IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecanpo/v80y2023icp1561-1581.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Power of competition: Unraveling the impact of China's fair competition review system implementation on firm innovation

Author

Listed:
  • Xiao, Zumian
  • Wang, Shuhan
  • Zhang, Yepeng
  • Si, Deng-Kui

Abstract

This paper exploits the introduction of China's Fair Competition Review System in 2016 as a quasi-natural experiment to analyze the impact of changes in market competition on firm innovation. Our findings illustrate that heightened competition fosters innovation at the firm level. After the implementation of the Fair Competition Review System, monopolistic firms face enhanced financing constraints and reduced free cash flows, while their degree of financialization is also curbed. Furthermore, the management's emphasis on innovation strengthens the motivational effect of competition on innovation. The results from heterogeneity analysis suggest that the Fair Competition Review System's stimulating effect on innovation is especially salient for state-owned enterprise, non-high-tech enterprises, large firms, and those located in regions with lower levels of marketization.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiao, Zumian & Wang, Shuhan & Zhang, Yepeng & Si, Deng-Kui, 2023. "Power of competition: Unraveling the impact of China's fair competition review system implementation on firm innovation," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 1561-1581.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecanpo:v:80:y:2023:i:c:p:1561-1581
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2023.11.005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0313592623002862
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eap.2023.11.005?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhang, Xiang & Zhou, Han, 2022. "The effect of market competition on corporate cash holdings: An analysis of corporate innovation and financial constraint," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    2. Kong, Dongmin & Kong, Gaowen & Liu, Shasha & Zhu, Ling, 2022. "Does competition cause government decentralization? The case of state-owned enterprises," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(4), pages 1103-1122.
    3. Demir, FIrat, 2009. "Financial liberalization, private investment and portfolio choice: Financialization of real sectors in emerging markets," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 314-324, March.
    4. Ji (George) Wu & Jian Zhang & Yiwen Wu & Dongmin Kong, 2020. "When to go abroad: economic policy uncertainty and Chinese firms’ overseas investment," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(2), pages 1435-1470, June.
    5. I. Serdar Dinc & Isil Erel, 2013. "Economic Nationalism in Mergers and Acquisitions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 68(6), pages 2471-2514, December.
    6. Song, Malin & Ai, Hongshan & Li, Xie, 2015. "Political connections, financing constraints, and the optimization of innovation efficiency among China's private enterprises," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 290-299.
    7. Lamont, Owen & Polk, Christopher & Saa-Requejo, Jesus, 2001. "Financial Constraints and Stock Returns," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 14(2), pages 529-554.
    8. Aghion, Philippe & Howitt, Peter, 1992. "A Model of Growth through Creative Destruction," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 60(2), pages 323-351, March.
    9. Philippe Aghion & Antoine Dechezleprêtre & David Hémous & Ralf Martin & John Van Reenen, 2016. "Carbon Taxes, Path Dependency, and Directed Technical Change: Evidence from the Auto Industry," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 124(1), pages 1-51.
    10. Kong, Dongmin & Yang, Yiwei & Wang, Qin, 2023. "Innovative efficiency and firm value: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    11. Joseph A. Clougherty & Nan Zhang, 2021. "Foreign investor reactions to risk and uncertainty in antitrust: U.S. merger policy investigations and the deterrence of foreign acquirer presence," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(3), pages 454-478, April.
    12. Philippe Aghion & Nick Bloom & Richard Blundell & Rachel Griffith & Peter Howitt, 2005. "Competition and Innovation: an Inverted-U Relationship," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(2), pages 701-728.
    13. Paolo Buccirossi & Lorenzo Ciari & Tomaso Duso & Giancarlo Spagnolo & Cristiana Vitale, 2013. "Competition Policy and Productivity Growth: An Empirical Assessment," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(4), pages 1324-1336, October.
    14. Xu, Nuo & Gao, Yubin & Du, Lizhen & You, Liang, 2023. "Does administrative monopoly regulation affect corporate financialization? From the perspective of vertical industrial chain competition in China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    15. Mulkay, Benoît, 2019. "How does competition affect innovation behaviour in french firms?," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 237-251.
    16. Guan, Jian Cheng & Yam, Richard C.M. & Mok, Chiu Kam & Ma, Ning, 2006. "A study of the relationship between competitiveness and technological innovation capability based on DEA models," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 170(3), pages 971-986, May.
    17. Si, Deng-Kui & Wang, Meng & Ding, Hui, 2023. "Capital account liberalization and corporate maturity mismatch: The role of bank competition," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    18. Toni M. Whited & Guojun Wu, 2006. "Financial Constraints Risk," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 19(2), pages 531-559.
    19. Mariotti, Sergio & Marzano, Riccardo, 2021. "The effects of competition policy, regulatory quality and trust on inward FDI in host countries," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(6).
    20. Qiu, Guojing & Si, Deng-Kui & Hu, Debao & Li, Xinqi, 2023. "Banking deregulation and export product quality," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    21. Charles J. Hadlock & Joshua R. Pierce, 2010. "New Evidence on Measuring Financial Constraints: Moving Beyond the KZ Index," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(5), pages 1909-1940.
    22. Cohen, Wesley M., 2010. "Fifty Years of Empirical Studies of Innovative Activity and Performance," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 129-213, Elsevier.
    23. Nickell, Stephen J, 1996. "Competition and Corporate Performance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(4), pages 724-746, August.
    24. Ji Wu & Jing Zhang & Shiyu Zhang & Liping Zou, 2020. "The economic policy uncertainty and firm investment in Australia," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(31), pages 3354-3378, June.
    25. Benoit Mulkay, 2019. "How does competition affect innovation behaviour in french firms?," Post-Print hal-03511763, HAL.
    26. Gerard Hoberg & Gordon Phillips & Nagpurnanand Prabhala, 2014. "Product Market Threats, Payouts, and Financial Flexibility," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(1), pages 293-324, February.
    27. Amit Bhaduri, 2011. "A contribution to the theory of financial fragility and crisis," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 35(6), pages 995-1014.
    28. Jiang, Chun & Chang, Ya-Qi & Ge, Xinyu & Si, Deng-Kui, 2023. "Identifying the impact of bank competition on corporate shadow banking: Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    29. Laurent Fresard, 2010. "Financial Strength and Product Market Behavior: The Real Effects of Corporate Cash Holdings," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(3), pages 1097-1122, June.
    30. Liu, Guanchun & Zhang, Chengsi, 2020. "Economic policy uncertainty and firms' investment and financing decisions in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    31. Wang, Eric C. & Huang, Weichiao, 2007. "Relative efficiency of R&D activities: A cross-country study accounting for environmental factors in the DEA approach," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 260-273, March.
    32. Wang, Yanan & Liang, Shangkun & Kong, Dongmin & Wang, Qin, 2019. "High-speed rail, small city, and cost of debt: Firm-level evidence," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    33. Si, Deng-Kui & Wan, Shen & Li, Xiao-Lin & Kong, Dongmin, 2022. "Economic policy uncertainty and shadow banking: Firm-level evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    34. John Conybeare & Dong‐Hun Kim, 2010. "Barbarians at the Gates: State Control of Global Mergers and Acquisitions," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(9), pages 1175-1199, September.
    35. Romer, Paul M, 1990. "Endogenous Technological Change," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages 71-102, October.
    36. Clougherty, Joseph A. & Zhang, Nan, 2023. "Antitrust policy and inward FDI: The impact of policy risk and uncertainty on U.S. inward-FDI flows," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(4).
    37. Levin, Richard C & Cohen, Wesley M & Mowery, David C, 1985. "R&D Appropriability, Opportunity, and Market Structure: New Evidence on Some Schumpeterian Hypotheses," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(2), pages 20-24, May.
    38. Gustaf Bellstam & Sanjai Bhagat & J. Anthony Cookson, 2021. "A Text-Based Analysis of Corporate Innovation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(7), pages 4004-4031, July.
    39. Wang, Hung-Jen, 2003. "A Stochastic Frontier Analysis of Financing Constraints on Investment: The Case of Financial Liberalization in Taiwan," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 21(3), pages 406-419, July.
    40. Blanco, Iván & Wehrheim, David, 2017. "The bright side of financial derivatives: Options trading and firm innovation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(1), pages 99-119.
    41. Marcus Noland, 1997. "Competition Policy and Foreign Direct Investment," Japanese Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(5), pages 45-69.
    42. Yang, Jinghao & Chen, Siyu, 2023. "Corporate financialization, digitalization and green innovation: A panel investigation on Chinese listed firms," Innovation and Green Development, Elsevier, vol. 2(3).
    43. Richard Blundell & Rachel Griffith & John van Reenen, 1999. "Market Share, Market Value and Innovation in a Panel of British Manufacturing Firms," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 66(3), pages 529-554.
    44. Haushalter, David & Klasa, Sandy & Maxwell, William F., 2007. "The influence of product market dynamics on a firm's cash holdings and hedging behavior," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(3), pages 797-825, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ding, Jiantao & Yin, Yingkai & Kuang, Jinsong & Ding, Dezhi & Madsen, Dag.Øivind & Yang, Kunyu, 2024. "The impact of enterprise digital transformation on financial mismatch: Empirical evidence from listed companies in China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhang, Xiang & Zhou, Han, 2022. "The effect of market competition on corporate cash holdings: An analysis of corporate innovation and financial constraint," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    2. Aurelien Quignon, 2022. "Market Regulation and Innovation: Direct and Indirect Effects," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 429-456, December.
    3. Almaghrabi, Khadija S., 2023. "Local product market competition and investment home bias," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    4. Luca Farè, 2022. "Exploring the contribution of micro firms to innovation: does competition matter?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(3), pages 1081-1113, October.
    5. MARSCHINSKI Robert & DE AMORES HERNANDEZ Antonio & AMOROSO Sara & BAUER Peter & CARDANI Roberta & CSEFALVAY Zoltan & GENTY Aurelien & GKOTSIS Petros & GREGORI Wildmer & GRASSANO Nicola & HERNANDEZ GUE, 2021. "EU competitiveness: recent trends, drivers, and links to economic policy: A Synthesis Report," JRC Research Reports JRC123232, Joint Research Centre.
    6. Renaud Bourlès & Gilbert Cette & Jimmy Lopez & Jacques Mairesse & Giuseppe Nicoletti, 2013. "Do Product Market Regulations In Upstream Sectors Curb Productivity Growth? Panel Data Evidence For OECD Countries," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(5), pages 1750-1768, December.
    7. Benavente, Jose Miguel & Zuniga, Pluvia, 2021. "How does market competition affect firm innovation incentives in emerging countries? Evidence from Latin American firms," MERIT Working Papers 2021-024, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    8. Bucci, Alberto & Parello, Carmelo Pierpaolo, 2009. "Horizontal innovation-based growth and product market competition," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 213-221, January.
    9. Alberto Bucci, 2005. "An Inverted-U Relationship between Product Market Competition and Growth in an Extended Romerian Model," Rivista di Politica Economica, SIPI Spa, vol. 95(5), pages 177-206, September.
    10. Alessandro D. SCOPELLITI, 2010. "Competition And Economic Growth: A Critical Survey Of The Theoretical Literature," Journal of Applied Economic Sciences, Spiru Haret University, Faculty of Financial Management and Accounting Craiova, vol. 5(1(11)_Spr), pages 70-93.
    11. Majah-Leah V. Ravago & James A. Roumasset & Arsenio M. Balisacan, 2021. "Adapting Competition Law and Policy for Economic Development with Asian Illustrations," Department of Economics, Ateneo de Manila University, Working Paper Series 202103, Department of Economics, Ateneo de Manila University.
    12. Huang, Hongyun & Mbanyele, William & Wang, Fengrong & Song, Malin & Wang, Yuzhang, 2022. "Climbing the quality ladder of green innovation: Does green finance matter?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    13. Charles Bérubé & Marc Duhamel & Daniel Ershov, 2012. "Market Incentives for Business Innovation: Results from Canada," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 47-65, March.
    14. Rachel Griffith & Stephen Redding & Helen Simpson, 2004. "Foreign Ownership and Productivity: New Evidence from the Service Sector and the R&D Lab," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 20(3), pages 440-456, Autumn.
    15. Benavente, José Miguel & Zuñiga, Pluvia, 2022. "How Does Market Competition Affect Firm Innovation Incentives in Emerging Countries? Evidence from Chile and Colombia," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 12198, Inter-American Development Bank.
    16. Thomas Strobel, 2012. "New evidence on the sources of EU countries’ productivity growth—industry growth differences from R&D and competition," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 39(3), pages 293-325, August.
    17. Sara Barcenilla-Visús & José-María Gómez-Sancho & Carmen López-Pueyo & María-Jesús Mancebón & Jaime Sanaú, 2013. "Technical Change, Efficiency Change and Institutions: Empirical Evidence for a Sample of OECD Countries," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 89(285), pages 207-227, June.
    18. L??szl?? Halpern & G??bor K??r??si, 2003. "Corporate performance and market structure during transition in Hungary," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 2003-606, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    19. Xavier Vives, 2008. "Innovation And Competitive Pressure," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(3), pages 419-469, December.
    20. Bucci, Alberto, 2013. "Returns to specialization, competition, population, and growth," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 37(10), pages 2023-2040.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Firm innovation; Fair competition review system; Quasi-natural experiment; Difference-in-difference estimation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K21 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Antitrust Law
    • M21 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Economics - - - Business Economics
    • O3 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecanpo:v:80:y:2023:i:c:p:1561-1581. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/economic-analysis-and-policy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.