关键词: 国有注资, 创新数量, 创新质量, 国有相对控股, 创新水平

Abstract: With the progress of a new round of state-owned enterprise (SOE) reform in recent years, many SOEs have introduced non-state capital to implement mixed-ownership reforms. At the same time, state capital has been injected into non-SOEs in various ways. In this context, some studies have examined the impact of state capital injection (SCI) on firm performance, such as total factor productivity, profit margins, and operating income. In addition, limited literature has examined the influence of SCI on firm innovation, especially from the perspective of innovation quality. On the one hand, SCI may help firms acquire the necessary resources for innovation. On the other hand, it could potentially reduce the innovation efficiency and innovativeness of a firm. Therefore, further theoretical analyses and empirical tests are needed to explore the impact of SCI on firm innovation. Consequently, we investigated the impact of SCI on the quantity and quality of firm innovation and the potential underlying mechanisms. This research has not only contributed to the literature on the economic implications of SCI but also provided some policy insights for the development of a mixed-ownership economy.By employing a staggered difference-in-differences research design and utilizing the data on A-share listed firms from 2011 to 2021, we found that SCI generally only facilitates an increase in the quantity of firm innovation without having a significant impact on the quality of firm innovation. However, when state capital becomes the relatively controlling shareholder, SCI increases not only the quantity but also the quality of firm innovation. Moreover, SCI has a more pronounced effect in promoting the quantity of innovation for firms with a lower initial level of innovation. The mechanism analysis suggests that the positive impact of SCI on firm innovation quantity is mainly due to the alleviation of financing constraints, the attraction of high talent, and the enhancement in the willingness of firms to innovate, rather than an increase in opportunities for joint research and development.The contributions we have made in this paper are threefold. First, we have extended the literature on the economic effects of SCI and mixed ownership reforms by examining the impact of SCI on firm innovation, particularly on innovation quality, and provided new empirical evidence on the controversy surrounding the relationship between state equity and firm innovation. Second, we found that SCI does not increase the quantity of firm innovation by affecting the ability of firms to engage in joint research and development but rather by alleviating financing constraints, attracting high talent, and increasing the willingness of firms to innovate. Thus, the mechanism of the impact of SCI on firm innovation is revealed. Finally, this study conducted a heterogeneous analysis from the perspective of the relative control of state capital and the initial innovation level of firms, which will deepen the understanding of the relationship between SCI and firm innovation, and provide some policy insights for the layout optimization and efficiency improvement of state capital.The conclusions of our study have practical implications. For policymakers, first, they should continue to push forward the reform of state equity investment companies, utilize the role of state equity as an incubator for industrial funds, and support firms in key and difficult areas of the national economy to achieve technological breakthroughs. Second, the share of state equity in enterprises that have accepted SCI can be appropriately increased or even made to be controlled by the state, if necessary. Third, equity investment by state capital should prioritize areas that are under-innovated due to a lack of innovative resources. Fourth, the quality of innovation should be included as a criterion for evaluating the performance of managers of SOEs and state capital, which provides incentives for firms to pay more attention to the quality of innovation. For managers, first, for firms lacking resources for innovation, state capital and its links with the government should be utilized to obtain the resources needed to carry out high-quality innovation activities. Second, after the implementation of SCI, firms with a lower level of innovation should proactively pursue collaboration with SOEs and government-affiliated universities and scientific research institutions to enhance their capacity and potential for conducting high-quality innovation.

Key words:  state capital injection, innovation quantity, innovation quality, state relative control, innovation level