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2025, Volume 40,  Issue 5

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Economic Theory and Exploration
The Impact of Digital Trade Flows on the Transfer of Patent Technologies among Regions
LIU Binglian, ZENG Jinping, LIU Yuhai
2025, 40(5): 4-20.
[Abstract](24) [FullText HTML] (10) [PDF 1266KB](9)
Abstract:
The development of digital technology not only profoundly reshapes the trade patterns among regions, but also influences the behavior of patent technology transfer among regions through the relationship network formed by digital trade flows. Based on interregional patent transfer data released by the National Intellectual Property Administration and the enterprise value-added tax special invoice data collected by the State Taxation Administration, this study empirically examines the impact of digital trade flows between regions on patent technology transfer behavior using a gravity model. The findings reveal that digital trade flows between regions significantly increase the number of patent technology transfers; a conclusion remains robust after a series of tests, including instrumental variable analysis. Mechanism analysis indicates that digital trade flows between regions enhance the digital infrastructure level of the purchasing region, promote industrial upgrading, and stimulate innovation awareness, thereby increasing the demand for technological innovation and ultimately boosting intercity patent technology transfers. The heterogeneity analysis reveals that the impact of intercity digital trade flows on patent transfers varies depending on the relative geographical location, digitalization level, trade level of the cities, as well as the type of patent transfer. Further extended analysis reveals that a city's degree centrality in the patent technology transfer network decreases, but the strength of the patent technology transfer relationships with selling regions increases. This suggests that purchasing regions are more inclined to engage in patent technology transfers with cities they already have trade ties with, rather than establishing new technological connections.
“How Can One Remain Indifferent When Three Men Make a Tiger”: The Impact of Negative Media News on Foreign Divestment
YU Guansheng, LIU Min
2025, 40(5): 21-34.
[Abstract](12) [FullText HTML] (15) [PDF 1074KB](2)
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Based on a micro-level database of listed companies, this study empirically examines the impact of negative media coverage on foreign capital withdrawal and its underlying mechanisms. The results indicate: First, negative media coverage significantly increases the probability of foreign capital withdrawal, with online media exhibiting an "amplification effect" in this process, a conclusion still true after a series of tests; second, reducing corporate net profit margins, intensifying financing constraints, and increasing stock market volatility are key channels through which negative media coverage elevates the probability of foreign capital withdrawal; third, the intensifying effect of negative media coverage on foreign capital withdrawal is more pronounced for non-state-owned enterprises, labor-intensive enterprises, and firms in highly competitive industries. Further analysis reveals that among various dimensions of online negative coverage, reports targeting company executives exert the most dominant influence. From an internal-external adjustment perspective, the study examines how strengthening corporate capabilities and government policy support mitigate the impact of negative media coverage. It indicates that improvements in corporate ESG performance, advancement of digital transformation, optimization of government administrative efficiency, and implementation of tax incentive policies can effectively reduce the shock of negative media coverage on foreign capital withdrawal. This study holds certain reference value for China in preventing foreign capital outflow risks and establishing a collaborative governance framework between enterprises and the government under the policy framework of "stabilizing foreign investment."
Industrial Investment and Regional Industry Chain Extension: From the Perspective of Vertical Structure
LI Tianjian
2025, 40(5): 35-49.
[Abstract](26) [FullText HTML] (15) [PDF 1187KB](3)
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Promoting Chinese path to modernization with high-quality development needs to give better play to the leading role of government investment. The Chinese government has a preference for investing in upstream sectors and provides support through industrial policies, thus forming a vertical production structure. This paper attempts to introduce the theory of vertical structure into the study of spatial economics, and uses the "156 Project" as a natural experiment to empirically investigate the impact of industrial investment on the extension of regional industry chains. It is found that the more investment a district's upstream industrial sector receives, the higher the proportion and agglomeration level of upstream industrial industries in its long-term industrial structure; in terms of mechanism, due to the existence of vertical structure, investment in upstream industrial industries suppresses the market competitiveness of local related industries, and the higher the upstream degree of the investment industry, the more obvious its inhibitory effect on downstream enterprises. Further analysis shows that increasing the production segmentation length of the invested industry chain helps improve the total factor productivity of local related enterprises. The conclusion of this study indicates that in order to achieve satisfactory long-term results in government industrial investment, it is necessary to reduce market structure distortions at the industry level.
Management and Corporate Performance
How Does the Mode of "Open Bidding for Selecting the Best Candidates" Restrain the Enterprise Innovation Bubble: Based on the Perspective of Innovation Factor Agglomeration
LIU Donghui, BAI Fuping
2025, 40(5): 50-64.
[Abstract](23) [FullText HTML] (18) [PDF 1048KB](2)
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In the critical period of China's economic growth shift, the mode of "open bidding for selecting the best candidates" is an strategic deployment for deepening the innovation system and mechanism reform, which can effectively curb the phenomenon of the enterprise innovation bubble. This paper takes China's A-share listed companies from 2016 to 2024 as the research object and uses manual methods to collect the list of listed companies actually participating in the provincial or municipal "open bidding for selecting the best candidates" in each year to explore the impact and its mechanism of the mode of "open bidding for selecting the best candidates" on the enterprise innovation bubble. The results show that the innovation bubble can be significantly suppressed by the mode of "open bidding for selecting the best candidates", and the conclusion is still valid after a series of robustness tests. From the perspective of innovation factor agglomeration, the mode can effectively exert knowledge effect, capital effect, and resource effect by expanding enterprise knowledge width, attracting patient capital injection, and promoting enterprise industry-university-research cooperation, thus restraining the enterprise innovation bubble. Heterogeneity analysis results show that for the samples with deeper digital government construction, higher financial agglomeration level, and weak regional innovation endowment, the mode of "open bidding for selecting the best candidates" has a more significant inhibitory effect on the enterprise innovation bubble. The analysis of economic consequences shows that the suppression effect of the mode on the enterprise innovation bubble has brought about the simplification and upgrading of enterprise labor and employment. The research conclusions provide theoretical reference to further promote the implementation of the mode of "open bidding for selecting the best candidates", and restrain the phenomenon of enterprise innovation bubbles.
A Study on the Inhibitory Effect of Economic Responsibility Audit on Financial Assets Allocation of SOEs
CHENG Bo, CAI Yunfei, HU Chaohui
2025, 40(5): 65-77.
[Abstract](21) [FullText HTML] (13) [PDF 1347KB](1)
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As a crucial tool of national supervision and governance, whether economic responsibility audit can guide state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to "shift from the virtual to the real economy" is a significant issue widely concerned by both theoretical and practical circles. Utilizing the implementation of the New Regulations on Economic Responsibility Audit in 2019 as a quasi-natural experiment, this study empirically examines the impact of economic responsibility audit on the financial asset allocation of SOEs. The findings reveal that economic responsibility audit significantly reduces the level of financial asset allocation in SOEs, with the underlying mechanisms being the enhancement of internal control quality and the increase in investments in real capital. Further analysis indicates that this inhibitory effect is more pronounced in local SOEs, enterprises with high capital market attention, and those with a separation of the two positions (chairman and CEO). This research not only enriches and expands the literature on the factors influencing corporate financial asset allocation and the economic consequences of economic responsibility audits but also provides micro-level evidence for effectively guiding SOEs to "shift from the virtual to the real economy". Furthermore, it offers important implications for strengthening SOE governance and resolving as well as preventing financial risks.
The Impact of Smart Manufacturing on Firm Markup
NIU Ziheng, JIN Huan, LI Xinze
2025, 40(5): 78-90.
[Abstract](23) [FullText HTML] (18) [PDF 1169KB](3)
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The increase in the markup of manufacturing firms is an intuitive reflection of building a strong manufacturing nation. This paper takes the "Smart Manufacturing Pilot Demonstration Action" as a quasi-natural experiment to comprehensively evaluate the impact of smart manufacturing on firm markup. The study finds that smart manufacturing enhances firm markup by improving innovation capabilities and optimizing resource allocation, and the effect of smart manufacturing on markup is more pronounced for mature firms, state-owned enterprises, firms in industries with rapid technological change, and firms located in the central and eastern regions. Further discussion confirms that the higher the degree of a firm's digital transformation, the stronger the effect of smart manufacturing on enhancing firm markup. The conclusions of this study provide theoretical support for continuously advancing the intelligent transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry.
Fiscal and Public Administration
Robot Application and Workers' Compensation Change: The Consistent Logic of Overall Evolution and Structural Differentiation
SONG Pei, LI Lin, NA Meiya, AI Yang
2025, 40(5): 91-109.
[Abstract](16) [FullText HTML] (12) [PDF 1082KB](4)
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Robots are profoundly changing the global production mode and labor market structure, and have a complex and far-reaching impact on income distribution. It is pointed out that the overall evolution direction of labor income depends on the production relationship between machine capital and labor, and the dependence of machine capital on workers' skills and gender differences among workers with different skills determine the changing trend of skill wage premium and gender wage gap, which provides consistent logical support for understanding the overall evolution and structural differentiation of workers' compensation under the application of robots. Based on the panel data of China city and the CLDS, the empirical tests show that the current robot application will reduce labor income share, expand the skill wage premium and narrow the gender income gap. Besides, the influence of robot application on workers' compensation gradually appears after 2013. Heterogeneity tests show that the impact of robot application on labor income share is more significant in the central and western regions, the impact on skill wage premium is more prominent in the eastern and western regions, non-young workers and workers in the tertiary industry, and the role of narrowing the gender wage gap is greater in the western region, young workers and workers in the secondary industry. The mechanism tests show that the substitution effect of capital deepening and employment shock, and the complementary effect of skill upgrading and industrial transformation are the dual channels through which robot application affects workers' compensation. The research provides countermeasures and enlightenment for the government to promote high-quality economic development with both efficiency and fairness.
On the Carrying Capacity of Social Old-age Security Systems under Population Aging Pressure
LI Fang, LIU Danchen, SHEN Suyan
2025, 40(5): 110-128.
[Abstract](19) [FullText HTML] (19) [PDF 2265KB](2)
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Population aging has become a major pressure and significant challenge affecting China's social and economic development. How to build Social Old-age Security Systems that adapt to the needs of an aging society is a continuous focus of the academic attention. Based on carrying capacity theory, this study proposes the concept of carrying capacity of social old-age security systems. Through constructing an "economy-service" two-dimensional analytical framework, it systematically elucidates China's carrying capacity of social old-age security under the pressure of population aging. Temporally, from 2011 to 2022, China's carrying capacity of social old-age security systems increased from a baseline value of 0.214 to 0.323, with both economic security and service provision showing fluctuating upward trends. Spatially, based on different resource endowments and developmental stages, the provinces have developed differentiated pathways in their carrying capacity of social old-age security systems. Further research reveals an 'inverted U' lagged-type dynamic relationship between population aging and the carrying capacity of social old-age security systems. Three core mechanisms emerge: structural dividend effects, elastic constraint effects, and compound pressure effects. Notably, the intrinsic mechanisms through which population aging influences economic carrying capacity and service carrying capacity, demonstrate significant differences. This study provides theoretical foundations and policy insights for constructing social old-age security systems that adapt to population aging.

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