进口竞争下制造企业服务化战略的抉择--兼论“服务化悖论”问题

The Choice of Servitization Strategy of Manufacturing Enterprises under Import Competition--Discussing the“Servitization Paradox”

21世纪以来,服务业务占制造业总收入的比例出现了一定程度的增长,制造业服务化的发展态势良好。从国际贸易视角出发研究进口竞争对制造企业服务化的影响,经验证据表明,服务化程度每提高10%,制造企业的收入平均增长2.25%。然而,随着进口竞争的加剧,服务化制造企业却难以在制造业务中维系自身稳定的销售收入。这表明,面对进口竞争,服务化并非制造企业维持或扩大市场规模的进取型策略,而更倾向于是一种规避进口竞争的消极策略。对此,中国需警惕由于贸易全球化所导致的产业空心化问题,制造企业应紧密围绕产品打造高度关联的服务业务,从而夯实实体产业发展的根基。

Since the 21st century,the share of service businesses in the total income of the manufacturing industry has experienced a notable increase,marking a significant trend towards the servitization of manufacturing.This transition has emerged as a pivotal direction for global manufacturing.While existing literature extensively examines servitization within closed market environments,there remains a dearth of research addressing its performance within an open global economic system.Consequently,this study delves into the impact of import competition on manufacturing servitization from the perspective of international trade.To undertake this investigation,the study leverages datasets from the CSMAR Database,the cninfo Information Network,the United Nations Commodity Trade Database(UN Comtrade),and the China Industrial Statistics Yearbook.Drawing upon existing literature characterizing servitization-related indicators and examining firms’servitization triggers,this paper analyzes the effects of import shocks on various facets of servitization.Empirical findings indicate several key points.First,the servitization of Chinese firms correlates positively with the level of import competition within their respective industries,with regression results demonstrating robustness after addressing endogeneity concerns.Second,while servitization contributes to increased revenues for manufacturing firms-showing an average revenue increase of 2.25%for every 10%rise in servitization-it fails to shield these firms from the revenue impacts of import competition.Third,the pursuit of customer-oriented servitization exacerbates the negative impact of import competition on manufacturing revenues,whereas no significant effect is observed for firms pursuing product-oriented servitization.Relative to existing studies,this paper offers several contributions.First,it contextualizes the service-oriented behavior of manufacturing enterprises within the framework of foreign trade openness,elucidating the emergence of the“servitization paradox”through the lens of international trade.Second,it distinguishes between the extensive and intensive boundaries of enterprise service-oriented strategies,examining how import competition affects the involvement in service-oriented enterprises and refining the manifestations of servitization.Third,it categorizes the motives driving servitization into two types-achieving economies of scale and capitalizing on main business externalities-and investigates whether firms undertake servitization as a proactive choice or as a defensive strategy against competition,thereby assessing whether manufacturing servitization represents a transitional phase in China’s industrial transformation and upgrading process.This study sheds light on the underlying dynamics of manufacturing enterprise transformation towards servitization within the context of international trade,offering valuable insights for strategic decision-making amidst competitive import pressures.Additionally,it informs government efforts to adjust China’s industrial structure,thereby fostering the development of its manufacturing sector.