双重电商平台出口的规模效应与中间品效应——兼论新发展格局下两个市场的利用

The Scale Effect and the Intermediate Product Effect of Dual E-commerce Platforms’ Exports:On the Use of Domestic and International Markets under the New Development Paradigm

基于Melitz(2003)异质性贸易理论框架,本文构建了研究双重电商平台对企业出口影响的理论模型,并通过整合2002—2016年1688、阿里巴巴国际站以及中国海关数据库中高度细化的微观企业数据,从理论和实证两方面探究了加入双重电商平台(同时加入1688与阿里巴巴国际站)对企业出口的影响及其内在机制。主要结论是:第一,电商平台的出口效应存在显著的排序特征,表现为加入“双重电商平台>阿里巴巴国际站>1688”的顺序,即同时加入1688和阿里巴巴国际站对企业出口的促进作用最突出,仅加入阿里巴巴国际站次之,相比之下,仅加入1688的促进作用最小。这是现有文献中首次对双重电商平台优势问题的探索性研究。第二,机制分析表明,规模效应和中间品效应是企业参与电商平台影响出口的两大重要渠道。同时,加入双重电商平台的企业凭借对国内国际两个市场、两种资源的充分利用,所发挥的规模效应和中间品效应显著强于单独加入一个平台的效应。第三,异质性分析表明,位于中西部地区的企业与本土企业借助双重电商平台发挥的出口促进效应更突出。本文从以电商为代表的数字经济视角,为新发展格局下如何利用国内国际两个市场、两种资源提供有益的理论和实证支撑。

Connecting domestic and international markets and the respective resources is the key to China’s new double-thrust development dynamic with the domestic economy as the mainstay and international engagement as the support.E-commerce platforms enable firms to effectively reach both markets.In recent years,using multiple domestic and international e-commerce platforms has become more prevalent,driving China’s high-quality growth.However,how can e-commerce platforms affect export?Will multi-platform firms experience a larger driving effect on firm export?The answers to these questions will provide important theoretical support for how digital economy can promote the high-quality development of China’s foreign trade and shed light on how to capitalize on domestic and international markets and domestic and foreign resources under the new development pattern.Based on Marc Melitz’s heterogeneous firm theory,this paper establishes a theoretical model to study the impact of dual e-commerce platforms on firm exports.Based on 2002–2016 data from 1688.com,Alibaba.com and China Customs Statistics,this paper explores the impact and internal mechanism of joining dual e-commerce platforms(1688.com and Alibaba.com)on firm export from both theoretical and empirical perspectives.The main findings of this paper are as follows.First,the export promotion effect brought by e-commerce platforms exhibits a significant sorting pattern:dual e-commerce platform>alibaba.com>1688.com,that is,joining 1688.com or Alibaba.com significantly promotes firm export,and more importantly,dual-platform firms show the strongest export promotion effect.We verify the theoretical model through an empirical study.This is the first exploratory study on the advantages of dual e-commerce platforms.Second,the scale effect and the intermediate product effect are two important channels through which e-commerce platforms affect firm exports.The two effects also exhibit the same sorting pattern.Firms joining dual e-commerce platforms can fully utilize domestic and international markets and the respective resources,and thus their scale effect and the intermediate product effect are stronger than those of single-platform firms.Third,firms located in the central and western regions of China and local enterprises enjoy a stronger export promotion effect.The contributions of this paper are three-fold.First,this paper constructs a theoretical model to explore how dual e-commerce platforms affect firm exports;and it proposes two mechanisms,namely,the scale effect and the intermediate product effect,to explain how e-commerce platforms affect firm export.Second,this paper obtains data from 1688.com and Alibaba.com,the largest domestic and international B2 B e-commerce platforms respectively,forming a massive and innovative micro e-commerce firm-level dataset.Third,this paper examines the differences in export promotion effects between dual e-commerce platforms and single e-commerce platforms,further verifies the scale effect and the intermediate product effect,and investigates the heterogeneous effect of e-commerce platforms on firm exports from the perspectives of geographical location and firm type.Developing digital economy is essential for promoting the new dual circulation development Pattern.As an important part of digital economy,e-commerce has injected new momentum into the construction of the new development Pattern.The policy implications of this paper are as follows.First,it is necessary to actively support the internationalization of local enterprises,encourage enterprises to develop online trade and sales channels,and utilize both domestic and international markets and the respective resources to achieve higher-level export growth.Second,it is important to encourage relevant departments and industry associations to provide industry and market-related information for firms,reducing the information asymmetry problems facing firms when they are searching for customers or suppliers.Third,it is important to play the important role of e-commerce on China’s coordinated development and create convenience for firms located in central and western regions in China to utilize e-commerce platforms.Fourth,China needs to actively participate in and lead the formulation of international digital trade rules,give full play to the unique advantages of e-commerce in connecting both ends of supply and demand,and domestic and foreign markets,thus accelerating the construction of the new dual circulation development Pattern and promoting high-quality development.