在线政务服务何以影响企业创新？——基于中介效应模型和门槛效应模型的实证检验

张阿城¹温永林²曾婧婧³

（1. 上海交通大学国际与公共事务学院；2. 厦门大学公共事务学院；3. 中南财经政法大学公共管理学院）

　　内容提要：本文通过匹配2012—2017年中国城市在线政务服务指数和沪深A股上市公司数据，利用中介效应模型和门槛模型实证检验在线政务服务对企业创新的影响及作用机制。研究结果表明：（1）在线政务服务作为一种新制度安排只对企业申请专利具有外生性激励作用，它为政企“打交道”提供了一种更低成本的方式，验证了制度性交易成本是在线政务服务影响企业申请专利产出的重要渠道。（2）在“企业-政府-中介市场”的创新生态系统框架下，在线政务服务对中小规模和新兴科技行业的企业，以及对处于高市场竞争环境、高质量政府和中介市场发育程度高的地区企业，正外部性相对更大。（3）在线政务服务对制度性交易费用的“压缩效应”和对企业申请专利产出的“激励效应”存在门槛值。在当前政府数字化转型迈向全面扩展期的背景下，完善国家创新体系既要有序稳妥地推进在线政务服务升级，也要注重线下政务服务的用户体验、摒弃技术至上的线性思维。研究结论为持续推进政务服务数字化改革、消除企业创新制度性障碍和激发企业创新活力提供了理论依据及有益的政策启示。

　　

　　关键词：政务服务数字化；在线政务服务；企业创新；制度性交易费用；中介市场；门槛效应

　　

　　作者简介：张阿城，上海交通大学国际与公共事务学院博士研究生，上海，200030；温永林，厦门大学公共事务学院博士研究生，厦门，361005；曾婧婧，中南财经政法大学公共管理学院教授、博士生导师，通信作者，武汉，430073。

　　基金项目：国家社会科学基金重大项目“数字时代区域科创走廊创新生态构建与治理机制研究”（22&ZD114）；国家自然科学基金面上项目“多目标分类下政府科技悬赏策略及其优化研究”（71974203）；国家自然科学基金面上项目“全过程视角下科技项目‘揭榜挂帅’政府策略研究：影响机制与应用情境”（72274142）

　　引用格式：张阿城,温永林,曾婧婧.在线政务服务何以影响企业创新?——基于中介效应模型和门槛效应模型的实证检验[J].经济与管理研究,2023,44(9):106-124.DOI:10.13502/j.cnki.issn1000-7636.2023.09.006.

　　

　　

How do Online Government Services Influence Corporate Innovation? —Empirical Tests Based on Mediating Effect Model and Threshold Effect Model

ZHANG Acheng¹, WEN Yonglin², ZENG Jingjing³

(1. Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030;

2. Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005;

3. Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan 430073)

　　

　　Abstract: The implementation of online government services is a self-targeted reform in the digital governance era and an important initiative to reduce institutional transaction fees. However, enterprises hold ambivalent attitudes towards the reform. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the impact, mechanisms, and boundary conditions of online government services on corporate innovation outputs based on the institutional change theory and empirically evaluate the reform effectiveness.

　　This paper explores three core hypotheses by matching the online government service index of Chinese cities and the panel data of A-share listed companies from 2012 to 2017, using the mediating effect model and the threshold effect model. The findings are as follows. First, online government services only exert an exogenous incentive effect on the number of patent applications but fail to stimulate the innovation outputs of high-quality authorized patents that require more investment. This conclusion remains valid after a series of robustness tests. Second, the positive externalities of online government services are relatively larger for small and medium-sized enterprises and emerging technology industries, as well as enterprises in regions with intense market competition, high-quality governance, and advanced intermediary markets. Third, there is a threshold for the compression effect of online government services on institutional transaction fees and the incentive effect on patent applications.

　　The marginal contributions of this paper are as follows. First, it extends the study of the institutional factors influencing corporate innovation and confirms the relationship between online government services and two types of innovation outputs. This enriches the discussion on the mechanism from the perspective of institutional transaction fees. Second, it discusses how heterogeneous characteristics affect the incentive effect of online government services on corporate innovation through the innovation ecosystem framework. Third, the threshold effect model is used to identify the limited incentive effect of online government services on innovation outputs, providing valuable insights into addressing current issues facing the reform.

　　This paper has some practical implications. On the one hand, the government needs to continuously enhance the stability of the service platform systems, improve online service experiences, enrich the application scenarios of digital technology, improve the governance quality to ensure the effective implementation of online government service reform policies, and cultivate developed intermediary market organizations. On the other hand, enterprises need to quickly adapt to external system changes, develop digital mindsets, grasp the opportunities in the reform, and do a good job in cost calculation and innovation investment layout.

　　Keywords: government services digitization; online government service; corporate innovation; institutional transaction fee; intermediary market；threshold effect model