Fiscal Subsidy,Enterprise Innovation And Total Factor Productivity Of Manufacturing

Fiscal policy is an important component of the country’s overall economic policy,and it is one of the main tools for the country to intervene in economic development and achieve macroeconomic goals.Keynesianism advocates that the government implements an expansionary fiscal policy,including reducing taxes and expanding fiscal expenditures to stimulate the economy and make up for the lack of effective demand.On this basis,the Neoclassical synthesis also emphasized the importance of changing the level of government transfer payments.In our country,fiscal subsidies are one of the main forms of government transfer expenditures,and they are effective and universal financial means.Therefore,studying the mutual relationship between fiscal subsidies and total factor productivity of enterprises will stimulate the innovation of enterprises and improve the overall quality of manufacturing enterprises.Factor productivity and the realization of industrial transformation and upgrading are of great significance.This paper focuses on the micro-level of manufacturing enterprises,uses the mediation effect model to explore the effect of fiscal subsidies on total factor productivity of enterprises from direct and indirect paths,and studies the mediating role that corporate innovation may play.On the one hand,this article believes that fiscal subsidies can directly reduce the liquidity constraints facing enterprises,enrich the way of external financing for enterprises,and enhance the confidence of enterprises in innovation,thereby increasing the possibility of successful innovation.Affecting the resource allocation efficiency and technological efficiency of the enterprise,government has a certain impact on the total factor productivity of the enterprise,and corporate innovation is an important factor for technological progress,so it also plays an intermediary role in this impact path.In terms of empirical research,based on the annual report data of 726 manufacturing listed companies from 2012 to 2017,this paper calculated the total factor productivity of the sample enterprises by using the Levinsohn & Petrin test algorithm.According to the test procedure of the mediating effect model,the method of stepwise regression was used to study the total effects of subsidies on total factor productivity of enterprises,the direct effects of fiscal subsidies on corporate innovation,and the mediating effects of corporate innovation on the relationship between fiscal subsidies and total factor productivity.In order to ensure the robustness of the research conclusions,this paper also uses the joint equation based on the least squares method to conduct a robustness analysis in the subsequent research,and further classifies the sample data,to explore the possible heterogeneity of the research conclusions of different nature sample data.The results show that:(1)From the perspective of total effects,the total effect of fiscal subsidies on the total factor productivity of enterprises is significantly negative,but fiscal subsidies have a significant positive impact on corporate innovation,and corporate innovation can significantly promote the total factor productivity of enterprises.Therefore,fiscal subsidies also have a certain positive effect on the total factor productivity of enterprises by stimulating corporate innovation,that is,the positive indirect effect of corporate innovation weakens the negative effect of the direct effect of fiscal subsidies,which is specifically manifested in the suppression effect.(2)A sub-sample study based on the nature of the enterprise shows that there is a significant difference in the effect of fiscal subsidies on the total factor productivity of enterprises and the concealment effect of corporate innovation,but fiscal subsidies have a more significant positive impact on the innovation of non-state-owned enterprises.The negative impact on the total factor productivity of non-state-owned enterprises is also greater.(3)The sub-sample study based on the enterprise life cycle shows that the effect of fiscal subsidies on the total factor productivity of enterprises and the suppression effects of enterprise innovation are also significantly different.The negative impact of fiscal subsidies on the TFP of growth-stage enterprises is greater than that of enterprises in mature stages.It has no significant effect on the total factor productivity of enterprises in recession stages.Increasing the intensity of fiscal subsidies in growth and mature stages is conducive to promotion.Enterprise innovation and expanding the scale of enterprise innovation are all conducive to improving the total factor productivity of enterprises.The suppression effect of corporate innovation in the relationship between financial subsidies and total factor productivity of enterprises is that mature enterprises are larger than growth enterprises.The key to promoting the improvement of total factor productivity of manufacturing enterprises lies in enhancing the enthusiasm and investment level of innovation.Therefore,the government should provide the necessary policy support and institutional guarantee,and adhere to the new path of innovationdriven development based on market mechanisms and enterprises as the mainstay.