要素价格负向扭曲与中国企业进口中间品多样化

Has Factor Price Negative Distortion Increased the Diversification of Chinese Firms' Imported Intermediate Inputs

企业进口中间品多样化是发展中国家企业实现技术进步、追赶国际技术前沿的有效途径,也是新贸易理论框架下进口贸易利益的来源之一;但在国内要素价格负向扭曲条件下,生产要素与中间品相对价格变小,从而导致包括进口中间品在内的中间品投入种类减小。基于上述判断,本文以中国数据为例,实证研究企业要素价格负向扭曲对其进口中间品多样化的影响,从而为分析市场扭曲与贸易利益的关系提供一个经验事实。本文认为:中国要素价格扭曲呈现递增趋势,企业中间品进口多样化呈现递减趋势;要素价格扭曲降低了企业进口中间品多样化水平,这一降低作用对于外资企业、私营企业、东部地区和一般贸易更明显;而且劳动力要素价格负向扭曲的影响大于资本价格负向扭曲;考虑了内生性问题后,上述结论依然成立。本文政策含义是,尽快实现国内要素价格完全市场化有利于企业在国际市场范围内优化资源配置,特别是摆脱企业对低工资、低价格的过度依赖而丧失技术创新和模仿的机会,从而最终实现中间品多样化和贸易利益。

The diversification of intermediate inputs is one way for develop- ing countries to make technological progress and to reap gains in trade. Howev- er, where there is domestic factor price negative distortion, a firm may substitute foreign intermediate inputs for cheaper domestic factors, leading to the loss of trade gains. This paper tests the above hypothesis using Chinese firm-level data. We arrived at the following conclusions： China＇ s factor price distortion and di- versification of intermediate inputs show opposite trends within the sample peri- od; factor price distortion decreases the level of diversification of intermediate in- puts, especially for foreign and private enterprises and eastern China; this conclusion still holds after controlling for endogeneity. It is suggested that Chinese government should promote the reform of factor market, which may be necessary for realizing trade gains through diversifying intermediate inputs.