IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/worlde/v47y2024i7p2995-3033.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Export controls and innovation performance: Unravelling the complex relationship between blacklisted Chinese firms and U.S. suppliers

Author

Listed:
  • Sajid Anwar
  • Beibei Hu
  • Qiao Luan
  • Kai Wang

Abstract

Export controls are crucial for protecting domestic economic interests globally. However, there is a lack of consensus regarding their impact on innovation performance. This study contributes to the literature by examining the effects of the U.S. entity list on the innovation performance of blacklisted Chinese firms and related industries, as well as the reverse shock on U.S. suppliers. Using propensity score matching and a difference‐in‐differences approach, we found that export controls stimulate technological innovation in blacklisted firms and generate industry‐wide spillover effects in the sanctioned country. Particularly, firms heavily reliant on imports from the United States and those solely dependent on China's domestic market experience significant effects. However, export controls have a negative impact on the innovation performance of U.S. suppliers. We examine the mechanisms driving these effects, including government grants, R&D investment and firm performance. Our work offers valuable insights into the complex relationship between export controls and innovation performance, highlighting the differentiated impacts on blacklisted firms, related industries and U.S. suppliers.

Suggested Citation

  • Sajid Anwar & Beibei Hu & Qiao Luan & Kai Wang, 2024. "Export controls and innovation performance: Unravelling the complex relationship between blacklisted Chinese firms and U.S. suppliers," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(7), pages 2995-3033, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:worlde:v:47:y:2024:i:7:p:2995-3033
    DOI: 10.1111/twec.13570
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/twec.13570
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/twec.13570?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andreas Beerli & Jan Ruffner & Michael Siegenthaler & Giovanni Peri, 2021. "The Abolition of Immigration Restrictions and the Performance of Firms and Workers: Evidence from Switzerland," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(3), pages 976-1012, March.
    2. David Autor & David Dorn & Gordon H. Hanson & Gary Pisano & Pian Shu, 2020. "Foreign Competition and Domestic Innovation: Evidence from US Patents," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 357-374, September.
    3. Foucault, Thierry & Fresard, Laurent, 2014. "Learning from peers' stock prices and corporate investment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(3), pages 554-577.
    4. Hans K. Hvide & Benjamin F. Jones, 2018. "University Innovation and the Professor's Privilege," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(7), pages 1860-1898, July.
    5. Fons-Rosen, Christian & Kalemli-Ozcan, Sebnem & Sørensen, Bent E. & Villegas-Sanchez, Carolina & Volosovych, Vadym, 2021. "Quantifying productivity gains from foreign investment," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    6. Reynaud, Julien & Vauday, Julien, 2009. "Geopolitics and international organizations: An empirical study on IMF facilities," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 139-162, May.
    7. Chad Bown, 2020. "How the United States Marched the Semiconductor Industry into Its Trade War with China," East Asian Economic Review, Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, vol. 24(4), pages 349-388.
    8. Chen, Shuo & Lan, Xiaohuan, 2020. "Tractor vs. animal: Rural reforms and technology adoption in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    9. Loren Brandt & Johannes Van Biesebroeck & Luhang Wang & Yifan Zhang, 2019. "WTO Accession and Performance of Chinese Manufacturing Firms: Corrigendum," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(4), pages 1616-1621, April.
    10. Chen, Jian-Xun & Sharma, Piyush & Zhan, Wu & Liu, Li, 2019. "Demystifying the impact of CEO transformational leadership on firm performance: Interactive roles of exploratory innovation and environmental uncertainty," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 85-96.
    11. Acharya, Viral & Xu, Zhaoxia, 2017. "Financial dependence and innovation: The case of public versus private firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(2), pages 223-243.
    12. Philippe Aghion & John Van Reenen & Luigi Zingales, 2013. "Innovation and Institutional Ownership," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(1), pages 277-304, February.
    13. Yuriy Gorodnichenko & Monika Schnitzer, 2013. "Financial Constraints And Innovation: Why Poor Countries Don'T Catch Up," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 11(5), pages 1115-1152, October.
    14. Huang, Youxing & Zhang, Yan, 2017. "How does outward foreign direct investment enhance firm productivity? A heterogeneous empirical analysis from Chinese manufacturing," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 1-15.
    15. Bhattacharya, Sourav & Chakraborty, Pavel & Chatterjee, Chirantan, 2022. "Intellectual property regimes and wage inequality," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    16. Ambrocio, Gene & Hasan, Iftekhar, 2021. "Quid pro quo? Political ties and sovereign borrowing," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    17. Berniell, Inés & Berniell, Lucila & Mata, Dolores de la & Edo, María & Marchionni, Mariana, 2021. "Gender gaps in labor informality: The motherhood effect," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    18. Li, Hongbin & Meng, Lingsheng & Wang, Qian & Zhou, Li-An, 2008. "Political connections, financing and firm performance: Evidence from Chinese private firms," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 283-299, October.
    19. Shao, Yuchen & Xiao, Chengrui, 2019. "Corporate tax policy and heterogeneous firm innovation: Evidence from a developing country," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 470-486.
    20. Li, Xiaorong & Chan, Kam C., 2016. "Communist party control and stock price crash risk: Evidence from China," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 5-7.
    21. Daniel A. Ackerberg & Kevin Caves & Garth Frazer, 2015. "Identification Properties of Recent Production Function Estimators," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 83, pages 2411-2451, November.
    22. Hosoe, Nobuhiro, 2021. "Impact of tighter controls on Japanese chemical exports to Korea," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 631-648.
    23. Li, Yuhua & Jian, Ze & Tian, Wei & Zhao, Laixun, 2021. "How political conflicts distort bilateral trade: Firm-level evidence from China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 233-249.
    24. James Levinsohn & Amil Petrin, 2003. "Estimating Production Functions Using Inputs to Control for Unobservables," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 70(2), pages 317-341.
    25. Chava, Sudheer & Oettl, Alexander & Subramanian, Ajay & Subramanian, Krishnamurthy V., 2013. "Banking deregulation and innovation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(3), pages 759-774.
    26. Daniel Berger & William Easterly & Nathan Nunn & Shanker Satyanath, 2013. "Commercial Imperialism? Political Influence and Trade during the Cold War," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(2), pages 863-896, April.
    27. Cozza, C. & Rabellotti, R. & Sanfilippo, M., 2015. "The impact of outward FDI on the performance of Chinese firms," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 42-57.
    28. Loren Brandt & Johannes Van Biesebroeck & Luhang Wang & Yifan Zhang, 2017. "WTO Accession and Performance of Chinese Manufacturing Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(9), pages 2784-2820, September.
    29. Mark T. Leary & Michael R. Roberts, 2014. "Do Peer Firms Affect Corporate Financial Policy?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(1), pages 139-178, February.
    30. Jiawen Yang & Hossein Askari & John Forrer & Hildy Teegen, 2004. "US Economic Sanctions Against China: Who Gets Hurt?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(7), pages 1047-1081, July.
    31. Mariacristina Piva & Marco Vivarelli, 2007. "Is demand-pulled innovation equally important in different groups of firms?," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 31(5), pages 691-710, September.
    32. Zoltan J. Acs & David B. Audretsch, 2008. "Innovation, Market Structure, and Firm Size," Chapters, in: Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy, chapter 2, pages 16-23, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    33. Toni M. Whited & Guojun Wu, 2006. "Financial Constraints Risk," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 19(2), pages 531-559.
    34. Litterio Mirenda & Sauro Mocetti & Lucia Rizzica, 2022. "The Economic Effects of Mafia: Firm Level Evidence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(8), pages 2748-2773, August.
    35. Huang, Yi & Lin, Chen & Liu, Sibo & Tang, Heiwai, 2023. "Trade networks and firm value: Evidence from the U.S.-China trade war," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    36. Joshua Lerner, 1994. "The Importance of Patent Scope: An Empirical Analysis," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 25(2), pages 319-333, Summer.
    37. Zhen Xu & Xin Zhong & Zhongyan Zhang, 2022. "Does the Sino–US Trade Friction Promote Firm Innovation? The Role of the Export Grab Effect," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-20, February.
    38. Natarajan Balasubramanian & Jeongsik Lee, 2008. "Firm age and innovation," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 17(5), pages 1019-1047, October.
    39. Hummels, David & Ishii, Jun & Yi, Kei-Mu, 2001. "The nature and growth of vertical specialization in world trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 75-96, June.
    40. Marcel P. Timmer & Abdul Azeez Erumban & Bart Los & Robert Stehrer & Gaaitzen J. de Vries, 2014. "Slicing Up Global Value Chains," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 28(2), pages 99-118, Spring.
    41. Liu, Qing & Lu, Ruosi & Lu, Yi & Luong, Tuan Anh, 2021. "Import competition and firm innovation: Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Han, Linna & Chen, Xihui Haviour & Wang, Yong & Hoang, Yen Hai, 2024. "Examining the impact of mineral export controls on sustainable energy transition in the global south," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    2. Liu, Qing & Jia, Deting & Liu, Huiling & Wang, Kai, 2025. "Good for bad: The heterogeneous effects of export controls on firms' ESG," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    3. Kazunobu HAYAKAWA & Keiko ITO, 2025. "The Collateral Damage of US Export Control Regulations on Japanese Suppliers’ Exports to China," Discussion papers 25061, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    4. HAYAKAWA,Kazunobu & Yang,Chih-hai, 2025. "Technology Sanction and Firm R&D: Evidence From the US-China Trade Dispute," IDE Discussion Papers 950, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    5. Lin, Xiaowei & Zhang, Pengdong & Yang, Zhihao & Chen, Sicen, 2025. "US sanctions and corporate innovation: Evidence from Chinese listed firms," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Han Hu & Shihui Yang & Lin Zeng & Xuesi Zhang, 2024. "U.S.–China trade conflicts and R&D investment: evidence from the BIS entity lists," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.
    2. Ruiyang Hu & Chen Yin & Zhijie Zheng & Sili Zhou, 2024. "Unlocking Innovation: The Impact of Free Trade Zones on Corporate Innovation in China," Working Papers 202414, University of Macau, Faculty of Business Administration.
    3. Sourafel Girma & Holger Görg, 2022. "Productivity effects of processing and ordinary export market entry: A time‐varying treatments approach," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(3), pages 836-853, August.
    4. Zhang, Ming & Zhao, Yingxue, 2023. "Does environmental regulation spur innovation? Quasi-natural experiment in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    5. Jin, Man & Zhao, Shunan & Kumbhakar, Subal C., 2019. "Financial constraints and firm productivity: Evidence from Chinese manufacturing," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 275(3), pages 1139-1156.
    6. Gao, Yunshu & Yin, Sisi & Ferrett, Ben & Gao, Bo, 2024. "FDI deregulation and firm innovation: Evidence from firm patents," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    7. Cai, Meng & Cui, Riming & Li, Dan, 2023. "Trade with innovation benefits: A re-appraisal using micro data from China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    8. David Van Dijcke, 2022. "On the Non-Identification of Revenue Production Functions," Papers 2212.04620, arXiv.org, revised May 2024.
    9. Kong, Dongmin & Zhang, Bohui & Zhang, Jian, 2022. "Higher education and corporate innovation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    10. Baccini, Leonardo & Impullitti, Giammario & Malesky, Edmund J., 2019. "Globalization and state capitalism: Assessing Vietnam's accession to the WTO," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 75-92.
    11. Yuping Deng & Yanrui Wu & Helian Xu, 2022. "Emission Reduction and Value-added Export Nexus at Firm Level," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 22-19, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    12. Giau Bui, Dien & Chen, Yehning & Lin, Chih-Yung & Lin, Tse-Chun, 2021. "Risk-taking of bank CEOs and corporate innovation," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    13. Massimiliano Calì & Marco Le Moglie & Giorgio Presidente, 2024. "Gain without pain? Non‐tariff measures, plant markup, and productivity," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(3), pages 1364-1397, August.
    14. Shen, Binchao, 2025. "Intermediated trade and innovation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    15. Bennett, Benjamin & Stulz, René & Wang, Zexi, 2020. "Does the stock market make firms more productive?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(2), pages 281-306.
    16. Soomin Han & Sunghyun Kim, 2023. "Does outward foreign direct investment improve the performance of domestic firms? Case of Korea," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 37(4), pages 519-549, December.
    17. Beetsma, Roel & Jensen, Svend E. Hougaard & Pinkus, David & Pozzoli, Dario, 2024. "Do Pension Fund Equity Investments Raise Firm Productivity? Evidence From Danish Data," Working Papers 2-2024, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Economics.
    18. Meinen, Philipp & Raff, Horst, 2018. "International trade and retail market performance and structure: Theory and empirical evidence," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 99-114.
    19. Liu, Guanchun & Wang, Qihong & Tao, Yunqing, 2024. "Does SASAC boost the innovation of state-owned enterprises?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    20. Brugués, Felipe & Kikkawa, Ayumu Ken & Mei, Yuan & Robles, Pablo, 2025. "The impact of NAFTA on prices and competition: Evidence from Mexican manufacturing plants," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:worlde:v:47:y:2024:i:7:p:2995-3033. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0378-5920 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.