IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jocaae/v21y2025i3s1815566925000530.html

Functional industrial policy effects of the Belt and Road Initiative: evidence from digital innovation

Author

Listed:
  • Xu, Chang
  • Hu, Jianguang
  • Li, Lu

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of the Belt and Road Initiative on the digital innovation of China’s A-share listed companies, drawing upon the theoretical framework of functional industrial policy. The results indicate that the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative effectively enhances the level of firms’ digital innovation. The underlying mechanisms are identified as the alleviation of financing constraints and the enhancement of ESG performance. Heterogeneity analysis further demonstrates that the positive impact is more pronounced among state-owned enterprises, firms in key-involved industries, large-scale firms, and those operating in capital-intensive sectors. Further research suggests that the Belt and Road Initiative primarily influences open digital innovation. This study advances the understanding of the effects of functional industrial policies, while offering meaningful insights for firm-level digital innovation.

Suggested Citation

  • Xu, Chang & Hu, Jianguang & Li, Lu, 2025. "Functional industrial policy effects of the Belt and Road Initiative: evidence from digital innovation," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(3).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jocaae:v:21:y:2025:i:3:s1815566925000530
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcae.2025.100506
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1815566925000530
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jcae.2025.100506?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chen, Chaofan & Li, Wen-Bo & Zhang, Heng, 2024. "How do property rights affect corporate ESG performance? The moderating effect of green innovation efficiency," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    2. Youngjin Yoo & Richard J. Boland & Kalle Lyytinen & Ann Majchrzak, 2012. "Organizing for Innovation in the Digitized World," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(5), pages 1398-1408, October.
    3. Patrizio Bianchi & Sandrine Labory, 2006. "From ‘Old’ Industrial Policy to ‘New’ Industrial Development Policies," Chapters, in: Patrizio Bianchi & Sandrine Labory (ed.), International Handbook on Industrial Policy, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Teece, David J., 2018. "Profiting from innovation in the digital economy: Enabling technologies, standards, and licensing models in the wireless world," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(8), pages 1367-1387.
    5. Qiang Lu & Yang Deng & Xinyi Wang & Aiping Wang, 2023. "The impact of China's green credit policy on enterprise digital innovation: evidence from heavily-polluting Chinese listed companies," China Finance Review International, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 14(1), pages 103-121, August.
    6. Dai, Wensheng, 2025. "Belt and Road Initiative: Driving innovation in tech enterprises through global value chains," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    7. Ola Henfridsson & Youngjin Yoo, 2014. "The Liminality of Trajectory Shifts in Institutional Entrepreneurship," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(3), pages 932-950, June.
    8. Shao, Xu, 2020. "Chinese OFDI responses to the B&R initiative: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    9. Nambisan, Satish & Wright, Mike & Feldman, Maryann, 2019. "The digital transformation of innovation and entrepreneurship: Progress, challenges and key themes," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(8), pages 1-1.
    10. Li, Yanqiong & Li, Sihao, 2024. "ESG performance and innovation quality," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 1361-1373.
    11. Filippo Belloc, 2012. "Corporate Governance And Innovation: A Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(5), pages 835-864, December.
    12. Gao, Feng & Lisic, Ling Lei & Zhang, Ivy Xiying, 2014. "Commitment to social good and insider trading," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(2), pages 149-175.
    13. Zhang, Yongmin & Zhang, Zhenbang & Jin, Hanglin & Tu, Wenjun & Liu, Yingnan, 2024. "Innovation and OFDI along the Belt and Road," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    14. Drechsler, Wenzel & Natter, Martin, 2012. "Understanding a firm's openness decisions in innovation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 438-445.
    15. Yang, Xiangyang & Li, Zijun & Qiu, Zhaoxuan & Wang, Jinmin & Liu, Bei, 2024. "ESG performance and corporate technology innovation: Evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    16. Li, Qin & Ma, Mark (Shuai) & Shevlin, Terry, 2021. "The effect of tax avoidance crackdown on corporate innovation," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(2).
    17. Wu, Hsueh-Liang, 2008. "When does internal governance make firms innovative," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 61(2), pages 141-153, February.
    18. Li Wang & Hongyu Yang, 2024. "Digital technology innovation and corporate ESG performance: evidence from China," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 57(6), pages 1-32, December.
    19. Wang, Xincheng & Li, Yuan & Tian, Longwei & Hou, Ye, 2023. "Government digital initiatives and firm digital innovation: Evidence from China," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    20. Wang, Yufei & Liao, Zhongju, 2023. "Functional industrial policy mechanism under natural resource conflict: A case study on the Chinese new energy vehicle industry," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    21. He, Feng & Du, Hanyu & Yu, Bo, 2022. "Corporate ESG performance and manager misconduct: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    22. Xu, Chang & Hu, Jianguang, 2023. "Does China's Belt and Road Initiative improve financial reporting quality?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PD).
    23. Liu, Changqing & Li, Lei, 2021. "Place-based techno-industrial policy and innovation: Government responses to the information revolution in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    24. Yongmin Zhang & Yong Chen & Renyi Zhang & Wenjun Tu & Yingxue Zhao, 2024. "Outward foreign direct investment productivity along the belt and road," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(2), pages 959-988, July.
    25. Youngjin Yoo & Ola Henfridsson & Kalle Lyytinen, 2010. "Research Commentary ---The New Organizing Logic of Digital Innovation: An Agenda for Information Systems Research," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 21(4), pages 724-735, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Shan Zhu & Jiuyu Dong, 2025. "The Influence of Foreign Ownership on Firm’s Digital Orientation: Evidence from China," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 65(4), pages 673-698, August.
    2. Liu, Yang & Dong, Jiuyu & Mei, Liang & Shen, Rui, 2023. "Digital innovation and performance of manufacturing firms: An affordance perspective," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    3. Robert Keller & Philipp Ollig & Patrick Rövekamp, 2022. "Pathways to Developing Digital Capabilities within Entrepreneurial Initiatives in Pre-Digital Organizations," Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, Springer;Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), vol. 64(1), pages 33-46, February.
    4. Andreas Hein & Maximilian Schreieck & Tobias Riasanow & David Soto Setzke & Manuel Wiesche & Markus Böhm & Helmut Krcmar, 2020. "Digital platform ecosystems," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 30(1), pages 87-98, March.
    5. Xia, Yue & Md Johar, Md Gapar, 2025. "How external factors influence organisational digital innovation: Evidence from China," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    6. Zahid Sarwar & Jingmei Gao & Adnan Khan, 2024. "Nexus of digital platforms, innovation capability, and strategic alignment to enhance innovation performance in the Asia Pacific region: a dynamic capability perspective," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 867-901, June.
    7. Zhang, Sihan & Chen, Zhibin, 2025. "Experts on the board: How do IT-savvy directors promote corporate digital innovation?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 791-817.
    8. Santos, Susana C. & Liguori, Eric W. & Garvey, Erin, 2023. "How digitalization reinvented entrepreneurial resilience during COVID-19," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    9. Cheng, Cong & Wang, Limin, 2022. "How companies configure digital innovation attributes for business model innovation? A configurational view," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    10. Julian Lehmann & Jan Recker, 2022. "Offerings That are “Ever-in-the-Making”," Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, Springer;Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), vol. 64(1), pages 69-89, February.
    11. Wang, Xincheng & Li, Yuan & Tian, Longwei & Hou, Ye, 2023. "Government digital initiatives and firm digital innovation: Evidence from China," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    12. Muhammad Farooq Islam & Ozge Can, 2024. "Integrating digital and sustainable entrepreneurship through business models: a bibliometric analysis," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 14(1), pages 1-18, December.
    13. Jean-Michel Sahut & Luca Iandoli & Frédéric Teulon, 2021. "The age of digital entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 1159-1169, February.
    14. Kroh, Julia & Globocnik, Dietfried & Schultz, Carsten & Holdhof, Frederike & Salomo, Søren, 2024. "Micro-foundations of digital innovation capability – A mixed method approach to develop and validate a multi-dimensional measurement instrument," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    15. Trocin, Cristina & Hovland, Ingrid Våge & Mikalef, Patrick & Dremel, Christian, 2021. "How Artificial Intelligence affords digital innovation: A cross-case analysis of Scandinavian companies," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    16. Zaheer, Hasnain & Breyer, Yvonne & Dumay, John & Enjeti, Mahesh, 2022. "The entrepreneurial journeys of digital start-up founders," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    17. Zahra, Shaker A. & Liu, Wan & Si, Steven, 2023. "How digital technology promotes entrepreneurship in ecosystems," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    18. Lai, Xiaobing & Yue, Shujing & Guo, Chong & Gao, Peng, 2024. "Unleashing global potential: The impact of digital technology innovation on corporate international diversification," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    19. Soluk, Jonas & Decker-Lange, Carolin & Hack, Andreas, 2023. "Small steps for the big hit: A dynamic capabilities perspective on business networks and non-disruptive digital technologies in SMEs," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    20. Jianhong Zhang & Désirée Gorp & Henk Kievit, 2023. "Digital technology and national entrepreneurship: An ecosystem perspective," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 1077-1105, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • G10 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation

    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:eee:jocaae:v:21:y:2025:i:3:s1815566925000530. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-contemporary-accounting-and-economics .

    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.