环境不确定性与企业创新投入——政府补助与产融结合的调节作用

Environmental Uncertainty and Investment in Enterprise Innovation Activities:The Moderating Effect of Government Subsidies and Integration of Industry and Finance

现代企业竞争的实质是技术竞争,考虑到创新行为的风险性,如何在环境波动频繁的情境下提升创新能力是企业关注的重点。本文基于我国 2009-2016 年度 A股上市企业的财务数据,探讨了环境不确定性对企业创新投入的影响,及政府补助与产融结合对上述关系的调节效应,并进一步检验了产权性质和地区金融发展水平的异质性影响。实证结果表明,环境不确定性与企业创新投入具有倒 U 型关系,政府补助对环境与企业创新的关系具有正向调节作用,但产融结合对二者关系无实质性影响;进一步研究发现,在非国有企业或金融发展水平较低的地区,政府补助的正向调节效应更加显著,在国有企业与金融发展水平较高的地区,产融结合存在负向调节效应。环境不确定性对创新产出、创新效率的影响与对创新投入的影响一致。本文的研究为企业创新投资决策及财税与金融政策完善提供了有益参考。

External environment is the main influencing factor of enterprise innovation activities. According to the resource based theory, unique, lasting, difficult to imitate and hard to be replaced resources are important sources for enterprises to create competitive advantages, which are mainly generated in the internal operation process of enterprises. With the change of the environment, enterprises discover possible opportunities and threats from environmental information by exploring, absorbing, integrating, decomposing and reconstructing internal and external resources and knowledge, integrate strategies to improve operational efficiency and maintain sustainable competitive advantages. In other words, environmental uncertainty can stimulate enterprises dynamic adjustment ability and organizational learning ability, and promote enterprises to learn from other organizations and make continuous innovation. Environmental uncertainty means the high instability and unpredictability of environmental changes, the intensity of competition, and the lack of resources. Dynamic adjustment and reallocation of resources have become the key issues for enterprises to cope with the risks and opportunities brought by environmental fluctuations. Environmental change leads to resource constraints, and financing constraints often inhibit innovation. With limited internal resources, enterprises often seek external resources to support innovation, but few literatures focus on the role of external resources in the relationship between environment and innovation. Government subsidies and integration of industry and finance are two different policies which can bring enterprise external resources. The subsidies from the government, including enterprise research and development, technology importing, technical updating and transformation projects subsidies, discount loans, patent rewards for the high tech enterprises, it also covers the tax incentives, industry support, the invention awards, talent introduction, etc. The integration of industry and finance is a new form of industrial organization which is gradually integrated and developed by industrial capital and financial capital through equity relations or personnel participation. Holding financial institutions by enterprises can bring more credit resources to enterprises. Although studies have shown that government subsidies and the integration of industry and finance can alleviate the financing constraints of innovation activities, there is no consistent conclusion on the impact of enterprise innovation activities. Based on the research object of the companies which listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges in China from 2009 to 2016, this paper explores the curve relationship between environmental uncertainty and investment in enterprise innovation activities, and further analyses the moderating effect of government subsidies and the integration of industry and finance. It also verifies the impacts of heterogeneity of property rights and regional financial development. The empirical results show that:(1) There is an inverted u shaped relationship between environmental uncertainty and enterprise innovation input, namely when the environmental uncertainty is low, the turbulence of the environment can promote enterprise innovation, but when the uncertainty exceeds a certain level, it will inhibit enterprise innovation. The impact of environmental uncertainty on innovation output and efficiency is consistent with that on innovation input.(2)Government subsidies can stimulate the effect of environmental uncertainty on innovation investment and make the curve even steeper. This role is more obvious in non state owned enterprises and enterprises in the low financial development level areas.(3)The combination of industry and finance has no material impact on the relationship between environment and corporate innovation, it only plays a moderating role in state owned enterprises and enterprises in developed financial areas, it would weaken the impact of the environment on innovation input. This paper provides a useful reference for enterprises to make innovative investment decisions and improve fiscal, taxation and financial policies.