网络基础设施建设与企业技术知识扩散——来自“宽带中国”战略的准自然实验

Network Infrastructure and the Diffusion of Technological Knowledge: Evidence from a Quasi-natural Experiment

党的十九大报告明确指出"要发展数字经济,建设网络强国,抢抓全球新一轮产业竞争制高点,促进实体经济加快转型升级"。在此背景下,解答网络基础设施能否以及如何影响微观企业的信息传递和技术知识扩散,具有重要的理论价值和现实意义。文章利用"宽带中国"战略的准自然实验和2008-2017年上市公司数据进行了实证分析。研究发现,良好的网络基础设施不仅可以促进上市公司向内部子公司的技术知识扩散,还可以促进与外部其他公司的技术合作。前者表现为注册地被选为"宽带中国"示范城市后,当地上市公司下属子公司的创新水平显著上升,后者则体现为当地上市公司与其他公司的联合创新显著增加。进一步研究表明,当上市公司的技术水平较高,或者子公司的地理位置较分散、网络基础设施较完备时,网络基础设施对公司内部技术知识扩散的积极作用更大;而当上市公司技术水平较高或者所在地区互联网用户较多时,网络基础设施对公司之间技术创新合作的影响更大。可见,加大网络基础设施的建设力度,有利于发挥技术知识的正外部性。

After nearly 40 years of rapid development, the Chinese economy has entered a crucial period of transformation from old to new growth drivers. The Internet, as a new driving force for economic development, is bound to promote a new round of technological and industrial changes. In this context, it is of great theoretical value and practical significance to answer the question of whether and how network infrastructure can affect the information transfer and technological knowledge diffusion of micro-enterprises. This study uses"Broadband China" as a quasi-natural experiment and finds that the construction of network infrastructure can not only promote the diffusion of technological knowledge within companies, but also promote the diffusion of technical knowledge between companies. This article further finds that when the technology level of a listed company is high, the geographical locations of its subsidiaries are scattered, and the network infrastructure of subsidiaries is relatively complete, the network infrastructure has a greater positive effect on the diffusion of technological knowledge within the company. Similarly, network infrastructure has a greater influence on the diffusion of technological knowledge among companies because of the high technology level of listed companies and the large number of Internet users.The research in this article has important academic value and practical significance:(1) Preliminary studies have shown that infrastructure has an important impact on company operations. Most of their studies focus on transportation infrastructure, and our research on network infrastructure is a further supplement to the literature on infrastructure.(2) With regard to the research of network infrastructure, academics now pay more attention to the influence of the macro level. Few scholars test how network infrastructure affects the diffusion of enterprise technological knowledge from the micro enterprise level, especially from the internal and external aspects of listed companies.(3) On the research of innovation, previous scholars find that the development of macro factors such as infrastructure has an important impact on the innovation activities of enterprises themselves. This paper takes other subjects associated with listed companies as the research object, studies the role of network infrastructure on the diffusion of technological knowledge, and expands the literature on innovation.(4) This paper uses "Broadband China" as an exogenous event to solve the causal inference problem between network infrastructure and economic growth.(5) The research of this paper is of great significance to the practice of public goods supply such as Internet.