Research On The Impact Of The Establishment Of Pilot Free Trade Zones On Enterprise Innovation

In order to further deepen reform and opening up in the new era and remove the obstacles of the system and mechanism,China has proposed an important strategic measure to establish pilot free trade zone.Since the establishment of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone in September 2013,21 pilot free trade zones have been established in China by 2020,China’s new pattern of comprehensive opening up with linkage at home and abroad and two-way opening up between east and west has been further improved.The central government has granted greater reform autonomy to the pilot free trade zone,continuously optimizing the business environment,continuously stimulating the vitality of market entities,and providing strong support for enterprise innovation.This paper focuses on the effect of the construction of free trade zone on enterprise innovation.First,this paper summarizes the history of free trade zone and the current situation of innovation and development in our country,and sorts out literature related to the effect of the free trade zone and innovation.Second,the mechanism of the influence of the construction of the free trade zone on the enterprise innovation activities is analyzed with the theory of innovation power and other relevant theories.In the empirical part,based on the data of all A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2021 and the panel data of 280 cities,this paper calculates the innovation input level,innovation output level and innovation efficiency and takes them as the measurement indicators of enterprises’ innovation capability.Then construct DID model to verify the impact of the establishment of pilot free trade zones on the innovation activities of enterprises.The robustness test is conducted by replacing the explained variables,adjusting the policy impact time,placebo test and propensity score matching.Finally,the heterogeneity analysis is carried out.The results show that:first,the establishment of pilot free trade zones has a significant positive effect on innovation input,output and efficiency of enterprises,and can significantly promote the improvement of innovation input quality and output quality of enterprises.Second,the establishment of pilot free trade zones has a significant positive impact on the improvement of innovation input and output of private enterprises,and has a significant impact on the improvement of innovation efficiency of state-owned enterprises.Third,the establishment of pilot free trade zones can significantly improve the R&D input intensity of growing and mature enterprises,as well as the number of invention patent applications and innovation efficiency of growing enterprises,but it has limited effect on the improvement of innovation input level,output level and innovation efficiency of declining enterprises.Fourth,the establishment of pilot free trade zones can significantly promote the input,output and innovation efficiency of high-tech enterprises,but has no significant impact on the innovation activities of non-high-tech enterprises.Fifth,the establishment of pilot free trade zone can improve the level of enterprise innovation input and output by reducing corporate financing constraints,adjusting the proportion of highly educated executives,and improving the local level of intellectual property development.It also can improve innovation efficiency by improving the local level of intellectual property development.Finally,based on the empirical analysis results,this paper summarizes and further proposes corresponding policy recommendations from four aspects:deepening institutional innovation in the pilot free trade zone,issuing targeted policies for heterogeneous enterprises,deepening financial reform,and deepening intellectual property reform.