The Impact Of Input Digitization On Technology Innovation Of Chinese Manufacturing

The 14 th Five-Year Plan for the Deep Integration of Informatization and Industrialization clearly points out that "China’s manufacturing industry is still facing manychallenges such as excess supply at the low end,insufficient supply at the high end,and innovation capability that does not meet the requirements of high-quality development",and puts forward the policy initiative of "digital transformation as the main grasp"."Since 2010,the rapid development of digital technology represented by cloud computing,big data,Internet of Things,artificial intelligence,etc.has given birth to the fourth industrial revolution,and the social production process has widely shown a digital trend.How to better use input digitization to improve the technological innovation capability of manufacturing industry has become a realistic problem that needs to be solved in the context of digital economy.In this context,this paper studies the relationship between input digitization and manufacturing technology innovation capability,which can provide necessary theoretical support for China to improve the level of input digitization to promote manufacturing technology innovation capability,and has important practical significance for China to realize the strategic goal of being a strong manufacturing country and moving into the forefront of innovative countries.In this paper,by merging the multi-regional input-output table(ADB-MRIO)released by Asian Development Bank,China Science and Technology Statistical Yearbook,China Statistical Yearbook,Statistical Yearbook of Industrial Enterprises’ Scientific and Technological Activities and China Industrial Statistical Yearbook,we finally get the panel data of 14 manufacturing industry segments in China from 2007 to 2020.On this basis,this paper firstly selects and measures the input digitization index based on the complete dependency degree and the technological innovation efficiency index based on the super-efficient SBM model,so as to analyze the characteristic facts of China’s manufacturing industry input digitization and technological innovation.Secondly,this paper argues the impact of input digitization on technological innovation from the theoretical level.Finally,this paper constructs an econometric model to empirically examine the impact of input digitization on technological innovation in China’s manufacturing industry,as well as the heterogeneity effect caused by industry attributes and the mediating effect caused by external transaction costs and market competition.The findings of this paper are as follows.First,the results of the benchmark regression show that input digitization significantly drives the efficiency of technological innovation in China’s manufacturing industry,and this finding still holds after a series of robustness tests;second,the results of the heterogeneity analysis show that the innovation effect of input digitization is most significant for knowledgeintensive,highly export-dependent manufacturing industries that use foreign digital inputs.In addition,the innovation-driven effect of input digitization is significantly enhanced after the release of Made in China 2025;third,the results of the mediation effect analysis show that the impact of input digitization on manufacturing technology innovation can be realized by reducing external transaction costs and increasing the level of market competition.Based on the above research findings,this paper puts forward the following policy recommendations: first,actively promote the construction of support facilities and smooth the digital development channels;second,enhance the complementarity of industries that put into digitalization and form a differentiated industry digital transformation strategy;third,improve the relevant institutional guarantee to guarantee the benign development of manufacturing industry input digitalization.