Research On The Impact Of Water Resources On Enterprise Innovation

Innovation plays an important role in the economic development of firms,and the development of innovation is inseparable from the support of resources.However,the increasingly severe water shortage poses a considerable threat to the development of firm innovation.In order to solve the problem,people have taken a lot of measures to deal with water shortages.The changes in water resources caused by human activities have changed the regional water resources endowment and enhanced the intensity of environmental regulations to strengthen the governance of the water environment.However,the existing research does not examine the relationship between water resources changes caused by human activities and R&D activities.There is also a lack of analysis of the micro-mechanism of firm innovation activities on the changes in water resources caused by human activities.Moreover,the existing research does not pay attention to the relationship between water resource endowment and firm innovation,and has not clarified the transmission mechanism between water resource endowment and firm innovation.This paper examined the complicated relationship between China’s South-to-North Water Transfer Project and R&D activities at the corporate level as a response to this knowledge gap.It deeply critically examined the impact of water endowments on corporate innovation.The findings demonstrate that the changes in water resources caused by human activities can effectively promote the development of firm innovation.It can promote the improvement of water resources endowment and promote firms to increase innovation activities by improving the intensity of environmental regulations.Secondly,the changes in water resources caused by human activities have a heterogeneous impact on firm innovation.They have a stronger role in promoting manufacturing,mature companies,and companies with low government subsidies.Thirdly,the water endowment improvement will help promote firm innovation,and the degree of trade openness will strengthen the promotion of the water endowment to firm innovation.The water endowment allows firms to obtain sufficient water resources and improves the supply of production factors.This will encourage companies to focus on innovation instead of obtaining resource rents.At the same time,the increase in trade openness has accelerated the dissemination and flow of new technologies and new products,which will help companies improve water use efficiency and reduce water costs,thereby strengthening the promotion of enterprise innovation activities by improving water resources.Finally,abundant water resources endowments are very attractive to the population,which helps increase human capital in water-sufficient areas,and abundant water resources will also attract many firms to gather and promote the formation of a comprehensive agglomeration economy based on resources and supplemented by knowledge.The increase in human capital and industrial agglomeration will drive the development of firm innovation.In general,this article adds the understanding of the complex relationship between water resource changes caused by human activities and firm innovation,as well as the relationship between water endowments and firm innovation.