司法“去地方化”与企业全要素生产率:来自最高人民法院设立巡回法庭的证据

Judicial Delocalization and Firm-level Total Factor Productivity:Evidence from the Establishment of Circuit Courts by the Supreme People's Court

高质量法治是加快形成和发展我国新质生产力的重要保障。司法“地方化”问题不利于实现司法公正,是地方保护的一种体现,阻碍着市场资源有效配置。最高人民法院设立巡回法庭便是中央为此所做的一项重要司法体制改革举措。本文利用渐进双重差分模型考察了巡回法庭设立对企业全要素生产率的影响,从微观企业层面检验司法“去地方化”制度创新对资源要素配置效率的改善作用。研究发现,巡回法庭能显著提高覆盖区域企业全要素生产率,该效应在更易获得地方保护的国有企业、规模较大的民营企业以及政府补贴倾向型企业中更为明显,但不会受到企业所在地是否是巡回法庭驻在地的影响。进一步分析发现,市场分割程度、地区契约执行效率和企业投资效率是巡回法庭设立影响企业全要素生产率的重要机制。本文为推进法治中国建设有利于经济高质量发展这一论断提供了新证据。

High-quality rule of law is an important safeguard for accelerating the formation and development of China's new quality productive forces.The problem of“localization”of justice is not conducive to achieving judicial justice,is a manifestation of local protection,and obstructs the effective allocation of market resources.The establishment of circuit courts by the Supreme People's Court is an important judicial system reform for this purpose in China.This paper uses a staggered DID model to explore the impact of the establishment of circuit courts on the firm-level total factor productivity(TFP),examing the effect of judicial“delocalization”institutional innovation on the efficiency of resource allocation from the micro-enterprise level.The results show that:(1)Circuit courts significantly improve TFP,which is equivalent to 2.1%of the average TFP of sample firms.(2)This positive effect is more obvious for firms with state-ownership,large-scale private-ownership and government-subsidized,those are more likely to benefit from local protection.(3)Alleviating regional market segmentation,improving the efficiency of regional contract execution and restraining firms'over-investment are the possible mechanisms for circuit courts to improve firms'TFP.(4)Whether the location of a firm is the location of the circuit court does not affect the promotion effect of the circuit court on the firms'TFP,which to some extent indicates that the circuit courts'“residence+circuit region”form is effective.This paper provides new evidence for the argument that promoting the construction of the rule of law in China is conducive to high-quality economic development.Based on the findings of our research,we propose the following policy recommendations.Firstly,on the path of building the rule of law in China,we should continue to deepen the reform of the judicial system and institutions,further safeguard judicial fairness,and enhance the quality of justice.Secondly,in advancing the strategy of high-quality economic development,great emphasis should be placed on the development of new quality productive forces,while implementing technological innovations and driving industrial transformation,it is essential to enhance the efficiency of resource allocation among market micro-entities.Thirdly,in the process of accelerating the construction of a unified national market,we should fundamentally address the relationship between the government and the market in terms of systems and mechanisms,and effectively ensure that the market plays a decisive role in resource allocation.