企业贸易网络中的创新溢出效应——理论和基于高新技术企业认定政策的准自然实验分析

The Innovation Spillover Effects in Firms’ Trade Network——Theory and Evidence Based on the Quasi-natural Experiment of High-tech Firm Recognition Policy

本文研究企业与上下游伙伴之间形成的贸易网络中的创新溢出效应。首先构建一个生产网络与创新溢出模型,再以高新技术企业认定政策构造外生冲击,基于中国上市公司的供应商—客户贸易网络数据进行实证检验。研究发现,贸易伙伴的技术改进显著提升了企业的创新水平,即创新可以沿着企业贸易网络溢出,且该效应随着企业与其贸易伙伴之间贸易时间的延长以及企业自身吸收转化能力的提高而增强。此外,网络中的创新溢出具有双向和高阶特征。一方面,供应商创新通过降低成本的渠道促进了下游企业的创新投资,但由于投入的替代性和专用性,客户创新未能通过增加产出的渠道激励上游企业的研发创新;另一方面,高阶贸易伙伴的创新水平提升同样显著促进了企业的研发创新,且这一关系仍仅对高阶供应商显著。本研究为利用企业贸易网络破解企业创新困境提供了重要启示。

This paper investigates the innovation spillover effects in the trade network between firms and their upstream and downstream partners. We first build a model of production network and innovation spillover, then conduct the empirical analysis based on the exogenous shock of high-tech firm recognition policy and the dataset of suppliers-customers trade network of Chinese listed firms. The results show that technological improvement of trade partners significantly promotes firms’ innovation, which means that innovation can spill over along firms’ trade network. And such effects are greater when the trade duration between firms and their partners is longer and when firms’ absorptive and transformative capacity are stronger. Moreover, the innovation spillover effects in the network are two-way and high-order. Suppliers’ innovation promotes innovation investment of the downstream firms through the channel of cost reduction. However, customers’ innovation does not stimulate R&D innovation of the upstream firms through the channel of output expansion because of the specialization and substitution of inputs. In addition, innovation of high-order trade partners also promotes firms’ R&D innovation, and this effect is significant only for high-order suppliers. This paper provides essential enlightenment for firms to use the trade network to break the dilemma of innovation.