How do Financial Support and Technological Innovation Affect Export Sophistication? An Empirical Research Based on China’s High-Tech Industry

Abstract

Based on the provincial data of China’s high-tech industry from 2005 to 2015, we use the methods such as interaction effect, mediation effect and threshold effect on the basis of reconstructing financial support to explore how financial support affects export sophistication through technological innovation. The test results show that: First, from the perspective of the transmission mechanism of financial support affecting export sophistication, it deepens the understanding of the inherent law of export sophistication and the impact of finance and innovation. Second, we construct the financial marketization index from the aspects of financial market competition” and marketization of credit fund allocation”, which has inspired a new idea for the scientific acquisition of key data. Third, this paper discusses the impact of financial support on the export sophistication of enterprises with different characteristics like scale, extroversion and economic performance. It not only expands the research field of export sophistication, but also provides a basis for the government to formulate policies. Theoretically, first, financial support can alleviate the capital flow constraints in the production and trading links, which improves the efficiency of innovation resource conversion. Financial support increases regional capital, changes a country’s capital-labor ratio as well as offers support for the application of innovative technologies. Financial support affects the accumulation of innovative human capital. Second, the direct manifestation of technological innovation on export sophistication is to improve the technical level, while the improvement of productivity level is an indirect manifestation. Technological innovation helps export sophistication by breaking technical barriers to trade. Third, financial support conduces to achieve external financing, promotes technological innovation and then increases the export sophistication of products. Therefore, financial support will enhance export sophistication by strengthening technological innovation. In conclusion, financial support and technological innovation significantly raise export sophistication; the overall improvement effect is enhanced by financial support; it shows obvious threshold characteristics; for companies that are larger, more extroverted, and better economic performance, financial support has a greater effect on export sophistication; financial support mainly enhances export sophistication through technological innovation investment, transformation and spillover. The conclusion has important implications. On the one hand, the government sectors should grasp the key points of financial system reform, formulate supportive policies to promote innovation and endorse the upgrading of export product quality. On the other hand, while promoting the common development of finance and innovation, we must appropriately improve the scale, extroversion and economic performance of innovative enterprises. In addition, the government should attach importance to intellectual property rights, optimize the industrial structure, and increase export sophistication to achieve the rising of the global value chain.