China Industrial Enterprise Database Research Articles

A Study on the Recent Trends of Entrepreneurship in Exports

The determinants of participation in international business is a well- researched area with in both economics and business management disciplines. Such studies have largely highlighted factors external to the firm. A few enquiries in the small and medium sector have looked person- specific factors as explaining the difference in behavior between exporters and non-exporters. Taking off from these two streams, this paper delves deep into the exporting behavior of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in two specific sectors after considering the dimensions of entrepreneur, enterprise and environment. Entrepreneurship is the sustainable driving force and stable source of economic development, and it is an important guarantee for the continuous improvement of export product quality and high-quality economic development. This paper selects entrepreneurship and export product quality as research objects. It measures the export product quality at the enterprise level using data from the China Industrial Enterprise Database and the China Customs Import and Export Trade Database. Furthermore, based on matching entrepreneurship at the macro-level and the export product quality at the micro-level, the impact and mechanism of entrepreneurship on the export product quality are empirically examined. It was found that entrepreneurial innovation and entrepreneurship further significantly contribute to the improvement of export product quality by promoting the total factor productivity of enterprises. Entrepreneurial innovation and entrepreneurship do not significantly contribute to the export product quality of state-owned and collective enterprises, while they significantly contribute to privately-owned, independent legal entities, Hong Kong–Macao–Taiwan, and foreign-funded enterprises. Furthermore, the promoting effect on privately-owned and independent enterprises is greater than that on Hong Kong–Macao–Taiwan and foreign-funded enterprises. Further analysis shows that improving the rule of law, reducing excessive government intervention, and improving the market mechanism for products and production factors, as well as vigorously developing the non-state-owned economy, will all be conducive to the cultivation and development of entrepreneurs and better promotion of the improvement of export product quality.

Polluted air, smarter factories? China's robot imports shed light on a potential link

Robot-centered intelligent manufacturing is leading a new round of technological revolution and industrial change. Existing studies have neglected the impact of air pollution, a non-monetary factor, on firms' intelligent manufacturing transformation (FIMT). Using matched samples from China's industrial enterprise database and China's customs database, and based on enterprises' “machine replacing human” strategy, this paper reveals the facilitating effect of air pollution on FIMT. The robustness estimation results after endogeneity treatment, replacing the core variables, changing the clustering level, removing the policy influence, avoiding the interference of domestic robots, changing the estimation strategy, and restricting the import trade mode still support the conclusion. The mechanism by which air pollution accelerates FIMT lies in the first: the factor substitution effect of rising labor costs due to air pollution. The second is the skill-capital complementarity effect due to increased firms' human capital investment induced by air pollution. The third is the intelligent investment effect due to increased economic policy uncertainty induced by air pollution. In addition, air pollution accelerates FIMT more significantly in non-state-owned firms, high labor-intensity industries, and regions with high population aging. This paper argues that there is no conflict between environmental governance and intelligent manufacturing transformation. Air pollution and “machines replacing humans” in the labor market efficiency and fairness issues need attention.

“Hidden price”: Energy conservation and emission reduction targets and employment growth

To achieve the “Carbon Peak” and “Carbon Neutrality” goals, the Chinese government is continuously strengthening energy conservation and emission reduction (ECER) work. However, this measure may also have an impact on employment in enterprises. To clarify its impact characteristics, we manually collect and organize prefecture-level municipal government work reports, and characterize ECER targets based on whether the government's planning terms involve ECER. This paper combines the China Industrial Enterprise Database and China Listed Company Database to empirically test the impact of ECER targets on employment growth in enterprises. We find that ECER targets inhibit employment growth in enterprises, and this effect is still significant after considering the endogeneity problems. The results of the mechanism analysis show that at the macro level, ECER targets can inhibit employment growth by exacerbating resource mismatch and weakening market competition. At the micro level, ECER targets can increase the enterprise's fixed assets investment and tax burden, and reduce the enterprise's wage, which has a negative impact on employment growth. In addition, we also find that the inhibitory effect of ECER targets on employment growth is more significant in foreign-capital enterprises, private enterprises, and enterprises in the eastern region.

The impact of input efficiency on the value chain embeddedness of rare earth enterprises

We use the combined data of enterprises from the "China Industrial Enterprise Database" and the "China Customs Database" from 2000 to 2013 to examine whether and how the improvement in input efficiency of rare earth enterprises affects value chain embeddedness. The research finds that the improvement in input efficiency of rare earth enterprises has a significant enhancement effect on value chain embeddedness. The results show that the difference in the efficiency impact of capital input and labor input is around 3 %. Specifically, the improvement in input efficiency of enterprises will generate product expansion effects, quality effects, and technology effects, strengthening the ascent of the enterprise value chain. Furthermore, for enterprises in the middle segments of the industry chain, enterprises with low debt ratios, and enterprises in a relaxed financing environment, the efficiency of capital input has a more significant impact on improving the position of enterprises in the value chain.

Market center of gravity shift and technological innovation of local firms-evidence from China

ABSTRACT This paper uses the combined data from three micro-databases, namely, China Industrial Enterprise Database, China Customs Database and China Patent Database from 2000 to 2014, to examine the impact of market center of gravity shift on the technological innovation of local enterprises and the empirical results show that: The market center of gravity shift is conducive to improving the local enterprises’ innovation level. The mechanism test shows that the change of market center of gravity promotes the technological innovation of local enterprises by increasing enterprise productivity, stimulating the exit mechanism of market competition, and enhancing the degree of industrial agglomeration.

Research on the Effect of Minimum Wage on the Bargaining Power of Chinese Manufacturing

Based on the data of China's industrial enterprise database from 2003 to 2013 and the national minimum wage data at county (city) level, this paper investigates the impact of minimum wage policy on China's manufacturing bargaining power. The results show that (1) the increase of minimum wage will reduce the price markup of Chinese manufacturers and weaken the bargaining power of Chinese manufacturers. (2) Compared with the minimum wage adjustment in the lag period, the cost impact of the minimum wage in the current period is more intense in weakening the bargaining power of the manufacturing industry.

Poison or catalyst? How do energy saving targets matter for firm-level productivity in China

China’s Top-10000 Enterprises Energy Conservation and Low Carbon Program, enacted in 2011, sets binding energy saving targets for enterprises. However, whether energy saving target setting is a poison or a catalyst remains controversial, and no research has been conducted on how the targets affect enterprises’ total factor productivity. We construct 2012–2013 panel data models by mapping the enterprises subject to the energy saving targets onto the China Industrial Enterprise Database to systematically quantify the effects of the targets on enterprises’ total factor productivity. The study reveals an inverted-U-shaped curve between energy saving targets and manufacturers’ total factor productivity. We also find that the targets boost an enterprise’s total factor productivity by expanding the enterprise’s market share and their impacts vary according to region, type of enterprise, and industry. The study shows that setting appropriate energy saving targets can improve the environment and boost enterprise productivity.

Extreme high temperatures and corporate low-carbon actions

Greenhouse gas emissions are considered the culprit of extreme high temperatures, and low-carbon transformation has become a global consensus. The low-carbon action by enterprises is an inevitable choice if they are to adapt to economic and social needs. Green innovation is an important measure for enterprises to respond to the challenges of low-carbon transformation. This study mainly discusses the causal relationship between extreme high temperatures and green innovation of enterprises. Using China's industrial enterprise database, we construct county-annual panel data from 2000 to 2013. Results show that extreme high temperatures improve the level of green innovation of enterprises. After a series of robustness tests, the results remain. Mechanism analysis shows that extreme high temperatures increase the environmental concerns of the government, the public, and society, thus strengthening government regulation, public participation, and social supervision as well as encouraging enterprises to carry out green innovation. Our heterogeneous analysis shows that in the eastern region with a high level of legal system and economic development, it is easier to promote green innovation for enterprises. In addition, large-scale enterprises are more willing to carry out green innovation after experiencing a heat wave.

Will the establishment of city commercial banks improve resource allocation efficiency?–Concurrently on bank risk-taking channels of monetary policy in China

Improving resource allocation efficiency is an essential approach to accelerate the construction of a dual circulation development paradigm. This article takes the intensification of heterogeneous competition between local banks caused by the establishment of city commercial banks as a quasi-natural experiment. Based on urban panel data obtained by matching the China Industrial Enterprise Database and the Urban Statistical Yearbook, empirical research finds that the establishment of city commercial banks generally deteriorates resource allocation efficiency. However, after incorporating bank risk-taking channels of monetary policy into the analysis framework, tight monetary policies are conducive to alleviating the deterioration of resource allocation efficiency. Further research indicates that this mitigating effect mainly comes from enterprises with high productivity and strong financial constraints. In the context of global quantitative easing policies, the findings of this article can contribute to a deep understanding of the relationship between banking sectors and resource allocation efficiency and provide significant policy insights for further promoting resource allocation efficiency, improving the pass-through effect of monetary policies, and advancing high-quality development of the banking industry.

Does Trade Policy Uncertainty Affect Firms' Imported Intermediates?

Abstract In recent years, the rise of trade protectionism and the intensifying trend of deglobalization worldwide have led to an annual increase in trade policy uncertainty faced by Chinese companies in international trade. This uncertainty may impact the import of intermediate goods by these companies. The import of intermediate goods is closely related to various aspects of a company's operations, such as productivity, mark-up rates, and innovation. Therefore, examining the impact and mechanisms of trade policy uncertainty on the import of intermediate goods by companies is of significant importance. This paper uses data from the 2001-2009 China Industrial Enterprise Database, China Customs Import and Export Database, and the World Bank's WITS database to calculate the trade policy uncertainty index for Chinese companies and test theoretical hypotheses. Empirical results show that when trade policy uncertainty increases, there is a decrease in both the amount and range of intermediate goods imported by companies, while the growth rate of intermediate goods import value increases. The mediating effect indicates that trade policy uncertainty affects companies' intermediate goods procurement strategies by reducing their production and business scale. Additionally, heterogeneity analysis finds that trade policy uncertainty has different impacts on companies with various intermediate goods import strategies. Keywords: Trade Policy Uncertainty, Import, Intermediates, Business Scale.

Climate Adaptation through Trade: Evidence and Mechanism from Heatwaves on Firms' Imports

Firms can adapt causally to heat waves by altering their import behaviors. Utilizing matched data from the China Customs Database, the China Industrial Enterprise Database, and the China National Meteorological Science Data Center, this paper investigates variations in firm-level imports on days marked by extreme heat. The study robustly establishes that, in comparison to the temperature range of [12 °C, 15 °C), extreme heat leads to increased imports by industrial firms. Additionally, for each additional day within a month featuring an average daily temperature falling within the ranges [24 °C, 27 °C), [27 °C, 30 °C), or [30 °C, +∞), monthly imports for firms increase cumulatively by 0.35%, 0.57%, and 0.56%, respectively. Notably, the impact of hot weather on non-state-owned labor-intensive firms is particularly pronounced. Our mechanistic analysis suggests that firms resort to heightened imports as a strategy for adapting to the warming climate, mitigating the elevated domestic production costs identified in existing studies. These findings bear relevance to the formulation of future “bottom-up” climate adaptation policies.

Does social trust promote the size of enterprises? Evidence from China

Existing research on the relationship between social trust and enterprise size primarily relies on cross-country analysis, but country-specific studies are still rare, especially for developing countries. Drawing on Fukuyama’s proposition that social trust fosters enterprise expansion, this study empirically investigates the effect of social trust on the size of enterprises in China. We analyze industrial enterprise data from the China Industrial Enterprise Database and manually collected data on blood donations, a proxy for social trust, at the prefecture level. Our findings indicate that regions with higher social trust have both larger enterprises and a greater prevalence of large enterprises than regions with low social trust. This study offers an explanation for the “riddle of the absence of large enterprises in China” by considering the role of social trust and provides an empirical examination of Fukuyama’s proposition in the unique context of China.

Banking deregulation and export product quality

This paper investigates the causal effect of banking deregulation on export product quality using two large and detailed datasets, the China Industrial Enterprise Database and the China Customs Database. We find that a 10% increase in banking deregulation is associated with a 0.78% increase in export quality. The result is robust even after replacing the estimation method, changing variable measurement, and addressing endogeneity problems. The effect is more pronounced for firms that depend on external finance, have higher productivity and capital intensity, engage in general trading, and face higher marketization and competition. Banking deregulation enhances export product quality through channels that ease financial constraints, improving resource allocation efficiency and reducing risk exposure. This paper provides a better understanding of how economic market reform is conducing to upgrading export product quality and fostering export upgrading and global competitiveness.

Environmental Vertical Management and Enterprises’ Performance: Evidence from Water Pollution Reduction in China

Firm-level evidence for the impact of environmental vertical management on enterprise environmental performance is limited, especially on the performance of water pollution reduction (WPR). Taking the environmental vertical management reform (EVMR) as a quasi-natural experiment, this study constructs a time-varying difference-in-differences model to investigate the effects of EVMR on the WPR performance of enterprises. Using the latest data from the China Industrial Enterprise Database and China Enterprise Pollution Emission Database (1998–2014), we find that EVMR promotes enterprises to improve the performance of WPR. Moreover, heterogeneity analysis shows that the effects vary with regions, industry pollution intensities, and sizes of enterprises. Further mechanism analysis indicates that EVMR reduces water pollution by stimulating production pattern transformation and decreasing fresh water consumption rather than by increasing wastewater treatment facilities. Our empirical findings support the rationality of EVMR in China and provide beneficial insights for enhancing environmental management systems in other developing economies.

Entrepreneurship and Export Product Quality Improvement

Entrepreneurship is the sustainable driving force and stable source of economic development, and it is an important guarantee for the continuous improvement of export product quality and high-quality economic development. This paper selects entrepreneurship and export product quality as research objects. It measures the export product quality at the enterprise level using data from the China Industrial Enterprise Database and the China Customs Import and Export Trade Database. Furthermore, based on matching entrepreneurship at the macro-level and the export product quality at the micro-level, the impact and mechanism of entrepreneurship on the export product quality are empirically examined. It was found that entrepreneurial innovation and entrepreneurship further significantly contribute to the improvement of export product quality by promoting the total factor productivity of enterprises. Entrepreneurial innovation and entrepreneurship do not significantly contribute to the export product quality of state-owned and collective enterprises, while they significantly contribute to privately-owned, independent legal entities, Hong Kong–Macao–Taiwan, and foreign-funded enterprises. Furthermore, the promoting effect on privately-owned and independent enterprises is greater than that on Hong Kong–Macao–Taiwan and foreign-funded enterprises. Further analysis shows that improving the rule of law, reducing excessive government intervention, and improving the market mechanism for products and production factors, as well as vigorously developing the non-state-owned economy, will all be conducive to the cultivation and development of entrepreneurs and better promotion of the improvement of export product quality.

Has the Decline in Trade Policy Uncertainty Promoted China’s Agricultural Exports?

This article describes China’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) as a quasi-natural experiment based on samples from the World Bank database, China Customs database, and China Industrial Enterprise Database from 2000 to 2007 and uses the difference-in-difference (DID) method to investigate the effect of trade policy uncertainty (TPU) on China’s agricultural exports. The study found that, first, a decline in TPU significantly increases the export volume of Chinese agricultural firms. Second, the decline in TPU significantly boosts companies engaged in general trade. Regarding export destination countries, the decline in TPU significantly promotes the agricultural firms whose export destination countries are developing countries. Regarding firms’ ownership, the promotion of agricultural exports by non-state-owned enterprises (non-SOEs) and Hong Kong-, Macao- and Taiwan-funded enterprises is even more pronounced. Third, the decline in TPU promotes the export of Chinese agricultural firms by alleviating their financing constraints. The study provides new explanations for changes in China’s agricultural exports and enriches research on the evaluation of TPU effects.

Does Environmental Regulation of Cleaner Production Affect the Position of Enterprises in Global Value Chains? A Quasi-Natural Experiment Based on the Implementation of Cleaner Production

Present-day supply-side structural reform in China places an abundance of emphasis on environmental protection. In this paper, we re-measure the upstreamness of Chinese enterprises in global value chains as described by Ni Hongfu (2022). Subsequently, the impact of environmental regulations on the global value chain position of Chinese firms is studied in depth, using the cleaner production standards promulgated and implemented by the Chinese government in 2003 as a quasi-natural experiment, taking a time-varying difference-in-differences (DID) approach. The data sources employed include the Cleaner Production Standard Implementation Industry Directory, the World Input–Output Database (WIOD), the China Industrial Enterprise Database, and the China Customs Import and Export Database. This research discovered the following: First, adopting cleaner production standards significantly improves Chinese enterprises’ positions in the global value chain—a conclusion that holds up to a number of robustness tests. Second, in terms of firm size, capital intensity, ownership characteristics, and government subsidies, there exists a noticeable heterogeneity in the promotion of the adoption of cleaner production standards for the improvement of Chinese enterprises’ global value chain position. Third, the implementation of cleaner production standards stimulates the upgrading of Chinese enterprises’ global value chain position, primarily through the entry and exit impacts, product-switching effect, and innovation compensation effect. The following proposals for policy can be implemented in light of the findings of this paper: “upstream prevention” strategies in the development of future environmental protection and trade policies should be advocated; nuanced and stratified environmental policies should be meticulously constructed; a mix of policies should be employed to bolster the institutional support for green environmental regulations; the integration of environmental governance into the evaluation framework should be emphasized; the creation of an innovation-oriented environmental governance system should be expedited. In conclusion, the findings of this research provide empirical evidence on the role of environmental regulations in coordinating ecological development and strengthening the position of Chinese enterprises in global value chains, which may assist other developing nations in making the transition to a path of high-quality growth.

Research on the Impact of Mixed Reform of State-Owned Enterprises on Enterprise Performance—Based on PSM-DID Method

Based on the data of China Industrial Enterprise Database, this paper uses the propensity score matching double difference method (PSM-DID) to study the impact of mixed ownership reform of state-owned enterprises on enterprise performance. The study found that mixed ownership reform of state-owned enterprises can enhance the performance of enterprises. Further considering marketization, industry competition and regional characteristics, it is found that the effect of reform is heterogeneous. When the degree of marketization is high, the effect of reform on improving productivity is good, and when the degree of marketization is low, the effect of reform on reducing debt is good; the reform effect of industries with low degree of competition is better than that of industries with high degree of competition. The reform of state-owned enterprises in the eastern region has the best effect, and the reform in the central region has a better effect on reducing debt. The effect of mixed ownership reform in the western region is not significant.

The length of the production chain and the upgrading of the manufacturing industry

Based on the combined data of "China Industrial Enterprise Database", "China Enterprise Patent Application Database", "China Customs Import and Export Database", and "UIBE GVC Indicators" from 2000 to 2013, this paper analyzes the impact of the length of the production chain on the upgrading of the manufacturing industry. The study found that increasing the length of the production chain can significantly promote the improvement of the product quality of Chinese export enterprises. After accounting for endogeneity issues, the results remain robust. Further, this paper finds that the size of company is an important mechanism for the length of the production chain to promote the quality of the export products of the enterprise.

The impact of export tax rebate reform on industrial exporters’ soot emissions: Evidence from China

In this paper, we systematically explore the environmental effects of the export tax rebate rate reduction policy using the China Industrial Enterprise Database, the China Industrial Enterprise Pollution Database, and the China Customs Import and Export Database from 2005 to 2013. Our difference-in-difference (DID) estimates show that the reduction in the export tax rebate rate significantly reduces the intensity of corporate soot emissions, and this finding holds after a series of robustness tests. For every 1-unit reduction in export tax rebate rate, industrial exporters’ soot emission intensity decreases by 2.63%. The mechanism analysis shows that the decrease in soot generation, the decrease in coal use intensity, the increase in total amount and efficiency of soot treatment are important channels. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the reduction of export tax rebate rate has a more significant impact on the intensity of soot emissions of high pollution, high energy consumption and resource-based enterprises. This study may provide a reference for other developing countries that also rely on export tax rebates to adjust their policies to combine economic growth with pollution control.