Reverse Mixed-Ownership Reform and Ambidextrous Innovation Investment in Private Enterprises: Evidence from China

Amid the country's vigorous promotion of mixed-ownership reform, optimizing the layout of state-owned capital and guiding private enterprises in innovation are crucial for achieving high-quality economic development. This study, adopting the perspective of "reverse mixed-ownership reform," which involves the introduction of state-owned capital into private enterprises, analyzes the impact of state-owned equity and its shareholding level on the ambidextrous innovation investment of private enterprises using A-share private listed companies from 2007 to 2021 as samples. The findings reveal that the introduction of state-owned capital significantly enhances the ambidextrous innovation investment of private enterprises. Furthermore, there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between the level of state-owned equity shareholding and developmental innovation investment, while a linear positive correlation exists with exploratory innovation investment. Additionally, financing constraints play a mediating role in the relationship between state-owned equity participation and innovation investment, while agency costs negatively moderate the relationship between the introduction of state-owned capital and ambidextrous innovation investment. Private enterprises undergoing direct privatization exhibit stronger organizational inertia, exhibiting a positive impact on both types of innovation investment. This study provides theoretical support for further advancing mixed-ownership reform and rationalizing the layout of state-owned capital, while also offering empirical evidence for promoting high-quality development among private enterprises.