自贸试验区建设如何赋能企业国际化

How Does the Establishment of Pilot Free Trade Zones Empower Firm Internationalization?

中文关键词:  自贸试验区建设  企业国际化  双重差分  全要素生产率  数字化转型

英文关键词:establishment of pilot free trade zones  firm internationalization  difference-in-differences  total factor productivity  digital transformation

中文摘要:

      自贸试验区建设是中国推动高水平对外开放的重要举措,也是以制度型开放促进新质生产力发展的示范标杆。基于2011—2022年中国上市公司微观数据,以自贸试验区建设为准自然实验,构建多期双重差分模型,实证检验了自贸试验区建设对企业国际化的影响及作用机制。研究发现,自贸试验区建设能够显著提升区内企业的国际化水平,且通过提高企业全要素生产率、推动企业数字化转型赋能企业国际化。异质性分析结果表明,自贸试验区建设对于国有企业、非高科技企业国际化的促进效应更为显著。因此,应以制度型开放为牵引,推动自贸试验区在规则对接与要素配置、数字基础设施与数据治理、差异化企业扶持以及风险预警评估等方面形成组合政策,并将自贸试验区政策向更大范围复制推广,以持续降低企业国际化的制度性与经营性成本,助力企业“走出去”。

英文摘要:

      The establishment of pilot free trade zones (PFTZs) is a major initiative to advance high-standard opening-up and serves as a benchmark for promoting the development of new quality productive forces through institutional opening up. Using microdata from China's listed firms from 2011 to 2022, this study treats the establishment of PFTZs as a quasi-natural experiment and builds a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) framework to empirically examine the impact of the establishment of PFTZs on firm internationalization and its underlying mechanisms. The findings indicate that the establishment of PFTZs significantly enhances the internationalization level of firms within PFTZs. This empowering effect is achieved primarily by improving firms' total factor productivity and driving their digital transformation. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the enhancing effect is more pronounced for state-owned enterprises and non-high-tech firms. Therefore, driven by institutional opening up, it is imperative to formulate a comprehensive policy mix for PFTZs encompassing areas such as rule alignment and factor allocation, digital infrastructure and data governance, differentiated enterprise support mechanisms, and risk early warning and assessment. Furthermore, the successful experience of PFTZ policies should be replicated and scaled up more broadly to continuously reduce the institutional and operational costs associated with firm internationalization, thereby supporting firms' overseas expansion. 