarily explore the relationship between intelligent producer services and manufacturing efficiency.Utilizing research models such as entropy method,panel regression model,threshold regression model,mediating effect model,and spatial panel model,this study conducts empirical tests on the relationship between intelligent producer services and manufacturing efficiency.The main research content and conclusions are outlined as follows:Firstly,in recent decades,China has witnessed a continuous upward trend in the producer services intelligence.By constructing a three-dimensional index system for the level of producer services intelligence,encompassing the dimensions of foundational intelligence,intelligent application,and intelligence benefits,this paper employs the entropy method to measure the increasing level of producer services intelligence.There exist significant disparities in the level of intelligence across provinces,suggesting ample room for further development in producer services intelligence.Among the three economic regions-East,Central,and West-the Eastern region exhibits a more pronounced advantage in the producer services intelligence,while the levels in the Western and Central regions are relatively comparable.Concurrently,China’s manufacturing efficiency demonstrates a steady upward trend.When viewed through the lens of different factor-intensive types,technology-intensive manufacturing displays superior efficiency compared to labor-intensive and capital-intensive counterparts.Most provinces experience fluctuating growth in manufacturing efficiency,with the Eastern region notably outperforming the Central and Western regions.The producer services intelligence exhibits a positive correlation with manufacturing efficiency.Secondly,this paper analyzes and verifies the positive influence of producer services intelligence on manufacturing efficiency.Through panel regression models,a significant positive impact of producer services intelligence on manufacturing efficiency is observed.Moreover,it is found that different levels of producer services intelligence have varying effects on the enhancement of manufacturing efficiency.Specifically,provinces with higher levels of producer services intelligence exhibit higher manufacturing efficiency compared to other provinces.The Eastern and Central regions demonstrate a stronger promoting effect of producer services intelligence on manufacturing efficiency compared to the Western region.Furthermore,producer services intelligence has a greater promoting effect on technology-intensive manufacturing efficiency compared to labor-intensive and capital-intensive manufacturing.Additionally,from a long-term dynamic perspective,it is verified that the role of producer services intelligence in driving manufacturing efficiency differs in the initial and rapid development stages.A nonlinear relationship exists between the two,highlighting that a certain magnitude of producer services intelligence is necessary for it to exert a greater impact on manufacturing efficiency.Furthermore,the paper demonstrates that producer services intelligence positively impacts manufacturing efficiency through cost-saving and technological innovation effects.The study indicates that both cost-saving and technological innovation effects mediate the influence of producer services intelligence on manufacturing efficiency.On one hand,when producer services operate at a moderate level of intelligence,they are better positioned to achieve cost savings and consequently enhance manufacturing efficiency compared to when they operate at a high level of intelligence.The cost-saving effect in the Western region surpasses that of the Central and Eastern regions.Furthermore,the cost-saving effect is more pronounced in technology-intensive and capital-intensive manufacturing compared to labor-intensive manufacturing.This suggests that the level of producer services intelligence needs to be maintained at a reasonably balanced level to impact manufacturing costs.If the level of producer services intelligence exceeds a reasonable threshold,the substantial increase in investments in intelligent equipment,talent,and technology may lead to an excessive degree of producer services intelligence resulting in increased costs and triggering a "cost disease" in the service industry.This,in turn,could lead to overcrowding effects or resource wastage,mitigating the cost-saving effect.On the other hand,when producer services operate at a high level of intelligence,they are better positioned to achieve technological innovation compared to when they operate at a moderate level.The Eastern region exhibits a more pronounced technological innovation effect in producer services intelligence compared to the Central and Western regions.Additionally,capital-intensive and technology-intensive manufacturing exhibit stronger technological innovation effects compared to labor-intensive manufacturing.Lastly,producer services intelligence has a notable spatial spillover effect on manufacturing efficiency.Provinces with higher levels of producer services intelligence demonstrate a more pronounced spatial spillover effect on manufacturing efficiency.The Eastern region displays a more pronounced spatial spillover effect of producer services intelligence on manufacturing efficiency.Additionally,the spatial spillover effect of producer services intelligence is greater for labor-intensive and technology-intensive manufacturing.The spatial spillover effect of producer services intelligence on manufacturing efficiency is not only contingent on spatial proximity but also on the magnitude of knowledge distance between two regions.Ultimately,producer services intelligence will be promoted in a combined manner through virtual clustering and on-site aggregation to enhance manufacturing efficiency both within local regions and across regions.In conclusion,this paper,for the first time,employs the entropy method to construct and measure producer services intelligence in China.It analyzes the impact of producer services intelligence on manufacturing efficiency,explores the mediating effects of cost-saving and technological innovation,and enriches the theoretical research on the interaction between producer services and manufacturing from the perspective of industrial intelligence.These findings provide new insights for promoting the enhancement of manufacturing efficiency and ensuring the sustained development of the industry in China. |
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