企业创新过程中独立董事真的是“签字工具”吗?——基于中国企业数据的效应与机制分析

Is independent director a “signature tool” in the process of enterprise innovation? The effect and mechanism based on Chinese enterprise data

鉴于中国企业董事会制度的发展水平以及企业研发创新的特殊性,具体分析中国的企业独立董事制度对企业创新的影响效应与机制显得尤为重要。基于国泰安CSMAR数据库中上市企业数据,实证分析了独立董事制度影响企业技术创新的具体效应及其作用机制。研究发现:独立董事并不完全是'签字工具',独立董事制度的设立对企业创新产出与创新质量都具有显著的正向影响;董事会独立性的提高对企业创新产出具有显著的正向促进作用,但对创新质量的影响是负面的。为了分析造成这种差异的原因,进一步从员工稳定性、企业短视和融资约束三方面探讨具体的影响机制。独立董事制度对企业创新的影响存在异质性,在国有企业和非国有企业、高新技术企业和非高新技术企业中,独立董事制度的作用基本相同;而独立董事制度对成长型企业和中小型企业的影响大于成熟型企业和大规模企业。研究结论为中国企业创新过程中,如何优化企业治理结构,提供了重要的参考依据。

In view of the development level of the board of directors of Chinese enterprises and the particularity of R&D innovation of enterprises,it is particularly important to analyze the effects and mechanisms of the independent director system of enterprises in China on enterprise innovation.Based on the data of listed companies in CSMAR database,this paper empirically analyzes the specific effects and mechanisms of independent director system affecting enterprise technology innovation.The study found that the independent director system is not entirely a'signature tool'.The establishment of a director’s independent system has a significant positive impact on the innovation output and innovation quality of the enterprise;the improvement of the independence of the board has a significant positive impact on the innovation output of the enterprise,but the impact on the quality of innovation is negative.In order to analyze the reasons for this difference,the article further explores the specific impact mechanism from three aspects:employee stability,corporate short-sightedness and financing constraints.The influence of the independent director system on enterprise innovation is heterogeneous.In stateowned enterprises and non-state-owned enterprises,high-tech enterprises and non-high-tech enterprises,the role of independent director system is basically the same.And the independent director system has a greater impact on growth companies and small and medium-sized enterprises than mature and large-scale enterprises.The article provides an important reference for how to optimize the corporate governance structure in the process of Chinese enterprise innovation.