对外开放制度创新、全球创新网络嵌入与中国科技国际影响力

Institutional Innovation in Opening-up, Global Innovation Network Integration, and International Influence of Chinese Science and Technology

党的二十届三中全会决定中指出,“必须坚持对外开放基本国策,坚持以开放促改革,依托我国超大规模市场优势,在扩大国际合作中提升开放能力,建设更高水平开放型经济新体制”。自贸试验区作为对外开放制度创新的先锋阵地,为区内企业开展国际化研发,融入全球创新网络,创造更具国际影响力的科研成果带来了重要契机。本文基于对2010~2020年3472家A股上市公司及15.2万家子公司地理位置的精准识别,考察了自贸试验区对企业创新绩效的影响。研究发现,自贸试验区政策可以显著提高区内企业创新产出,形成更加具有国际影响力的科研成果。促进融资优化、强化人才引进、助力海外扩张以及增强全球创新网络嵌入是自贸试验区提升区内企业创新绩效的有效渠道。在进一步分析中,本文利用自贸试验区边界上251.2万家企业的数据进行了地理断点回归分析,发现自贸试验区也可以促进非上市企业创新成果国际影响力的显著提升;自贸试验区对中国专利海外引用的提升并非只是“眼球效应”,而是通过真实地促进区内企业产出更具原创性、通用性以及突破性的高质量创新成果,有效提升了中国科技的国际影响力;区内企业科技成果国际影响力的提升,可以显著促进企业国际化经营并提高企业全球价值链地位。本文的发现为优化我国“线性”创新激励政策,推动自贸试验区服务“创新驱动发展”国家战略提供了有益启示。

The decision of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee emphasized that "we must adhere to the fundamental national policy of opening up, promote reform through opening up, leverage the advantages of China's vast market, and enhance our capacity for openness through expanded international cooperation, thereby building a new system for a higher-level open economy." As a pioneering area for institutional innovation in promoting openness, free trade zones(FTZs) have provided significant opportunities for enterprises within these zones to engage in international R&D, integrate into global innovation networks, and produce research outcomes with greater international impact. This study, based on the precise identification of the geographical locations of 3,472 A-share listed companies and 152,000 subsidiaries from 2010 to 2020, examines the impact of FTZ policies on corporate innovation performance. The research finds that FTZ policies can significantly enhance innovation output within the zones, resulting in more internationally influential research outcomes. Channels such as optimizing financing, strengthening talent acquisition, supporting overseas expansion, and enhancing integration into global innovation networks are effective means through which FTZs improve the innovation performance of enterprises within the zones. In further analysis, this study utilizes data from 2.512 million companies located at the boundaries of FTZs for a geographic regression discontinuity analysis, revealing that FTZ policies can also significantly enhance the international influence of innovation outcomes of non-listed companies. The improvement in overseas citations of Chinese patents attributable to FTZ policies is not merely an "eyeball effect" but results from genuinely fostering enterprises within the zones to produce more original, versatile, and groundbreaking high-quality innovation outcomes, thereby effectively enhancing the international influence of Chinese technology. The increased international influence of scientific and technological achievements within the zones can significantly promote the international operations of enterprises and elevate their positions in the global value chain. The findings of this study provide valuable insights for optimizing China's "linear" innovation incentive policies and for advancing FTZ policies to serve the national strategies of "innovation-driven development".