数字技术创新如何驱动制造业企业全要素生产率?——来自上市公司专利数据的证据

How does Digital Technology Innovation Drive the TFP of Manufacturing Firms? Evidence from Patent Data of Listed Companies

我国数字经济产业的迅猛发展有目共睹。文章基于2008-2019年制造业上市公司面板数据,利用企业专利数据识别数字技术创新情况,研究了数字技术创新对企业全要素生产率的影响及其机制。研究发现,拥有数字技术专利的企业全要素生产率显著高于没有数字技术专利的企业,而且数字技术创新规模越大,越有利于制造业企业全要素生产率提升。这表明数字技术创新能够促进制造业企业全要素生产率提升。行业数字化程度越高,数字技术创新越能发挥积极作用。此外,国有制造业企业与西部地区制造业企业的数字技术创新对自身全要素生产率的提升作用更加明显。机制分析发现,短期内数字技术创新会导致企业运营成本上升,阻碍全要素生产率提升;数字技术创新还能通过提高企业创新效率与资源配置效率,促进全要素生产率提升,而缓解劳动要素投入扭曲则是数字技术创新通过缓解企业资源错配发挥作用的主要渠道。

The digital economy has become one of the core growth poles of China’s national economy,and the deep integration of the digital economy with the real economy will become an important engine to promote the high-quality development of China’s economy. New generation digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and blockchain, are the core key technologies for the construction of new infrastructure and the development of the digital economy, and the rational use of these digital technologies by the manufacturing industry as the main body of the real economy is a key step towards the rapid digital transformation of the manufacturing industry and the deep integration of the digital economy with the real economy. So, what is the specific mechanism of digital technology innovation on the TFP of manufacturing firms? What kind of heterogeneity exists in the promotion effect of digital technology innovation due to differences in industries and regional characteristics? An in-depth exploration of these questions will help to clarify the role played by digital technology innovation in the process of improving the TFP of manufacturing firms,and promote the integration process of the digital economy with the real economy.In order to clarify whether digital technology innovation can promote the TFP of manufacturing firms and the specific mechanism involved, this paper uses patent data and corresponding financial data of A-share listed companies in China’s manufacturing industry in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2008 to 2019 to reveal the specific mechanism of digital technology innovation on the TFP of manufacturing firms using panel fixed-effects models. Based on the results of the baseline regression, we find that digital technology innovation can provide a significant contribution to TFP, and the results remain consistent after the endogeneity and stability tests. At the same time, we also conduct a heterogeneity analysis, discussing separately how the impact of digital technology innovation on the TFP of manufacturing firms varies by ownership, by region, and by industry digitalization degree. Although digital technology innovation also helps manufacturing firms to improve their TFP by improving the efficiency of resource allocation and enhancing their innovation efficiency,digital technology innovation will lead to an increase in the operating costs of enterprises in the short term and hinder the TFP promotion of manufacturing firms.There are two possible marginal contributions: First, compared with previous studies, this paper uses digital technology patent data to measure the digital technology innovation of enterprises, which provides a more stable research foundation for further empirical analysis. Second, this paper explores for the first time the impact of digital technology innovation on the TFP of manufacturing firms, which provides certain new ideas for future related research.