Abstract:

In order to consolidate the status of high-tech enterprises as the main body of innovation and enhance the ability of enterprises to invest in R&D, effective guidance of government policies is needed. According to the different stages of enterprise development, when the government provides policy supply and fiscal and tax support, the two policy tools are usually selectively used and effectively matched according to actual conditions. Under the premise that the market allocation of resources has played a decisive role, the role of China′s current fiscal and taxation policies in the process of enterprise innovation and development, as well as the effect of policy implementation has become the focus of general attention. Therefore, exploring the impact of government policy incentives and R&D investment on high-tech innovation performance is of great significance both in theory and in practice.
Throughout the existing research, the theoretical analysis of the effective mechanism of policy incentives, of the input and output of technological innovation is still unclear. The role path, transformation form and destination of fiscal and taxation policies in innovation investment are not detailed and specific, and the problem that how interaction between policy incentives and R&D investment impact on high-tech innovation performance has not been fully resolved.
 Based on the previous studies, this paper puts forward three research hypotheses: Hypothesis 1: The enterprise R&D investment is an important factor affecting innovation performance. The higher the R&D investment level, the better the innovation performance improvement effect. Hypothesis 2: Tax incentives will weaken the contribution of R&D investment to corporate innovation performance. The more tax incentives enterprises enjoy, the level of R&D investment decreases but not increases, and the worse the effect of corporate innovation performance improvement. Hypothesis 3: Financial subsidies will enhance the incentive effect of R&D investment on corporate innovation performance. The more financial subsidies that enterprises enjoy, the higher the level of R&D investment, and the more effective the improvement of corporate innovation performs.
This paper constructs a fixed effect model based on the panel data of 59 listed high-tech enterprises in the western region of China from 2014 to 2018, and analyzes empirically the influences of the interaction of fiscal and tax policy support and enterprise R&D investment on the innovation performance of enterprises in the high-tech enterprises.
The research shows that:(1) This paper believes that there is a correlation between R&D investment and innovation performance; in the process of R&D investment to promote enterprise innovation performance, although tax incentives play a depressing role, fiscal subsidy policy plays an incentive role. (2) From the perspective of ownership, compared with state-owned enterprises, the R&D investment of private enterprises plays a significant role in promoting innovation performance. However, it is unavoidable that private enterprises enjoying tax incentives have invested in R&D. There is an extrusion effect in the improvement of innovation performance. (3) At the industry level, whether it is manufacturing or non-manufacturing enterprises, tax incentives and fiscal subsidy policies have an impact on innovation performance through the intermediary variable of R&D investment; the enterprises which enjoy the tax incentives will curb the improvement of R&D investment on innovation performance. However, the effect of subsidy policy by manufacturing enterprises that are subject to fiscal subsidy policy will lead to a transmission mechanism through the intermediary variable of R&D investment, thereby significantly improving the innovation performance of enterprises. (4) By calibrating the model and further considering the intertemporal nature of the economic benefits generated by the R&D investment of the enterprise, it can be seen that the tax preferential policy supports the R&D activities of the enterprise by cooperating with the R&D investment of the enterprise, which makes it easier to upgrade the innovative performance of enterprises; while the financial subsidy policy needs to cooperate with the capitalization of research and development investment of enterprises, which has a positive effect on the improvement of innovation performance.
On this basis, this paper proposes a rationalization proposal to further use fiscal and taxation policies to promote enterprise R&D investment to enhance the innovation performance of enterprises. It is believed that in the process of stimulating high-tech enterprises′ R&D investment and innovation performance, they should generally follow the principle of giving more tax incentives for R&D investment and giving more financial subsidies to the capitalization of R&D investment. Specifically, there are three main policy recommendations.
1.Combine the life cycle theory, and jointly use the interactive incentive mechanism of financial subsidies and R&D investment to promote innovation performance. In the initial stage of the enterprise, the tax preferential policy cannot solve the "immediate need" of the enterprise; in comparison, the financial subsidy is a "snow in the snow"(easy sell) that directly solves the bottleneck of funds. In the growth period, tax incentives play the role of "support". By the time of maturity, the tax preferential policy has already completed its historical mission; in contrast, financial subsidies generally only affect the research and development period and the conversion period of enterprise innovation. However, for industries which are supported by the state, financial subsidies are required to support and "assist" at various times.
2.Innovative financial subsidies support private high-tech enterprises, and improve the operational efficiency of R&D investment of subsidy funds. Innovative financial subsidies should be supported by private high-tech enterprises. For example, increase the flexibility of financial subsidies, convert financial subsidies to invest in private enterprises to invest in venture capital or investment funds, and professionalize through professional managers. Operate and use their investment experience to correct the wrong investment direction and increase the success rate of investment.
3.Using the synergy between tax incentives and cost-based R&D investment, the interaction mechanism between financial subsidy policy and capitalized R&D investment runs through the whole process of the enterprise R&D cycle, and selectively uses policy tools at different stages to comprehensively to improve corporate innovation performance. Tax incentives and enterprise cost-based R&D investment are more likely to enhance the company′s innovation performance, while the financial subsidy policy is more likely to enhance the company′s innovation performance.

Key words:  tax and financial policies, capitalized and expensed R&D investment, innovation performance