民营企业对外直接投资缘何发展迅速--要素市场扭曲视角的解释

Why Outward Foreign Direct Investment of Chinese Private Companies Grows Quickly--An Explanation from the Perspective of Factor Market Distortion

不同于发达国家,以中国为代表的发展中国家由于经济制度不完善,存在各种形式的要素扭曲,这一情形使得发展中国家企业对外直接投资的动因有所不同。本文利用2000—2020年中国上市企业数据深入探讨了要素市场扭曲对于民营企业对外直接投资的影响及其背后的渠道,研究表明:(1)国内要素市场扭曲激励了民营企业进行对外直接投资;(2)在要素市场扭曲之下,创新能力更强的民营企业其对外直接投资动机也更强;(3)从要素价格差别化视角进一步探讨要素市场扭曲影响民营企业对外直接投资的内在机理发现,相比国有企业,民营企业在国内承担更高的要素投入成本,从而具有更强的动机前往国际市场开展对外直接投资;(4)要素市场扭曲减弱了民营企业从对外直接投资中所获得的生产率效应,因而要素市场扭曲不利于民营企业对外直接投资的长远发展。本文的研究进一步拓展了有关民营企业对外直接投资动因的理论边界,也为政府营造公平有序的市场环境以促进企业理性投资提供了理论指导。

Unlike developed countries, developing countries such as China, have various kind of factor market distortion, due to imperfect economic system. This phenomenon leads to different motivations for enterprises to implement outward foreign direct investment(OFDI). Based on data set of Chinese listed companies from 2000 to 2020, this paper explores the impact and mechanism of factor market distortion on the OFDI of Chinese private companies. We find:(1) domestic factor market distortion motivates private companies to carry out OFDI;(2) due to the distortion of factor market, private companies with superior innovation capability are holding stronger motivations for OFDI;(3) based on an analysis of the internal impact mechanism of factor market distortion on private companies’ OFDI from the perspective of factor price differentiation, private companies bear higher factor input costs at home thus having a stronger motivation for OFDI;and(4) factor market distortion weakens the productivity effect of OFDI in private companies, thus factor market distortion is not conducive to long-term development. Our study expands the boundary of research on private companies’ motivations in OFDI further, and provides guidelines for Chinese government to create fair and orderly market to promote rational investment of enterprises.