中间品贸易自由化、共同投资者持股与核心技术突破

Abstract

Trade liberalization of intermediate inputs is an important policy instrument for supporting the development of intermediate goods imports. It serves as a major channel through which firms obtain foreign resources, particularly critical innovation resources, and is therefore a key determinant of firm innovation. Yet trade liberalization alone may be insufficient to ensure that the gains in innovation and economic development are fully realized. Using a sample of A-share listed manufacturing firms in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2007 to 2021, this paper investigates the role of common institutional ownership in the impact of trade liberalization of intermediate inputs on firms' core technological innovation. The results show that trade liberalization of intermediate inputs significantly promotes firms' core technological innovation, and that common institutional ownership significantly amplifies this effect. Mechanism tests indicate that common institutional ownership mainly operates by strengthening the cost-saving effect, the knowledge spillover effect, and the escape-competition effect induced by trade liberalization of intermediate inputs, while also reducing import dependence. Further analysis shows that the promoting effect is stronger when firms in the common ownership network are linked through supply chain relationships, and the amplifying role is more pronounced when connected firms include state-owned enterprises, when firms within the network are geographically closer, and when the common investors are long-term investors.