IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/reveco/v97y2025ics1059056024007469.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Can institutional openness policies enhance corporate technology innovation efficiency?Evidence from the establishment of Free Trade Zone

Author

Listed:
  • Li, Yan

Abstract

The establishment of Free Trade Zones (FTZs) is a testing ground for deepening reform in the new era. It is a significant endeavour for China to investigate institutional innovation, execute an innovation-driven development strategy, and raise the quality of economic development. This study examines a sample of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2009 to 2022 and explores the positive relationship between institutional openness, represented by China's Free Trade Zone, on corporate technology innovation efficiency. The findings highlight that introducing China's Free Trade Zone can strengthen corporate technology innovation efficiency. Furthermore, the stimulating impacts of China's Free Trade Zone on corporate technology innovation efficiency are attained through alleviating corporate financing constraints and facilitating innovative knowledge flow. Heterogeneous analysis confirms that firms' ownership and industry nature play a critical role. The findings demonstrate how institutional openness can enhance stimulate corporate technology innovation efficiency, support the critical role of openness in stimulating corporate technology innovation capability, and contribute to further institutional openness.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Yan, 2025. "Can institutional openness policies enhance corporate technology innovation efficiency?Evidence from the establishment of Free Trade Zone," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reveco:v:97:y:2025:i:c:s1059056024007469
    DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2024.103754
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1059056024007469
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.iref.2024.103754?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. Wang, Mei Ling, 2023. "Effects of the green finance policy on the green innovation efficiency of the manufacturing industry: A difference-in-difference model," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    2. Liu, Duan & Qiu, Qi & Chen, Shou, 2023. "Timeliness of technological innovation and decisions of IPO timing and pricing," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 498-519.
    3. Zhai, Shaoxuan & Liu, Zhenpeng, 2023. "Artificial intelligence technology innovation and firm productivity: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PB).
    4. Pan, An & Cao, Xuekang, 2024. "Pilot free trade zones and low-carbon innovation: Evidence from listed companies in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    5. Jiang, Yufan & Wang, Hongyan & Liu, Zuankuo, 2021. "The impact of the free trade zone on green total factor productivity ——evidence from the shanghai pilot free trade zone," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 148(PB).
    6. Zhang, Chengrui & Li, Zhaohong & Xu, Jiaqian & Luo, Yiyang, 2024. "Accounting information quality, firm ownership and technology innovation: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    7. Qingshan Ma & Yuanmeng Zhang & Kexin Yang & Lingyun He, 2021. "Have China’s Pilot Free Trade Zones Improved Green Total Factor Productivity?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-20, November.
    8. Xi Lin & Langping Leng & Ying Qiu, 2023. "Research on the policy effect of Free Trade Zone on regional innovation capability: evidence from China," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(5), pages 689-694, March.
    9. Feng, Wei & Sun, Shujun & Yuan, Hang, 2023. "Research on the efficiency of factor allocation in the pilot free trade zones," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 727-745.
    10. Xu, Shiteng & Shen, Ronghua & Zhang, Yahua & Cai, Yifei, 2024. "Fostering regional innovation efficiency through pilot free trade zones: Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 356-367.
    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. Wenqi Jing & Yi Zheng & Xiuqing Shen, 2024. "Does the establishment of Pilot Free Trade Zones promote international expansion of enterprises? Quasi-natural experimental evidence from China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(8), pages 1-22, August.
    2. Xu, Shiteng & Shen, Ronghua & Zhang, Yahua & Cai, Yifei, 2024. "Fostering regional innovation efficiency through pilot free trade zones: Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 356-367.
    3. Zeng, Jing & Zhang, Bingqian & Li, Kevin K., 2024. "The impact of free trade zones on ESG performance: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 1110-1122.
    4. Xin Su & Shengwen Wang, 2024. "Impact of China’s free trade zones on the innovation performance of firms: evidence from a quasi-natural experiment," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-17, December.
    5. Du, Minzhe & Huang, Chukun & Liao, Liping, 2025. "Trade liberalization and energy efficiency: Quasi-natural experiment evidence from the pilot free trade zones in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 1739-1751.
    6. Yuan Feng & Ying Li & Changfei Nie, 2023. "The Effect of Place-Based Policy on Urban Land Green Use Efficiency: Evidence from the Pilot Free-Trade Zone Establishment in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-19, March.
    7. Zhang, Yuan & Li, Ying, 2025. "Enhancing innovation capabilities, digital management, and corporate competitiveness," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    8. Tao Chen & Shuwen Pi & Qing Sophie Wang, 2025. "Artificial Intelligence and Corporate Investment Efficiency: Evidence from Chinese Listed Companies," Working Papers in Economics 25/05, University of Canterbury, Department of Economics and Finance.
    9. Feng, Wei & Sun, Shujun & Yuan, Hang, 2023. "Research on the efficiency of factor allocation in the pilot free trade zones," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 727-745.
    10. Salman, Muhammad & Long, Xingle & Wang, Guimei & Zha, Donglan, 2022. "Paris climate agreement and global environmental efficiency: New evidence from fuzzy regression discontinuity design," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    11. Kaixuan Di & Zuankuo Liu & Shanglei Chai & Kanyong Li & Yu Li, 2024. "Spatial correlation network structure of green innovation efficiency and its driving factors in the Bohai Rim region," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(11), pages 27227-27247, November.
    12. Liu, Qiong & Xu, Rujun & Tao, Wenli, 2024. "Impact of auditing information technology modernization on corporate technological innovation investment: The roles of risk perception and internal control," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 67(PB).
    13. Li, Dan & Sun, Yanyang, 2025. "The impact of inclusive lending support on the performance of small and micro enterprises: Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 353-370.
    14. Yi Sun & Yiwen Zhu & Cong Li & Kaihua Wang, 2025. "Will Green Credit Affect the Cash Flow of Heavily Polluting Enterprises?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-24, January.
    15. Sun, Zhiyao & Che, Shuai & Wang, Jie, 2024. "Deconstruct artificial intelligence's productivity impact: A new technological insight," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    16. Tang, Can & Wang, Bing & Zheng, Wenping, 2025. "Can structural loan policy promote low-carbon transition of manufacturing enterprises? New evidence from China," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    17. Yining Zhang & Zhong Wu, 2021. "Intelligence and Green Total Factor Productivity Based on China’s Province-Level Manufacturing Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-16, April.
    18. Jianqing Zhang & Enze Gong & Fangheng Tong & Shuting Li, 2022. "Is a Pleasant Policy Environment Conducive to Green Growth of Central China?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-22, June.
    19. Qin, Meng & Hu, Wei & Qi, Xinzhou & Chang, Tsangyao, 2024. "Do the benefits outweigh the disadvantages? Exploring the role of artificial intelligence in renewable energy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    20. Hui Hou & Yuanyuan Wang & Minglang Zhang, 2024. "Impact of environmental information disclosure on green finance development: empirical evidence from China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(8), pages 20279-20309, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:reveco:v:97:y:2025:i:c:s1059056024007469. 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: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620165 .

    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.