Developing new quality productivity forces is an inherent requirement and important focus for solidly promoting high-quality development. This article is based on the basic principles and methodology of Marxist political economics and follows the research approach of “raising problems, analyzing problems, and solving problems”. It analyzes that insufficient effective investment is an important factor restricting the development of China’s new quality productivity forces, explains the theoretical connotation of effective investment and accelerator, and combines Marx’s capital circulation theory to analyze the accelerator effect of effective investment in promoting the development of new quality productivity forces. Based on the new development stage, it proposes a practical path to play the accelerator effect of effective investment, and finally puts forward safeguard measures from the aspects of market, capital, evaluation mechanism, and government to play the accelerator effect of effective investment. Research has found that: 
First, in terms of theoretical connotation, the effective investment is evaluated based on its purpose or function. Investment that can achieve expected goals well is considered effective investment, while investment that deviates significantly from expected goals is not considered effective investment. The core essence of accelerator is to accelerate the development speed or process of something by taking effective measures (i.e. accelerator) to achieve a certain goal, shorten the completion time of the goal, and thus achieve the expected goal faster. 
Second, in terms of internal mechanisms, it is necessary to grasp the objective development laws of new quality productivity forces from Marx’s capital circulation theory, and grasp the key elements such as optimizing and upgrading the industrial chain and supply chain system, enhancing technological innovation capabilities, cultivating high-quality labor force, and upgrading the built environment, and effective investment should be increased according to the principle of adapting measures to local conditions. The position and role of the government and the market in increasing effective investment should be properly handled. 
Third, in terms of practical path, it is necessary to accelerate the enhancement of its independent technological innovation capabilities by building high-level innovation consortia, leveraging the leading and driving role of chain leaders and chain owners in accelerating the optimization and upgrading of the industrial chain and supply chain system, absorb more capital into the strategic emerging industries and future industries through diversified policies, cultivate more high-quality talents through innovating joint training models, and better leverage the joint efforts of the government and the market in creating a high-quality built environment. 
Fourth, in terms of safeguard measures, further strengthen the market adjustment mechanism and enhance the effective investment growth momentum led by the market. Further improve the capital market system and promote more patient capital investment in new quality productive forces industries. Establish and improve a dynamic evaluation mechanism for effective investment, and promote sustained investment in effective investment. Further enhance the government’s macroeconomic governance capabilities, strengthen the organization, coordination, and stability of effective investment.

The high-quality development of the domestic service industry plays a critical role in revitalizing household consumption and constructing the micro-foundations of a domestic demand-driven economic paradigm. In the context of China’s transition toward dual circulation and consumption-led growth, understanding how service sector expansion reshapes household economic behavior is both theoretically significant and policy-relevant. Despite increasing attention to the role of services, the specific pathways through which domestic service development influences consumption dynamics remain underexplored in existing literature.
This study employs multi-wave micro-level survey data and a difference-in-differences (DID) strategy based on policy shocks and regional pilot programs to identify the causal effects of domestic service development on household consumption. Leveraging plausibly exogenous variation across time and space, we find that the expansion of the domestic service sector significantly increases total household consumption expenditure. More importantly, this expansion also unlocks latent consumption potential among previously underserved populations. These effects remain robust across alternative model specifications, placebo tests, and sample restrictions, confirming the reliability of the empirical strategy.
Mechanism analyses reveal a dual-channel transmission structure that operates through both supply- and demand-side mechanisms. On the supply side, the outsourcing of time-intensive domestic labor alleviates household time constraints, facilitates labor force participation—especially among women—and increases household disposable income, thereby supporting immediate consumption. On the demand side, domestic services strengthen familial care structures, reduce uncertainty in daily life management, and improve expectations for future living standards. These changes enhance consumer confidence and raise the marginal propensity to consume, particularly for durable and long-term expenditure categories, thus stimulating sustained consumption momentum. Heterogeneity analyses further uncover meaningful spatial and demographic asymmetries. The consumption-promoting effects of domestic services are most pronounced in eastern provinces with more mature service markets and stronger digital infrastructure. At the household level, women and low-income families benefit disproportionately, suggesting that domestic service development contributes to both economic inclusion and gender-equitable growth. These findings underline the redistributive potential of the service sector and its capacity to support inclusive domestic demand expansion.
Finally, the study identifies a threshold-type moderating role of digital infrastructure. At low levels of digital penetration, service access barriers—such as information asymmetry, platform exclusion, and regional mismatch—constrain the availability and reliability of domestic services, thereby dampening their consumption effects. Conversely, once a critical digital threshold is crossed, the integration of digital platforms significantly amplifies the efficiency, accessibility, and trust in service provision, thereby enhancing its ability to unlock household consumption potential. This non-linear moderating pattern points to the necessity of complementing service sector development with inclusive digitalization policies.
Together, these findings provide micro-level evidence for the strategic role of domestic services in shaping household consumption behavior, reinforcing the theoretical linkage between service economy expansion and endogenous demand growth. The study not only contributes to a deeper understanding of the household-service nexus but also offers actionable policy insights for optimizing service sector governance under the digital economy, especially in the context of China’s ongoing consumption transition.

Technology is a key factor driving productivity, while innovation is the core driving force leading development. To achieve technological self-reliance and self-improvement, China urgently needs to quickly build a technology finance service system that closely cooperates with high-quality economic development. In the Central Financial Work Conference to be held in October 2023, technology finance, green finance, inclusive finance, pension finance, and digital finance were the five financial focus articles, with technology finance ranking first. The ultimate goal of developing technology finance is to effectively serve the real economy, and in the real economy, employment is the biggest livelihood project, popular project, and fundamental project, and the most basic support for economic development. Current research mainly focuses on the promoting effect of technology finance on technology innovation and capital markets, such as analyzing from the perspectives of innovation and high-quality development, technological progress, industrial development and structural upgrading, and financing environment. Although there has been extensive research on the promotion of capital markets and technological innovation by the development of technology finance, there is still a lack of systematic and comprehensive analysis on its specific impact on labor employment, as well as the role that the development of technology finance plays in creating and providing employment opportunities for enterprises. Based on the above analysis, this article aims to explore the impact and mechanism of the development of technology finance on labor employment in enterprises.
Based on the above research background, this article uses a multi-time incremental double difference method to explore the impact of technology finance development on enterprise labor employment. Furthermore, this article explores the impact mechanism of the development of technology finance on the expansion of employment scale, and verifies the complementary effect of capital and skills. Finally, this article conducts a detailed analysis of the heterogeneity and the differences in this effect among different types of enterprises, industries, and regions. This study found that the development of technology finance has significantly expanded the employment scale of enterprises. The analysis of the mechanism shows that technology finance policies have expanded the employment scale by optimizing the innovation chain, capital chain, and information chain of enterprises. Further examination revealed that technology finance policies not only expanded employment scale, but also promoted the upgrading and transformation of human capital in employment structure, and this effect was mainly concentrated in private enterprises with higher financing costs, verifying the hypothesis of capital skill complementarity. Through heterogeneity analysis, it was found that technology finance policies have a more significant employment promotion effect on capital intensive enterprises, enterprises with high financing constraints, non high tech enterprises, manufacturing enterprises, and enterprises located in regions with higher levels of financial regulation and financial development.
The contributions of this article to the existing research are as followed. Firstly, this study contributes to a micro level understanding of the impact of new forms of financial development on labor employment in enterprises. Existing research mainly explores the impact of different dimensions of economy and finance on total employment from a macro perspective, such as trade liberalization and the effects of fiscal policies, labor market flexibility, etc. on creating new jobs. There is relatively little research from a micro perspective, mainly focusing on evaluating the impact of financial frictions on employment decisions at the enterprise level, labor allocation among producers, and overall unemployment rates. This article enriches and expands the research on the impact of financial development on the real economy from a micro perspective. Secondly, this study contributes to understanding the relationship between new forms of financial development and employment. Existing research on the impact of financial development on employment in enterprises is mostly focused on developed countries, with less research on developing countries. This article is based on the reality of China and uses unique policies as exogenous shocks to supplement from the perspective of the development of technology finance. Thirdly, this article extends the relevant literature on the impact of financial frictions on the labor market. In the context of the development of technology finance and within the framework of unique technology and pilot policies, this article explores the impact of positive external credit availability shocks on enterprises. It proves that changes in external financing not only affect the overall employment scale, but also affect the adjustment of the employment structure of enterprise employees. Furthermore, it analyzes and verifies the complementary effect of capital and high-skilled labor, providing micro evidence for the causal effect of financial constraints on the impact and distribution of capital and labor.
Based on the analysis in this article, the following policy recommendations are proposed. Firstly, further attention should be paid to the development of technology finance, promoting the high-quality integration of technology and capital, and strengthening policy support for the integration of financial services and technology. Secondly, optimize the regional allocation of technology and financial resources. The effectiveness of technology finance policies in promoting employment varies among different types of enterprises and regions. Thirdly, in the context of policies, enterprises should also make corresponding adjustments to promote high-quality employment. Enterprises should increase their investment in scientific research and innovation, increase their digitalization level. In the era of digitalization and financial innovation, the efforts of both policies and enterprises will empower high-quality and full employment, while helping to achieve a new positioning and mission of employment work in the new era and new journey.

As a responsible major power, China is dedicated to attaining the ambitious “30·60” vision and is actively promoting the comprehensive green transition of its economic and social development. Nevertheless, this process is not without hurdles and potential risks. A typical situation is that the green finance policies implemented by China to achieve its environmental objectives may, paradoxically, exacerbate risk aggregation, thereby influencing the transition process and even potentially resulting in its failure. In China’s industrial structure, traditional industries such as coal, steel, and chemical engineering still occupy a significant proportion. These industries often generate substantial pollution. The implementation of green finance policies is likely to impose a “penalty” effect on the financing of heavily polluting enterprises within traditional industries and an inhibitory effect on investment. This can lead to the distortion and mismatch of the investment-financing maturity structures of these enterprises. Once an enterprise’s capital chain breaks, various risks triggered by debt defaults and bankruptcy reorganizations will spread throughout the entire financial system, ultimately potentially giving rise to severe systemic financial risks. Therefore, the research questions of this study are as follows: Does China’s green finance policy exhibit a risk effect? How does this effect manifest? And how can it be addressed?
To answer these questions, this study uses the implementation of the “Green Credit Guidelines” by the Chinese government in 2012 as a quasi-natural experiment. By capturing the asymmetric impacts of this policy on different enterprises before and after its implementation, a difference-in-differences (DID) model is constructed. Based on a sample of Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies from 2007 to 2023, this study conducts an in-depth analysis of the impact of the green credit policy (GCP) on the investment-financing maturity mismatch of heavily polluting enterprises. We find that after the implementation of the GCP, the problem of investment-financing maturity mismatch among heavily polluting enterprises has worsened. This phenomenon occurs mainly through two channels: on the supply side, after the implementation of the GCP, banks are less willing to provide credit to heavily polluting enterprises, reducing the availability of their long-term debt financing; on the demand side, after the policy’s implementation, enterprises actively increase environmental investments to meet more stringent environmental compliance requirements. This often necessitates longer-term financing support, thereby increasing the enterprises’ demand for long-term debt funds. The investment-financing maturity mismatch under policy constraints significantly elevates the debt default risk, operational risk, and bankruptcy risk of enterprises, posing severe challenges to their sustainable operation and long-term development. The study also reveals that a series of proactive measures, such as reducing information asymmetry among enterprises, enhancing the cash reserve levels and internal control quality of enterprises, can effectively mitigate the adverse effects of the GCP on the investment-financing maturity mismatch of heavily polluting enterprises. In summary, from the perspective of the investment-financing maturity mismatch of heavily polluting enterprises, this study identifies the unanticipated micro-risk effects of green finance and the mechanisms underlying risk formation. Additionally, it conducts a beneficial exploration of how to mitigate these risks.
The contributions of this study are as follows: First, from the perspective of the investment-financing maturity mismatch of heavily polluting enterprises, this study conducts an in-depth examination of the micro-risk effects of green finance. Although existing research has made numerous valuable explorations in evaluating the policy effects of green finance, most of the literature has primarily focused on the emission reduction and economic effects of green finance, largely overlooking the distortion and mismatch of the investment-financing maturity structures of enterprises under the regulation of green finance policies (i.e., the “risk effect”). Moreover, there has been a scarcity of in-depth research on the debt risk transmission mechanisms and risk mitigation strategies of green finance. By leveraging the policy introduced by the Chinese government in 2012 to construct a quasi-natural experiment, this study examines the impact of the GCP on the investment-financing maturity mismatch of heavily polluting enterprises. The research findings will contribute to clarifying the unanticipated micro-risk impacts of the GCP and facilitating a rational understanding of the current institutional framework and actual effectiveness of China’s green finance. Second, from the perspective of the impact of green finance policies, this study offers a novel and viable explanation for the long-standing and prevalent phenomenon of the investment-financing maturity mismatch among Chinese enterprises. The issue of the investment-financing maturity mismatch has increasingly become the root cause of various systemic financial risks in China. Existing literature has predominantly analyzed the causes of this mismatch from the perspective of credit supply. This study emphasizes that green finance policies are a significant influencing factor and will lead to this problem through both the financing supply and demand channels. Therefore, the research findings of this study provide a valuable addition to this body of literature. Third, the research conclusions hold certain implications for the future revision and improvement of China’s green finance policies and for developing countries in formulating environmentally regulatory policies with economic inclusiveness. The current excessive “green” preference in China’s green finance policies may give rise to unanticipated risk impacts, yet existing literature has not given this sufficient attention, which is not conducive to the improvement and development of the green finance institutional framework. The conclusions of this study indicate that financial regulatory policies with distinct policy inclinations may lead to institutional frictions. These policies may exert substantial pressure on relevant restricted enterprises through supply and demand channels, thereby resulting in adverse consequences such as investment-financing maturity mismatch and risk accumulation. This serves as a reminder to global policy authorities, especially developing countries committed to environmental goals, that when formulating environmental regulatory policies, they should accurately anticipate the heterogeneous impacts of policies on different economic entities and prevent unanticipated resource allocation distortions and secondary risks arising from institutional frictions.

Enhancing corporate investment efficiency constitutes a critical pillar for achieving high-quality macroeconomic development. The 2023 Central Economic Work Conference explicitly emphasized the necessity of expanding effective investments, and the “Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reforms and Advancing Chinese Modernization” adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee in July 2024 reiterated the strategic importance of capital market reforms. Nevertheless, despite continuous improvements in China’s legal system and business environment—core elements of formal institutions—inefficient corporate investments remain widespread, exerting adverse effects on corporate capital allocation, shareholder rights, and capital market stability. This highlights the limitations of relying exclusively on formal institutions “hard constraints” to address such inefficiencies. In recent years, scholars have paid more and more attention to the impact of culture as an important informal system on corporate behavior, such as exploring the interaction between Confucian culture, clan culture, etc. and corporate behavior. Corporate investment behavior decisions are inevitably affected by the cultural environment in which they are located, but the existing literature lacks systematic research on the relationship between merchant guild culture and corporate investment efficiency. Therefore, this study explores the role of informal institutions rooted in merchant guild culture in shaping corporate investment efficiency.
This paper utilizes the data of A-share listed corporates from 2010 to 2020, and through constructing the proxy variables of merchant guild culture, it is the first time to empirically examine the relationship between merchant guild culture and enterprise investment efficiency based on the perspective of informal system. The study shows that merchant guild culture can effectively promote the enhancement of corporate investment efficiency, which is manifested in the reduction of corporate overinvestment and underinvestment behaviors. The mechanisms driving this effect primarily involve reductions in agency costs, enhancements in corporate reputation, and alleviations of financing constraints. Further analysis reveals that there is an implicit substitution relationship between merchant guild culture and formal institutions (market intermediary organizations and legal system), and other informal institutions (Confucianism, foreign modern culture) on corporate investment efficiency. The study also found that the enhancement of enterprise investment efficiency by merchant guild culture plays a more obvious role in enterprises with more decentralized equity and better revenue efficiency. In addition, based on the life cycle theory, the empirical results show that merchant guild culture is more effective in promoting the investment efficiency of growing enterprises compared with mature and declining enterprises. Finally, our results suggest that merchant guild culture reduces supplier/customer concentration without triggering “small-circle” exclusion effects. The research in this paper provides relevant informal institutional basis for the stable development of capital market and the construction of corporate governance system with Chinese characteristics.
The contributions of this study are threefold. First, it pioneers an informal institutional perspective in the study of corporate investment efficiency. By empirically establishing the cultural determinants of investment efficiency and validating findings through rigorous robustness tests, this research enriches social identity theory through the lens of agency cost mechanisms. The exclusion of exclusivity effects advances micro-level analyses of merchant guild culture, while providing new empirical evidence for institutional economics and expanding the literature on the economic effects of merchant guild culture. This work also contributes to the broader discourse on the interplay between culture and economic behavior. Second, informal institutions, shaped through long-term historical evolution, exhibit relative stability and exert a persistent influence on corporate investment efficiency. However, as internal and external corporate environments evolve—particularly through the rise and decline of firms themselves—the impact of merchant guild culture manifests in stage-specific variations. By innovatively integrating lifecycle theory with institutional analysis, this study deepens the understanding of how informal institutional factors dynamically interact with corporate development trajectories. Third, on a practical level, the findings not only validate the contemporary relevance of traditional merchant guild culture in enhancing investment efficiency but also underscore its significance in fostering corporate cultural development. Importantly, the research elucidates the complementary governance roles of “soft constraints” (cultural norms) and “hard constraints” (formal institutions) within an evolving institutional landscape. This enriches the theoretical understanding of interactions between informal and formal institutions and provides empirical support for Acemoglu & Johnson’s (2005) hypothesis that informal institutions thrive in contexts where formal contractual frameworks are underdeveloped.

Regarding the research on the relationship between progressive delayed retirement policies and pension insurance, the focus is mostly on the impact of delayed retirement policies on the sustainability of pension insurance funds. In terms of gender based exploration, research is relatively scattered and usually limited to one aspect of delayed retirement or pension insurance. Although many scholars believe that the implementation of delayed retirement policies can help narrow the gender gap in pension benefits, the relevant discussions are still not in-depth enough, mostly mentioned in the conclusion section of the article, or only analyzed from the perspective of changes in the absolute value of pension benefits for male and female employees. Therefore, this article constructs an actuarial model that is in line with China’s institutional reality, selects two measurement indicators: monthly pension benefits and gender comparison coefficient of pension, and explores the gender inequality of pension insurance before and after the implementation of the progressive delayed retirement policy.
At the same time, academic research on the relationship between progressive delayed retirement policies and pension insurance relies heavily on successful foreign experiences in constructing theoretical frameworks and designing retirement plans, with less consideration given to China’s local conditions and social needs. On September 13, 2024, China officially introduced the policy of delayed retirement and stipulated that it would be implemented from January 1, 2025. This article is based on the current framework of delayed retirement policies and the speed of delaying retirement age. Eight delayed retirement schemes are designed, and it is set that these schemes will be implemented after the full implementation of the current retirement policies. This to some extent ensures the applicability and feasibility of the scheme design in China, and provides important theoretical basis and empirical support for the optimization and improvement of relevant policies. In addition, studying the potential impact of progressive delayed retirement policies on the gender gap in pension insurance benefits can help the government predict and address potential social issues, thereby better promoting the gender equality agenda and ensuring the gender equality of the pension insurance system.
This paper first describes the current situation and characteristics of China’s aging population. According to the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, by the end of 2023, China’s population aged 65 and above will be 216.76 million, accounting for 15.4% of the national population. This is in line with the United Nations’ classification criteria for deep aging, indicating that China has entered a stage of deep aging development. At the same time, China’s aging population shows two significant characteristics. One is the aging population. The second is the feminization of the elderly population.
With the increase in life expectancy and the decrease in the gender ratio of the population, the demand for economic support from the elderly and elderly women is gradually increasing. Due to their physiological conditions and social roles, women are in a relatively disadvantaged position in the labor market. Therefore, the pension insurance system based on income and working hours is inevitably disadvantageous to women. Faced with longer life expectancy and poorer pension benefits, elderly women are at a higher risk of poverty and are more likely to face retirement difficulties. Therefore, improving the welfare of women’s pension insurance is crucial and should attract widespread attention from the academic and policy communities.
The policy of delaying retirement has been widely discussed by various sectors of society in recent years, and its implementation may have potential effects in alleviating the gender gap in pension income. According to the delayed retirement policy implemented from January 1, 2025, the retirement age for male, female cadres, and female workers in China will gradually be adjusted to 63, 58, and 55 years old. By comparison, as of 2022, the average statutory retirement age for males and females in OECD member countries is 64.4 years and 63.6 years, respectively. Therefore, compared with other major countries in the world, there is still room for China to further postpone the retirement age. In addition, in recent years, the government’s support for the pension insurance system has been continuously increasing, which also reflects the increasing financial pressure faced by the system. In order to ensure the long-term stable operation of the pension insurance system and effectively address the challenges brought by demographic changes, the retirement age should be further delayed.
This article examines the impact of progressive delayed retirement on the gender gap in China’s pension insurance benefits through actuarial model construction and data simulation, and uses econometric regression analysis to assist in verification. The results indicate that spontaneous delayed retirement cannot help narrow the gender gap in China’s pension insurance benefits, and to narrow the gender gap in pension insurance benefits, human policy intervention is needed. The current gradual delayed retirement policy, while helping to gradually reduce the pension gap between male and female workers, has widened the gap between male and female cadres.
Based on existing academic discussions and practical experience, this article designs eight progressive delayed retirement plans. It is recommended to gradually promote the new plan after the full implementation of the delayed retirement policy on January 1, 2025. Among them, the retirement age for women will be extended to 60 years old at a rate of 1 year every 4 years. The plan of delaying the retirement age for both men and women to 65 years old at a rate of 1 year every 6 years has a more significant effect on narrowing the gender gap. Further analysis reveals that the gender gap in China’s pension insurance benefits is also influenced by the income level and wage growth rate of employees. To narrow the gender gap in China’s pension insurance benefits, it is necessary to implement a delayed retirement plan that is not synchronized between men and women, delaying the retirement age for women first and then for men, and delaying the retirement age for both men and women to 65 years old. At the same time, it is also necessary to improve the unequal treatment of women in the labor market and create a fair employment environment for women.

In recent years, high-quality talent resources have also become a key element for various regions to promote economic and social development, develop new quality productive forces and transform the mode of economic growth. However, with the acceleration of aging and the disappearance of the demographic dividend in our country, the contradiction between the shortage of high-quality labor in various regions and the demand for high-quality economic development has become increasingly prominent. Against this backdrop, in order to attract high-quality talents to provide new impetus for regional economic development, local governments have gradually focused the core of competition among regions on high-quality talents and launched fierce talent competition. Investment is not only an important decision for the development of enterprises, but also a crucial foundation for promoting local economic growth and cultivating tax sources. Therefore, how to stimulate enterprise investment is an important issue currently faced by China’s economic development. Against this backdrop, it remains to be seen whether the introduction of talent introduction policies by cities to “recruit talents” for regional economic development will affect the development decisions of micro-enterprises. Based on the talent introduction policies at the city level in China, this paper uses data from listed companies to empirically examine how cities’ efforts to “recruit talents” to meet the demand for high-quality labor force in economic transformation and upgrading will affect enterprises’ investment decisions.
This paper manually collects relevant documents on talent introduction policies issued by various prefecture-level cities, acquires the talent policy data at the municipal level from 2009 to 2020, and empirically examines the influence mechanism and specific path of a city’s “recruitment of talents” on the investment decisions of local enterprises by using the different-in-differences method. Research findings show that cities’ “recruitment of talents” can stimulate enterprises’ willingness to invest and boost the level of investment. Considering the possible endogeneity issue between talent introduction policies and enterprise investment expenditures, we further used the number of scholars in Ming and Qing Dynasties in each prefecture-level city as an instrumental variable for testing. The results showed that the above conclusion still existed. Mechanism tests show that cities’ “recruitment of talents” not only helps optimize the human capital structure of enterprises and promote enterprise investment; Moreover, the introduction of local talent policies can enhance enterprises’ ability to obtain market resources for commercial credit and bank credit, alleviate their financing constraints, and promote an increase in their investment expenditures. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that at the policy level, the higher the intensity of local talent policies, the more obvious this promoting effect will be. Moreover, the effect of development-oriented policies is the most obvious, followed by protection-oriented policies, and the effect of incentive-oriented policies is the weakest. The heterogeneity of enterprise and regional characteristics indicates that the policy stimulus effect is more significant for non-state-owned enterprises, high-tech enterprises, those with more abundant regional educational resources, and enterprises within non-first-tier city areas. Furthermore, the city’s “recruitment of talents” not only promotes enterprise investment but also enhances the labor productivity and total factor productivity of enterprises. In addition, the introduction of high-quality talents also helps promote the development of the real economy and curb enterprises’ tendency to “shift from the real economy to the virtual economy”. This also indicates that the role of talent policies in enhancing the development of enterprises is efficient.
Based on the above analysis, the following policy suggestions are put forward. First of all, talent introduction policies can indeed have a significant positive impact on the investment of enterprises within the region. Local governments should make good use of talent policies as a policy tool and promote the local economic development level by enhancing the investment level of enterprises within the region. To achieve the goal of regional economic growth, local governments should place talent policies in an important position. Second, optimize the framework of the talent policy system and focus on deepening development-oriented talent policies. To avoid the singularity and fragmentation of policies, all regions should actively introduce a series of policy measures covering all aspects of talent introduction, cultivation, development and guarantee, and effectively ensure the effectiveness of talent policies. The government can focus on enriching and developing talent policies to attract talents willing to settle down locally to start businesses, inject cutting-edge technologies and innovative vitality into enterprises, and give rise to a large number of high value-added investment projects. At the same time, local governments should also continuously optimize policies for safeguarding talents such as housing and household registration, and constantly innovate policies for rewarding talents such as financial subsidies, to help enterprises attract and retain outstanding talents and promote the growth of enterprise investment. Thirdly, local governments should pay attention to the heterogeneous impacts of talent introduction policies on different enterprises. For non-state-owned enterprises within the region, the motivation to utilize talent policies to obtain external resources is stronger, and these resources are used for investment activities to promote the economic development of the enterprises. This research finding also indicates from the side the problem of the government’s inefficiency in resource allocation, which is also an issue that governments at all levels urgently need to consider when formulating policies. In addition, in terms of the applicable objects of enterprises, more attention should be paid to providing talent work support to enterprises in high-tech industries, and the intensity of policy support should be increased, so as to more effectively play the role of talent policies. Fourth, there is an imbalance in development among different regions in China, and regional differences are also factors that the government should take into account when implementing talent policies. Among them, educational resources are an important factor in determining whether high-quality talents will choose to enter. Regions with relatively rich educational resources are more likely to achieve the “attraction” and “retention” of talents, and the implementation of talent policies will also have a more obvious impact on the development of enterprises. Therefore, while implementing talent policies, local governments should also pay attention to the construction of related supporting facilities, such as increasing investment in education and improving the educational environment. Secondly, our research also found that compared with the first-tier cities that are inherently more attractive, the local talent introduction policies in non-first-tier cities are more effective. This is mainly due to the fact that non-first-tier cities, due to their relatively poor attractiveness, have led to a large number of high-quality labor forces leaving. In the current stage of advocating high-quality economic development, non-first-tier cities should pay more attention to the role of human capital in economic development. By introducing relevant policies to attract high-quality talents, a foundation for economic development can be provided, thereby maintaining competitiveness in regional competition.

Technology finance, serving as a bridge linking technology and finance, holds significant importance in accelerating the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, cultivating the development of strategic emerging industries, and facilitating the integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation. The study takes the “Pilot Project of Promoting the Integration of Science and Technology with Finance” as a quasi-natural experiment, adopts the provincial panel data from 2007 to 2022, and based on the connotation of the integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation, constructs the indicator system of the integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation through the five secondary indexes of the level of development of technological turnover, cooperation between industry, academia, and research, the sales of new products, the added value of the high-tech industry, and the development of future industries. The index system of the integration of science and technology innovation and industrial innovation is constructed, and principal component analysis is used to measure the level of integration of science and technology innovation and industrial innovation in each province in the past years, and the multi-period double-difference model, propensity score matching method and double machine learning are further used to empirically analyze the effect and mechanism of the influence of science and technology finance on the integration of science and technology innovation and industrial innovation development. 
The following conclusions are obtained: First, the policy of “Pilot Program for Promoting the Integration of Science and Technology and Finance” significantly promotes the integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation, and this conclusion is confirmed after replacing the explanatory variables, eliminating the special years, excluding the outliers, lagging the explanatory variables by one period, adopting the PSM-DID method, employing the dual machine learning method, placebo test, and other series of stability tests. method, placebo test and a series of robustness tests as well as instrumental variables estimation still hold. Second, S&T financial policy promotes the integration of S&T innovation and industrial innovation by cultivating S&T enterprises and enhancing the transformation rate of S&T achievements. Third, the impact of S&T financial policies on the integration of S&T innovation and industrial innovation is heterogeneous, with greater promotion effects on the integration of S&T innovation and industrial innovation in regions with higher levels of informatization, higher concentrations of scientific and technological talents, and lower intensity of financial regulation. At the same time, compared with the regions in the second pilot batch of S&T and financial integration policies, the S&T and financial policies in the first pilot batch of regions have a stronger role in promoting the integration of S&T innovation and industrial innovation. Fourth, further research shows that S&T financial policies not only have a direct impact on local S&T innovation and industrial innovation integration, but also have significant spatial spillover effects on neighboring provinces. 
Based on the above findings, this study puts forward the following policy insights: first, increase the financial support for the integration of S&T innovation and industrial innovation, and shape a more synergistic, efficient and dynamic innovation ecosystem. The second is to emphasize the multi-dimensional ways of science and technology finance to empower the integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation, and to play a good and solid “combination punch” to promote the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation. Thirdly, the dividends of science and technology financial policies should be fully released through localized and precise measures. The research conclusions offer policy inspirations for the government to formulate and optimize technology finance policies, guide more financial resources towards technological innovation, and promote the deep integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation.

In recent years, local government financing vehicles have played an important role in promoting infrastructure construction and local economic development, but their accumulated hidden debt risks have become increasingly prominent. In order to resolve this risk, the central government has repeatedly stressed the need to gradually strip the government financing function of financing platforms and promote their market-oriented transformation by category. In this context, this paper deeply explores the impact of financing platform transformation on financing cost and local government implicit debt structure, aiming to understand the change of financing cost and how this change affects the structural risk of local government implicit debt during the transformation of financing platforms. Through in-depth analysis, this paper helps to provide theoretical support and practical guidance for local governments to formulate scientific debt management policies, optimize debt structure and reduce debt risks.
Firstly, this paper reviews the relevant research on local government financing vehicles, debt risk and marketization transformation at home and abroad. The existing research mainly focuses on how government credit affects the debt issuance of financing platforms, but how the interactive relationship between local government financing platforms (LGFVS) and market subjects affects the debt financing behavior has not been fully explored.
Secondly, this paper uses the bond issuance data of local government financing platform companies from 2013 to 2019, takes advantage of the policy impact of “Document No. 43” of The State Council in October 2014, which requires stripping off the financing function of local government financing platforms, and uses the DID model to analyze the impact of the transformation of financing platforms into the bond issuance cost of existing financing platforms. The results show that the “platform withdrawal” policy has significantly reduced the credit Spreads of the bonds issued by the existing financing platforms, indicating that the financing cost has decreased. This conclusion passed the parallel trend test and the robustness test of replacing explanatory variables with PSM-DID.
Finally, the mechanism analysis finds that the “platform withdrawal” policy optimizes the composition of existing local government financing platforms, strengthens the guarantee and bottom-supporting expectations of existing local government financing platforms, and leads to the reduction of financing costs of existing local government financing platforms. At the same time, the bond issuance Spreads of the platform companies that have withdrawn rise significantly, indicating that the decoupling signal of the “withdrawal platform” policy is effective. Further research shows that the bond debt ratio of local government financing vehicles has significantly increased, while the borrowing debt ratio has significantly decreased. The reduction of the financing cost of existing financing platform bonds makes financing platform companies more inclined to choose bond financing with lower cost compared with bank loans, thus optimizing the implicit debt structure of local governments. On this basis, this paper puts forward the following policy recommendations: first, firmly resolve the target of local government implicit debt risk, optimize the debt maturity structure and financing cost; Second, continue to promote the decoupling reform between financing platforms and local governments, standardize the financing behavior of local governments; Third, promote the market-oriented transformation of financing platforms by category and optimize the overall debt structure; Fourth, we will improve the construction of the bond market and promote market-oriented pricing of debt financing by financing platforms.
The innovation and contribution of this paper are mainly reflected in the following aspects: first, it examines for the first time the impact of the debt-transformation measure of local government financing platform companies being stripped of their government financing functions on the financing cost and debt structure of existing financing platform companies, filling the research gap in related fields. Second, this paper analyzes the influence mechanism of the transformation of financing platforms on the financing cost of the existing financing platform companies from the perspectives of the quality optimization of the existing local government platform companies and the strengthening of the guarantee expectation, which enriches the relevant research on the bond price formation of government financing platforms. Third, it is found that the implicit guarantee of local governments for withdrawing platform companies has been greatly weakened, but the implicit guarantee of existing financing platform companies has been strengthened, indicating that the decoupling signal of local governments is effective, but it also suggests that it is necessary to strengthen the control of new debt scale of existing platform companies while gradually promoting the transformation of platform companies.

Education, science and technology, and human resources are the basic and strategic support for comprehensively building a modern socialist country. Based on the new starting point of entering the ranks of innovative countries, we are faced with practical problems such as weak scientific and technological innovation ability, huge population size and demographic dividend decline. Summarizing the practical process of China’s “trinity” innovation system and quantifying the overall effectiveness of China’s “Trinity” innovation system are of important reference value for improving China’s international competitiveness in innovation, adapting to the transformation from demographic dividend to talent dividend, and accelerating Chinese-style modernization.
In this paper, education, science and technology, talent “Trinity” construction of China’s innovation system as a starting point. First of all, it systematically reviews the formation process of China’s innovation system since the founding of New China, the strategic measures of China’s innovation system since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and the new momentum of China’s innovation system since the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Secondly, an innovation-driven production system including education, science and technology and talents is built around the “three firsts”, and the overall system efficiency is decomposed from the “Trinity” factor perspective and the contribution perspective of demographic dividend and talent dividend. Finally, it quantitatively analyzes the development law and internal structure of China’s innovation system, the main channels of education system enabling science and technology system and talent system, and the path mechanism of education enabling population dividend and talent dividend from the national scale and national strategic area level.
The research results show that the construction of China’s innovation system with the “Trinity” layout has achieved remarkable results, and the overall efficiency of the “Trinity” is higher than the overall efficiency of talent science and technology and education science and technology. The priority development of education brings new opportunities for the construction of China’s innovation system. The education system can simultaneously influence the talent dividend and the demographic dividend to empower the science and technology system and the talent system, and the enabling effect has a time superposition effect. Talent leadership and drive bring new vitality to the construction of China’s innovation system, China’s demographic dividend has not disappeared and talent dividend is taking shape, and the education system can accelerate the transformation of demographic dividend into talent dividend. The regional aspect shows that the innovation-driven development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt has reached a new level, the construction of a scientific and technological innovation community in the Yangtze River Delta region has been increasingly improved, scientific and technological innovation has achieved remarkable results in helping the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin, and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region has a long way to go in building a collaborative innovation community.
The research conclusion shows that the “Trinity” of education, science and technology and talents is a new path of innovation in China, and an important magic weapon to improve the overall efficiency of China’s innovation system in the new development stage. This study believes that, based on the new stage of Chinese-style modernization, it is necessary to adhere to the Party’s overall leadership of national innovation system construction, establish a “Trinity” operating mechanism of education, science and technology and talents, accelerate the transformation of demographic dividend to talent dividend, and integrate innovation system construction into the development of national strategic areas.

China’s pursuit of integrated urban-rural development necessitates efficient grassroots governance reforms. Township mergers, aimed at streamlining administration and optimizing resource allocation, represent a significant policy instrument in this endeavor. However, their impact on agricultural development—a cornerstone of rural revitalization—remains empirically ambiguous and theoretically contested. Utilizing the large-scale “Two Reforms” implemented in Sichuan Province a quasi-natural experiment, this study employs a multi-period Difference-in-Differences (DID) model on panel data from 184 counties to rigorously evaluate the causal effects of township mergers on county-level agricultural outcomes. Our analysis reveals critical nuances often overlooked in the literature, particularly the pivotal role of policy implementation fidelity and local contextual factors.
The core findings demonstrate a complex and heterogeneous impact. While township mergers significantly stimulated short-term industrialization—evidenced by increased real estate investment, growth in the number of scale-above enterprises, and rising industrial value-added—they failed, on average, to enhance agricultural output. This aggregate null effect masks substantial underlying variation. Mechanism analysis identifies fiscal decentralization as a key driver of local government behavior, fostering a pronounced “prioritizing industry over agriculture” tendency. This manifested in resource misallocation: industrialization failed to effectively drive agricultural labor transfer, land scale operation, or technological adoption. Instead, distorted factor allocation suppressed agricultural labor productivity. Heterogeneity analysis further reveals significant geographical variation: the negative effect on agriculture was most pronounced in plains and hilly regions, while statistically insignificant in mountainous and plateau areas.
Crucially, the study dissects policy failure by distinguishing design intent from implementation reality. The theoretical design of township mergers—leveraging industrialization and urbanization to foster agricultural modernization—is sound. However, the empirical evidence points to implementation deviation, not design flaw, as the primary cause of adverse outcomes. This deviation is captured by the novel concept of “compliance counties” versus “non-compliance counties”. Compliance counties strictly met the merger criteria defined by Sichuan Province. In stark contrast, non-compliance counties implemented the policy without meeting these foundational requirements.
Results show a dramatic divergence in outcomes based on compliance status. Compliance counties successfully harnessed the merger to achieve significant growth in agricultural value-added, alongside increases in agricultural labor input, labor efficiency, and forestry, animal husbandry, sideline, and fishery output. This success stemmed from their established industrial and urban foundations, enabling them to balance non-agricultural development with agricultural reinvestment, thus activating the hypothesized “industry nurturing agriculture” pathway. Conversely, non-compliance counties experienced a substantial decline in agricultural value-added. Trapped by weak industrial bases and single economic structures, they intensified their “de-agrarianization tendency”, sacrificing agricultural resources to chase non-agricultural growth, particularly in real estate and fixed asset investment. This strategy led to “industrial hollowing-out”, failed labor absorption, reduced agricultural inputs, and ultimately, suppressed agricultural productivity without achieving industrial upgrading. Consequently, these counties exacerbated the very problems the policy aimed to solve.
This research makes significant contributions. First, it shifts the policy failure discourse from design critique to implementation analysis, empirically demonstrating that deviation from scientifically set standards is a critical failure mechanism. Second, it enriches grassroots governance literature by focusing on the understudied township level and introducing/validating “compliance status” as a key moderator. Third, it deepens the understanding of the “industry-agriculture” linkage within the township merger context, revealing why the intended spillover often fails and how local conditions and government behavior under fiscal decentralization shape outcomes. Fourth, it provides robust empirical evidence using rigorous econometric methods, including extensive robustness checks and mechanism tests.
This study underscores that the success of township mergers hinges not merely on the policy design but critically on faithful implementation tailored to local economic and industrial foundations. Mandating mergers in unprepared contexts risks harming agriculture through resource diversion and distorted incentives. Future reforms must prioritize strict adherence to suitability criteria and implement robust monitoring and incentive realignment mechanisms.

Currently, the world is undergoing a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, with technological innovation emerging as a pivotal force in reshaping the global economic landscape. The proposition of new-quality productivity provides a new theoretical guide for productivity in the context of Chinese-style modernization, marking a new phase in the development of productivity with innovation as its core. How to accurately grasp the scientific connotations of new-quality productivity, fully recognize its main characteristics, and enhance its ability to promote high-quality development are questions of the times that we must answer well in the new era and on the new journey. With the rapid development of new-generation digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, and the Internet of Things, the digital economy has become a new driving force for China’s economic growth. The permeability of digital technologies facilitates the optimization of production factor allocation and the establishment of new production relationships, serving as a crucial support for advancing new-quality productivity. The import of digital products can inject new vitality into the economic system by promoting independent innovation, accelerating the digital transformation of enterprises, and enhancing the level of human capital, thereby driving the formation and development of new-quality productivity. This is highly important for enhancing the country’s overall competitiveness and achieving high-quality economic development.
This paper empirically examines the impact of digital product imports on new-quality productivity using data from A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2011 to 2016. After estimation via a two-way fixed effects model, we find that digital product imports have a significant positive effect on new-quality productivity levels. Subsequently, we address endogeneity by using the number of fixed-line telephone calls in 1984 and the Bartik Instrumental Variable. Robustness checks are conducted by replacing the explained and explanatory variables, adding joint fixed effects, changing clustering standards, and increasing control variables, all of which yield consistent and reliable results. Next, we perform heterogeneity analysis through grouped regressions based on firm ownership, geographical location, and factor intensity, revealing significant differences. Specifically, the positive impact of digital product imports on new-quality productivity is more pronounced for enterprises located in the eastern region and technology-intensive enterprises. Following this, we conduct mechanism tests and find that both the level of technological innovation and digital transformation are important channels through which digital product imports influence new-quality productivity. Finally, we use the Changes in Changes (CIC) model to investigate the differences in the promotional effects of digital product imports on new-quality productivity across different quantile levels, concluding that the more digital product imports increase, the greater the enhancement of new-quality productivity.
The main contributions of this paper are as follows: Firstly, this paper is the first to examine the impact of digital product imports on new-quality productivity in enterprises. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China emphasized the development of new-quality productivity according to local conditions. However, empirical research on the impact of digital product imports on new-quality productivity is quite limited, and few studies systematically review and empirically test the underlying mechanisms between them. Secondly, this paper focuses on analyzing the causal effects of digital product imports on new-quality productivity in enterprises. By comprehensively adopting methods such as adding control variables and using multiple exogenous instrumental variables to mitigate endogeneity issues, and by conducting a detailed analysis of the underlying impact mechanisms from the perspectives of digital transformation and upgrading effects and technological innovation effects, this paper provides a new theoretical analysis framework for subsequent research. Thirdly, this paper uses the Changes in Changes (CIC) model to estimate the differences in new-quality productivity across different quantile levels of enterprises, providing a unique research perspective. In the further analysis, we use the CIC model to estimate the differences in new-quality productivity across different quantile levels of enterprises and find that the impact of digital product imports on new-quality productivity is not significant at lower quantile levels but is significant at higher quantile levels. This leads to the conclusion that the more digital product imports increase, the better the enhancement of new-quality productivity.

Exploring the impact of intellectual property right protection on labor price distortion expands the research on the factors affecting labor price distortion and helps to think about the reform of labor market allocation from the perspective of the business environment, providing ideas for reducing labor price distortion and releasing the vitality of the labor market. This paper constructs the mechanism by which intellectual property right protection affects labor price distortion through channels of human capital accumulation and innovation activities. Based on Chinese city-level data, the production function method is used to measure labor price distortion. Combined with the two-way fixed effects model, empirically analyzing the impact of intellectual property right protection on labor price distortions and its heterogeneity, and test the mechanism effect of human capital accumulation and innovation activities. In order to test the generalizability of the conclusions obtained, this paper further complements the empirical analysis at the micro level of enterprises, taking into account both macro and micro levels of analysis.
The findings reveal that an increase in intellectual property right protection intensity significantly reduces labor price distortion, and the inhibitory effect passes robustness tests in several ways. The results of the mechanistic analysis show that the above inhibitory effect is mainly realized through the channels of accelerating human capital accumulation and stimulating innovative activities. The results of the heterogeneity analysis show that there is heterogeneity in the impact of increased intensity of intellectual property right protection on labor price distortion, i.e., it has a greater inhibitory effect on labor price distortion in cities in the southern region, in cities of lower administrative rank and in cities with higher labor price distortion. Further analysis reveals that an increase intensity of intellectual property right protection reduces corporate labor price distortions, and that the above disincentives are also realized through the channels of accelerating corporate human capital accumulation and stimulating corporate innovative activities. Based on the conclusions of the above empirical analysis, this paper puts forward the following three suggestions: first, paying attention to the impact of intellectual property right protection on the labor market. Second, formulate differentiated intellectual property right protection policies according to the actual local development. Third, take into account the policies related to the introduction of talents and the stimulation of innovative activities.
Compared with existing studies, the marginal contributions of this paper are: Firstly, examining the problem of labor price distortion from the perspective of intellectual property right protection. With the advancement of factor market allocation reform, reducing labor price distortion has become one of the key issues of reform. Current research focuses on its economic effects and less on the influencing factors, while this paper discusses labor price distortion from the perspective of intellectual property right protection, expanding the research perspective of influencing factors. Secondly, the mechanism of intellectual property right protection on labor price distortion is constructed from the perspective of human capital accumulation and innovation activities. The protection of intellectual property rights can incentivize the R&D activities of enterprises, which in turn affects the human capital accumulation and innovation activities in the region. High-skilled labor has a stronger bargaining power in negotiations with enterprises, and the imbalance of bargaining power is one of the causes of labor price distortion. Thus, intellectual property right protection affects labor price distortions by promoting human capital accumulation. Innovation activities provide more matching opportunities for labor and help optimize matching in the labor market, so intellectual property right protection also affects labor price distortion through innovation activities. This paper analyzes the mechanism of intellectual property right protection on labor price distortion through the above two channels, and provides reference for future research.

In recent years, the global trade environment has become increasingly complex, marked by escalating protectionism and intensified competition for technological dominance. Chinese exporters face mounting challenges from rising domestic factor costs and the erosion of traditional comparative advantages. At the same time, structural overcapacity and weakening bargaining power expose the limitations of scale-driven growth. Within this context, enhancing technological innovation has become central to sustaining competitiveness and navigating global value chain restructuring.
This study investigates whether and how innovation-related provisions embedded within regional trade agreements (RTAs) can foster innovation among Chinese exporters. It proposes that “innovation rules”—including intellectual property rights, competition policies, technical standards, talent development, and technology cooperation—promote innovation by improving institutional frameworks, reducing uncertainty, and enhancing resource accessibility. To provide empirical validation, the paper constructs a firm-level composite index measuring the depth of integration into RTA innovation rules and assesses its impact on firm innovation performance.
Using firm-level data from customs trade flows and patent databases for Chinese A-share listed companies from 2002 to 2016, the research applies fixed-effects panel regressions to estimate the effect of RTA innovation rule depth on patent output. The core explanatory variable is the composite index weighted by trade values with partner countries. A rich set of controls—such as firm size, intangible assets, and regional indicators—is included to mitigate omitted variable bias.
Empirical findings show that the deepening of RTA innovation rules significantly boosts innovation outcomes among Chinese exporting firms. This supports the hypothesis that exporters—by virtue of their higher exposure to international regulatory standards and greater need for technological adaptation—benefit disproportionately from institutional innovations embedded in RTAs. Further heterogeneity analysis reveals that firms in central and western China, as well as state-owned enterprises (SOEs), experience more substantial innovation gains. These findings challenge the conventional view that innovation leadership is concentrated in the eastern private sector, suggesting a convergence effect and highlighting the institutional leverage enjoyed by SOEs in navigating RTA frameworks.
This study explores two mechanisms through which the deepening of RTA innovation rules fosters innovation among Chinese export firms. The first is a market-driven channel: by locking in tariff concessions, harmonizing technical standards, and strengthening intellectual property protection, RTAs reduce export market portfolio risks, thereby stimulating firms’ incentives to undertake high-risk, long-term innovation projects. The second is a resource-supply channel: enhanced institutional arrangements—such as stronger IP regimes, mutual recognition of conformity assessments, transparent government procurement, and anti-corruption provisions—alleviate financing constraints, improve the predictability of the policy environment, and expand both external and internal capital sources for R&D. This dual mechanism not only mitigates market uncertainty but also eases capital bottlenecks, jointly reinforcing firms’ innovation capacity. Empirical results confirm that both channels are statistically significant and economically meaningful, lending support to the proposition that RTA innovation rules can serve as effective catalysts for technological upgrading through institutional design.
To address potential endogeneity concerns, the study implements a series of robustness checks. First, an instrumental variable estimation is conducted using a recalculated RTA innovation rule depth index—constructed based on firms’ export values in the final sample year (2016)—as an instrument. This alternative specification confirms the causal impact of RTA innovation rules on firm-level innovation. Second, a staggered difference-in-differences (DID) approach strengthens the identification strategy by leveraging variation in the timing of firms’ initial exposure to RTA rules. Third, a propensity score matching (PSM) method is employed to mitigate potential sample selection bias, yielding consistent results. Finally, the robustness of the findings is further supported by alternative model specifications, including the Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood (PPML) estimator and alternative dependent variables such as the number of invention patents.
This research makes several theoretical and practical contributions. Theoretically, it enriches the literature on trade policy and innovation by shifting the focus from aggregate-level analysis to firm-level behavioral responses. It also expands the conceptualization of RTA innovation rules by incorporating a multidimensional framework. Practically, the findings provide actionable insights for policymakers and firms alike. For policymakers, the results underscore the importance of embedding robust innovation provisions into future RTA negotiations and ensuring their effective domestic implementation. Creating centralized RTA databases, offering compliance guidance, and providing technical training can help reduce barriers to utilization. For firms, especially exporters, monitoring RTA developments and aligning internal innovation strategies with external regulatory frameworks will be critical for sustaining technological competitiveness.
In conclusion, this study presents compelling evidence that the deepening of innovation rules in RTAs can serve as a strategic lever for promoting firm-level innovation in China, particularly among exporting firms. By reducing institutional and market frictions, these rules enhance firms’ innovation capacity and position them to compete more effectively in global markets. As the landscape of international trade continues to evolve, leveraging institutional openness for innovation-driven growth will be essential to China’s long-term economic strategy.

As China’s population increasingly concentrates in economically developed regions, the dual challenges of high housing prices and elevated rental rents have become more intense, particularly for low-income households. These groups typically rely on shared rental arrangements to mitigate rental expenses. Nevertheless, their rental units tend to be substantially smaller than the city average, and they often endure lengthy commutes. This situation not only directly undermines their quality of life and diminishes their sense of belonging and social integration, but may also jeopardize the stable provision of labor and the sustainable development of cities. In this context, effectively expanding the availability of affordable housing, alleviating housing cost burdens for low-income groups, and ensuring their rental needs are adequately met have emerged as critical issues in achieving social equity. The third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in 2024 explicitly pointed out the need to “move faster to establish a housing system that supports both housing rentals and purchases” and to “scale up the construction and provision of government-subsidized housing to meet the essential need of salaried people for a home to live in”. Consequently, studying the rental housing security policies targeting low-income populations holds significant importance for mitigating residential conflicts, stabilizing labor supply, and promoting social integration.
Our paper primarily aims to assess the effectiveness of rental subsidy policies in enhancing rental housing services for low-and-middle-income households and to analyze the mechanisms through which these policies impact the rental and housing markets. We further seek to investigate how such interventions improve the welfare of targeted families, with consideration of overall social welfare. To achieve this goal, we develop a heterogeneous-agent overlapping generations (OLG) dynamic general equilibrium model incorporating the real estate market, endogenizing rent, housing prices, and interest rates. Accordingly，the model parameters are calibrated using empirical economic data, and a government-implemented monetary rental subsidy policy directed at low-income households is introduced. Within this framework, we investigate how adjustments to the subsidy policy affect asset prices and, consequently, influence the welfare and inequality in residential services among heterogeneous agents. In addition to conducting long-run steady-state analysis, we simulate short-term transitional dynamics to capture changes in household behavior and rental market prices along the transitional path. Furthermore, an extended version of the model incorporates a lottery-based subsidy allocation mechanism, allowing for a distinction between subsidy intensity and coverage.
Our research indicates several points. Firstly, an appropriate level of subsidy intensity can improve the rental services accessible to low-income families while simultaneously narrowing the gaps in living space and income within society. Secondly, the implementation of rental subsidy policies amplifies rental demand among low-income households, which in turn drives up market rents, and incentivizes high-income households to raise their investment properties for rent purpose, thereby contributing to rising housing prices. Thirdly, along the transitional path, the welfare of low-income families across different generations improves. However, market rents and housing prices experience significant short-term fluctuations, underscoring the importance of accounting for the dynamic effects on the rental market in the short run. Fourthly, under the lottery mechanism, maintaining a fixed subsidy ratio while increasing the probability of being selected results in a greater number of subsidized households. Nevertheless, attention must be given to the rising rental costs faced by non-subsidized low-income families due to increased market rents.
Our study has the following contributions. First, from a general equilibrium perspective, we theoretically analyze the impact of monetary rental subsidy policies targeted at low-income households on their housing decisions and asset allocation across heterogeneous agents. Furthermore, we thoroughly investigate the equilibrium spillover effects on both rental and purchase markets, and quantitatively analyze the welfare and distributional effects of varying subsidy levels. Second, in addition to analyzing long-run steady-state outcomes, we simulate the transition path between the initial and new steady states. Specifically, we examine fluctuations of rent and house prices during this dynamic process of transition, as well as the welfare effects on low-income families across different birth cohorts, thereby addressing the limitations of existing literature that primarily focuses on steady state analysis. Third, the model is further developed to assess the heterogeneous effects of implementing a lottery-based rental subsidy mechanism under a constrained government budget, considering impacts on both recipients and non-recipients. 

With the accelerating process of population aging in China, many structural contradictions and practical problems have emerged behind it. Based on the current social and economic development level and institutional environment in China, the policy of delaying retirement has relatively become a more reasonable and feasible policy option to relieve the pressure on pension and optimize the allocation of labor force. Although delaying retirement is objectively necessary, it has triggered widespread attention and heated discussions from all sectors of society once it was proposed. Among them, the focus of the controversy lies in whether delaying retirement will crowd out employment. Therefore, a comprehensive examination of the impact of delaying retirement on the labor market has important theoretical and practical significance for promoting the smooth transition and implementation of China’s delaying retirement policy, which is also the core of this paper.
In view of this, further considering that the OECD countries, as economies that entered the aging society earlier, have carried out long term policy practices in coping with labor supply pressure and optimizing the pension system. Some countries have gradually raised the legal retirement age through legislation and established a flexible retirement mechanism, accumulating rich practical achievements in relieving the pressure of pension payment and maintaining the vitality of the labor market, which provides important precedents and references for China. At the same time, considering that China’s policy of gradually raising the retirement age has not been officially implemented, and due to the limitations of relevant data such as employment and labor participation rate in China, it is impossible to directly test the effect of the policy of delaying retirement with existing data. Therefore, this paper draws on the panel data of 35 OECD countries from 1995 to 2020, and uses the overlapping generations model and the difference-in-differences (DID) method to explore the possible impacts of delaying retirement on the labor market from both theoretical and empirical levels, so as to provide cross-national empirical evidence support for the smooth transition and implementation of China’s policy of progressively raising the retirement age.
The research finds that: First, from a theoretical perspective, the policy of delaying retirement can effectively alleviate the employment pressure in the labor market by reducing the pension contribution rate and amplifying the intergenerational effect. Second, empirical analysis shows that in the long run, the policy of delaying retirement can not only increase the overall labor-force participation rate but also significantly promote the labor participation of young and middle-aged groups. That is, delaying retirement will not crowd out youth employment, and this conclusion is robust under various econometric tests. In addition, the mechanism test further shows that the reduction of the social security contribution rate is indeed an important channel through which the policy of delaying retirement exerts its labor-participation effect. Third, there is significant heterogeneity in the labor-force participation rate effect of the policy of delaying retirement, and the exertion of this effect is jointly influenced by the gender of the labor force, the degree of regional aging, the industrial structure, and the level of digital application. However, it should be noted that although this paper provides an international experience reference for exploring the impact of delaying retirement on the labor market by drawing on the data of OECD countries, when transplanting and applying it to the Chinese context, the potential limitations brought about by the institutional differences in the labor market need to be fully considered.
At the end of this paper, corresponding suggestions are put forward to achieve the dual objectives of a smooth policy transition and employment stability through the incentive mechanism for flexible delaying retirement. First, in view of the fact that there are still public cognitive biases during the formulation process of the delaying retirement policy, it is necessary to consolidate the implementation foundation of the policy from the two dimensions of cognitive guidance and skill improvement. Second, there is significant heterogeneity in the labor participation effect of delaying retirement, and the policy design needs to be adjusted accordingly to improve the implementation efficiency. Third, although due to the limitations of the current data, this paper does not conduct an in-depth discussion on the labor-force participation status among different attribute positions and employment sectors, yet combined with the characteristics of China’s labor market, the delaying retirement policy needs to fully reserve differential adjustment spaces during the promotion process.

Innovation is the important driving force for enterprise development and economic growth, and the protection of intellectual property rights is the protection of innovation. China’s intellectual property law and reform and opening up march side by side. From the 1980s to the early 1990s, the Trademark Law, Patent Law, Copyright Law, Anti-Unfair Competition Law and other laws and regulations have been promulgated, establishing the basic framework of intellectual property laws. After entering the 21st century, several rounds of revisions were made to the above laws, making it possible for China to complete the course of intellectual property law development in western countries over the past hundred years in only forty years, and the achievements in the construction of the rule of law have been remarkable.
Although China has achieved remarkable results in IPR legislation, it still has a long way to go in IPR judicial protection. According to “The Status of Judicial Protection of Intellectual Property Rights in Chinese Courts”, there were over 540,000 new intellectual property cases in the year 2023, while during the same period, according to the U.S. Patent and Goodwill Office, the number of new intellectual property cases in the U.S. was just over 3,000 cases nationwide. In practice, the United States and other developed countries from the 1980s, the requirements of a certain size of enterprises must be established above the Chief Legal Officer (CLO) position, as the company’s executives and members of the board of directors is a core member of corporate governance. The CLO is the best strategic partner of the CEO and CFO, and the three are jointly involved in the planning and decision-making of the company’s strategy. Chinese companies are lagging behind in their efforts to “govern by law”. It was not until October 2022 that the Measures for Compliance Management of Centralized Enterprises came into force, requiring that centralized enterprises should, in light of the actual situation, set up a chief compliance officer, who is concurrently appointed by the general counsel and is accountable to the main person in charge of the enterprise. Another typical fact is that, according to the statistics of China’s Ministry of Justice, as of the end of 2022, there were more than 651,600 practicing lawyers nationwide, of which more than 504,700, or 77.46%, were full-time lawyers, while more than 29,900, or 4.6%, were corporate lawyers, and the percentage of corporate lawyers was much lower than that of full-time lawyers. This shows that in the internal governance of Chinese enterprises, the construction of the legal system is at a low level.
The paper attempts to analyze, from a micro perspective, the impact of external lawyers’ services on firms’ innovation and its mechanism of action in the context of Chinese firms’ low level of in-house legal construction. Specifically, we will answer three research questions. First, do lawyer services have an impact on corporate innovation? We use the number of law firms within a certain range around listed companies to measure the level of lawyer service supply in the region based on the data on the geographic location of listed companies’ headquarters and law firms, and use the number of corporate patent applications as an indicator of innovation output to analyze the impact of lawyer service supply on corporate innovation. The results show that the higher the level of lawyer service supply, the higher the level of innovation output of enterprises; the impact of lawyer service supply on enterprise innovation not only stays at the level of quantity, but also has a significant enhancement effect on high-quality invention patents, and this effect is stronger in the enterprises whose CEOs have the background of production and research and development, the enterprises of hi-tech industry, and the enterprises which are supported by the industrial policy. Secondly, how do attorney services affect enterprise innovation? On the one hand, lawyers’ services can help enterprises to protect their own interests by applying for patents, and on the other hand, they can help enterprises to minimize their losses when they face lawsuits. This allows the economic benefits of innovation to be preserved, which in turn promotes innovation output. We introduce two variables of infringement risk and judicial protection intensity to test these two influence mechanisms, and the results show that both influence mechanisms exist. Finally, do lawyers’ services have an impact on firm value while promoting firm innovation? We find that the market valuation of firms is higher under the joint effect of lawyer services and firm innovation.
Relative to the existing literature, the possible innovations and marginal contributions of the paper are mainly in the following three aspects: first, the paper expands the research perspective of law and firm innovation. Most of the existing literature analyzes the impact of intellectual property protection on corporate innovation based on the perspective of the firm’s external judicial system. Different from that, based on the basic fact that lawyers’ legal services are embedded in the enterprise legal system, the paper examines the effect and mechanism of the influence of the internal legal force on the enterprise’s innovative behavior through the construction of a theoretical framework and a systematic empirical study, which enriches the existing literature. Secondly, the paper deepens the theoretical knowledge of lawyers’ service to the real economy. Most of the related literature in the legal field on lawyers’ influence on economic development adopts the normative analysis paradigm, lacking systematic and complete empirical evidence. The paper, however, is based on the geographical distribution of law firms as a way to analyze the impact of lawyers’ legal service supply on corporate innovation, which can provide empirical evidence for related studies in the legal field and deepen the theoretical knowledge of lawyers’ service to the real economy. Thirdly, the paper has inspirational significance for enterprises to promote the rule of law and improve the construction of legal system. Given that the development of enterprise legal affairs in China stays in the primary stage, characterized by uneven development and insufficient cognition. The empirical analysis of the paper reveals the importance and value of enterprise legal work, and provides a policy basis for enterprises to promote the rule of law and improve the construction of legal system.

As a core driver of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, intelligent manufacturing plays a critical role in addressing the survival challenges faced by Chinese manufacturing firms amid economic restructuring and global technological competition. Unlike traditional labor-intensive production models, intelligent manufacturing—represented by industrial robots—emphasizes automation, efficiency improvement, and technological upgrading, reducing firms’ reliance on labor and vulnerability to market fluctuations. This transformative technology enables enterprises to optimize production processes, develop new markets, and enhance competitiveness, thereby lowering exit risks in an increasingly dynamic business environment. By promoting resilient and sustainable growth, intelligent manufacturing helps build a healthier industrial ecosystem and aligns with China’s strategic goals of building a manufacturing powerhouse and advancing high-quality development. Given this, this paper investigates the impact of intelligent manufacturing on Chinese firms’ survival risks and its underlying mechanisms, aiming to provide new insights and evidence for promoting industrial upgrading and enterprise sustainability.
Theoretically, this paper elaborates on the logical foundation of intelligent manufacturing in enhancing firm survival. Characterized by its focus on cost reduction, efficiency gains, and market expansion, intelligent manufacturing offers enterprises a new pathway to competitive advantage. By replacing labor with industrial robots, firms can improve labor productivity and lower marginal production costs, all of which help strengthen their ability to withstand market competition pressures. In addition, the introduction of intelligent manufacturing technology will also drive innovation by promoting the development of new products and entry into high-value markets, reducing dependence on low-margin market segments. Overall, the theoretical framework highlights two key mechanisms: first, the cost-efficiency effect, where intelligent manufacturing increases productivity and reduces production costs; and second, the market expansion effect, where intelligent manufacturing helps develop new products and increase market share. Ultimately, intelligent manufacturing will enhance revenue space through these two channels and cultivate new competitive advantages.
Empirically, this study uses data from Chinese manufacturing enterprises between 2000 and 2013 to examine the impact of intelligent manufacturing (proxied by industrial robot imports) on firm survival risks. The results show that intelligent manufacturing significantly reduces the survival risks of firms exiting the market, and the results remain robust after multidimensional robustness tests. After distinguishing between levels of robot technology, firms importing high-end robots experience a greater reduction in survival risks than those importing low-end robots, highlighting that the survival risk effect of intelligent manufacturing is related to firms’ technological absorptive capacity. Mechanism tests find that, although the effect of increasing profit margins in the short term is limited, the adoption of intelligent manufacturing technology does indeed promote enterprise survival capabilities through improving production efficiency, reducing marginal costs, stimulating new product development, and increasing sales revenue, and cultivates new market competitive advantages.
Heterogeneity analysis finds that, in terms of technological factors, overall, the higher the industry Concentration, the more significant the effect of using robot technology to consolidate market position and improve survival capabilities. However, compared with industries with higher capital intensity and higher technological levels, firms in industries with lower capital intensity and lower technological levels, which are more labor-intensive, show a more significant effect of reducing market exit risks through intelligent manufacturing transformation, alleviating the pressure of rising labor costs. In terms of openness factors, export-oriented and processing trade firms, which have priority access to advanced foreign technologies, benefit more in terms of survival from intelligent manufacturing transformation and upgrading, with a greater effect on enhancing international competitive advantages.
This study makes a valuable addition to the literature on intelligent manufacturing and firm survival dynamics. First, it provides causal evidence of the impact of intelligent manufacturing on firm survival risks using detailed large-sample data. Second, it disentangles the underlying mechanisms linking intelligent manufacturing to firm survival risks, highlighting the survival-promoting effects of intelligent manufacturing on both the supply and demand sides. Third, the rich heterogeneity analysis contributes valuable empirical evidence for designing and optimizing intelligent manufacturing policy systems.

Under the policies background of innovation-driven and accelerated construction of manufacturing power, improving the technological innovation capability of enterprises is the key support for the transformation and upgrading of China’s manufacturing industry. With the intensification of global scientific and technological competition and the increase of research and development (R&D) costs, it is more difficult for enterprises to realize innovation only by relying on internal resources. It has become a realistic choice for many enterprises to actively obtain external innovation resources through cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A). With the continuous improvement of China’s outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) policies system, the overall scale of cross-border M&A of manufacturing enterprises has increased and become rational. In the context of the urgent need for the transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry and China’s commitment to promoting a high level of opening-up, it is of great practical significance to study the impact of cross-border M&A on enterprise innovation.
This paper focuses on the following questions: First, will cross-border M&A by Chinese manufacturing enterprises affect enterprise innovation? What kind of impact will it have? Second, are there any differences in the impact effects on different host country locations, enterprise entities, and M&A methods? Thirdly, through what mechanisms do cross-border M&A of Chinese manufacturing enterprises affect enterprise innovation? Does the influence effect of the mechanism vary depending on the location of the M&A?
To answer the above questions, the following research content is designed: First, construct a theoretical analysis framework for the impact of cross-border M&A on enterprise innovation, establish a mathematical model to reveal the mechanism of cross-border M&A and enterprise innovation, and explore the transmission mechanism of the impact of cross-border M&A on enterprise innovation. Second, based on the experimental data of cross-border M&A and innovative development of Chinese manufacturing enterprises, examine the direct impact of cross-border M&A on the quality and quantity of enterprise innovation. Third, examine the heterogeneous impacts of different M&A locations, enterprise entities, and M&A methods on the innovation effects of cross-border M&A enterprises. Fourth, examine the different intermediate path mechanisms by which cross-border M&A affect enterprise innovation, as well as the differences in the roles of individual mechanisms in different M&A locations.
In accordance with the corresponding paradigm of mutual confirmation of theories and empirical analysis, this paper takes China’s listed manufacturing enterprises as the research object, and based on the matching data of CSMAR listed companies database, the global M&A transaction database (Zephyr) and Chinese Research Data Services Platform (CNRDS) from 2009 to 2020. The fixed effect, propensity score matching and difference-in-differences (PSM-DID), parallel trend test, placebo test, mediating effect were comprehensively used in this study.
The following conclusions are drawn:
First, cross-border M&A have significantly promoted the improvement of both the quantity and quality of enterprise innovation, with the improvement effects on the quantity and quality of innovation being 3.3% and 2% respectively, and the promotion effect is sustainable. Second, cross-border M&A can enhance the level of innovation through the promotion effect of R&D efficiency and knowledge base. Third, the impact of cross-border M&A on enterprise innovation is heterogeneous. From the perspective of the location of M&A, M&A in non-OECD countries have a higher effect on enhancing the quantity and quality of innovation than those in OECD countries, and M&A in OECD countries are more conducive to promoting enterprise innovation by improving R&D efficiency. The innovative enhancement effect brought by M&A in countries with distant institutional distances is higher than that in countries with close institutional distances. The innovation enhancement effect brought by M&A in countries with a long cultural distance is higher than that in countries with a short cultural distance, especially reflected in the improvement of innovation quality. From the perspective of the enterprise entity, only those with a relatively high productivity level can effectively enhance the quantity and quality of their innovation through cross-border M&A. Both cross-border M&A of state-owned enterprises and non-state-owned enterprises can significantly increase the number of innovations of enterprises. Moreover, cross-border M&A of state-owned enterprises have a more significant effect on increasing the number of innovations, while non-state-owned enterprises can significantly improve the quality of innovation of enterprises. The effect of M&A of high-tech enterprises on improving the quantity and quality of innovation are more obvious than that of general technology enterprises. In terms of the effect of M&A on increasing the number of enterprise innovations, enterprises in the western region have the highest effect, followed by those in the central and eastern regions. Only M&A of enterprises in the western region can significantly promote the improvement of innovation quality. From the perspective of merger and acquisition methods, technology M&A can significantly enhance the quantity and quality of an enterprise’s innovation, while non-technology M&A have no obvious impact. The effect of controlling M&A on enhancing the quantity and quality of innovation is higher than that of non-controlling M&A. Vertical M&A have a higher effect on increasing the number of innovations. Horizontal M&A have a higher effect on improving the quality of innovation.
Based on this, this article puts forward the following countermeasures and suggestions. Manufacturing enterprises should actively carry out cross-border M&A and pay attention to the integration of resources and capabilities after the M&A. Enhance the R&D efficiency of manufacturing enterprises, encourage them to develop independent innovation capabilities and improve their knowledge base. Based on the actual situation and characteristics of the enterprise, flexibly formulate differentiated cross-border merger and acquisition decisions.
The possible marginal contribution of this paper lies in the following: First, it examines the specific effects of the amount and frequency of cross-border M&A on the quantity and quality of enterprise innovation, making up for the deficiency of previous studies that were not objective and comprehensive enough in measuring the indicators of enterprise cross-border M&A and innovation. Second, analyzing the heterogeneous impact of M&A in different locations, entities and methods on enterprise innovation has enriched the relevant research on cross-border M&A of heterogeneous enterprises. Third, revealing the mediating role of enterprise R&D efficiency and knowledge base in promoting enterprise innovation through cross-border M&A, as well as the differences in the mediating role of R&D efficiency in different merger and acquisition locations, enriches the relevant research on the mechanism of the impact of M&A on enterprise innovation.

Maintaining sound mental health contributes to enhancing children’s cognitive abilities, non-cognitive skills, and overall accumulation of human capital. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the state has prioritized mental health education for young people, emphasizing the need to promote their holistic physical and psychological development. This has been integrated into the broader framework of national human resource development and the strategy of revitalizing the nation through science and education. Relevant departments have issued and implemented multiple policy documents. In recent years, the increasing academic burden on students and the spread of educational anxiety have become significant factors affecting the mental well-being of both students and parents. Children in compulsory education warrant particular attention. Alleviating their academic pressures while concurrently enhancing their psychological well-being has emerged as a critical issue for optimizing human capital structures and bolstering the nation’s future competitiveness. Against this backdrop, conducting a multidimensional assessment of the effectiveness of the neighbourhood school policy holds significant importance. By optimizing resource allocation, promoting educational equity, alleviating educational anxiety, and fostering children’s holistic development, this policy provides institutional support for achieving the strategic goal of building China into a leading country in education.
This paper examines the impact of the nearby enrolment policy for primary-to-secondary transition in compulsory education. Utilizing panel data from the China Family Panel Studies and applying a difference-in-differences approach, it assesses the policy’s effects on children’s mental health and its underlying mechanisms. Findings indicate that the nearby enrolment policy significantly reduced children’s depression levels by 0.16 standard deviations, yielding positive mental health outcomes alongside notable improvements in cognitive abilities. Mechanism analysis indicates that regarding academic pressure, the policy effectively alleviates children’s subjective perception of learning stress. Concurrently, it reduces total household education expenditure by curbing school selection competition intensity. Concerning commuting distance, the policy markedly shortens both travel distance and duration to school. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the proximity enrolment policy yields more pronounced improvements in mental health for children from rural and low-educated households. This paper provides theoretical foundations for the spatial optimization of educational resources during educational modernization, validating the crucial role of equity-oriented institutional design in promoting children’s holistic development.
This paper proposes the following policy recommendations. Firstly, the policy of zoned admission without entrance examinations should continue to be strictly enforced. This requires ensuring that school catchment areas are scientifically defined and transparent, safeguarding the effectiveness of policy implementation, and strengthening oversight of unauthorized cross-zone enrolment practices. In future, consideration may be given to expanding the scope of admission without examinations, extending reforms for equitable distribution of educational resources to higher levels of education. Furthermore, targeted support for disadvantaged groups is essential, such as establishing counselling rooms in rural and under-resourced schools and conducting regular mental health screenings for pupils. Second, policies should continuously optimize the allocation of basic education resources, increasing investment in teaching staff and curricula for rural and under-performing schools. Information technology should be leveraged to enhance classroom teaching quality, narrowing disparities between schools and reducing families’ pursuit of prestigious institutions. It is recommended to establish free or low-cost after-school tutoring programs within schools to replace reliance on market-based supplementary tuition. Thirdly, reforms should centre on the educational assessment system, exploring holistic evaluation methods to diminish families’ utilitarian demand for supplementary tutoring. Fourthly, establish a dynamic monitoring and early warning mechanism for the school-age population to anticipate and adjust for shortfalls in school places in advance, thereby mitigating the impact of educational demand arising from demographic shifts. In areas experiencing sustained population inflows, dynamically increase the number of school places to effectively expand the capacity of state-funded schools and tangibly raise enrolment rates for children of migrant workers. In regions experiencing population outflows, actively promote the development of small-scale schools, implement small-class teaching and personalized learning models, optimize teacher allocation, and improve the teacher-pupil ratio.

Achieving the dual objectives of reducing corporate tax burdens and maintaining fiscal stability is crucial for advancing high-quality economic development. Artificial intelligence (AI), embedded with the connotations of new quality productive forces, presents a promising opportunity to address this dual challenge. Existing literature shows that AI significantly affects taxation-related factors such as labor structures, asset investment patterns, and R&D expenditure, thereby creating the possibility of corporate tax reductions. At the same time, AI adoption improves firms’ productivity and business performance, offering a pathway to tax base expansion. However, few studies directly examine the impact of AI on both corporate tax burden and government tax revenue, as well as the interconnection between them. Therefore, this paper integrates artificial intelligence, corporate tax burdens, and government tax revenue into a unified analytical framework to systematically examine the impact of AI technology on both corporate tax burdens and government tax revenue, as well as the intrinsic connection between these two effects, all through the analytical lens of new quality productive forces.
Compared with prior research, this paper makes four main contributions. First, departing from single-perspective assessments of technological effects, this study integrates AI technology, corporate effective tax burden, and government tax revenue into a unified analytical framework based on theories such as developing new quality productive forces. This approach extends the analytical boundaries of AI’s economic implications from both macro and micro perspectives. Second, through theoretical analysis and empirical evidence, this research reveals the mechanisms through which AI technology generates a “tax-reduction dividend” for firms and a “revenue-enhancement dividend” for the government. It further uncovers the intrinsic linkage between these two fiscal dividends, characterized by the pathway of “corporate tax reduction → output expansion → industry spillover → tax base broadening → government revenue increase.” Third, this study validates, in the domain of technology and taxation, the scientific rationale and practical relevance of fully implementing The Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, vigorously developing new quality productive forces, and advancing the “AI+” initiative. Empowering enterprises with AI technology to drive innovation aligns with the essence of new quality productive forces, facilitates the dual objectives of reducing corporate tax burdens and increasing government revenue, and holds significant implications for high-quality economic development. Fourth, this research also provides verification and extension of the theoretical expectations derived from the supply-side economics perspective on tax reduction incentives. The “Laffer curve” posits an inverted U-shaped relationship between tax rates and revenue. This study demonstrates that AI technology enables firms to better adapt to tax incentive policies, thereby generating tax reduction effects, which in turn incentivize improvements in production efficiency and operational performance.
Based on data from Chinese A-share listed firms and city-level panels from 2008-2023, we employ fixed-effects models to empirically test the impact of AI adoption on corporate effective tax burdens and government tax revenue, and further explore the relationship between the corporate “tax-reducing dividend” and the government “revenue-enhancing dividend.”At the corporate level, the study finds that AI technology significantly reduces the effective tax burden of firms. This conclusion remains robust after accounting for endogeneity and undergoing rigorous robustness checks. The identified mechanisms for this effect are “Salary Tax Deduction,” “Intelligent Investment,” and “R&D Incentive.” Analysis of economic consequences reveals that the tax reduction induced by AI technology subsequently incentivizes improvements in firms’ operational performance and production efficiency. Furthermore, this tax reduction effect and its positive economic consequences exhibit significant spillover effects across industries. At the city level, the study finds that despite the tax reduction observed at the firm level, AI technology significantly increases overall government tax revenue. This finding also holds after controlling for endogeneity and passing robustness tests. The underlying reason is that the positive economic consequences stemming from AI’s tax reduction effect are also present at the city level. AI technology promotes the expansion of urban output and increases in aggregate profits, creating a “tax base broadening” effect that ultimately leads to higher government tax revenue. 
In conclusion, this study provides theoretical and empirical evidence that AI adoption enables the coexistence of lower corporate tax burdens and stable government revenue. Based on the research findings, we propose the following policy recommendations: i. promoting the targeted implementation of the “AI Plus” initiative to strengthen the foundation for developing new quality productive forces within enterprises, which includes supporting firms in intelligent transformation and talent cultivation; ii. fostering an industrial ecosystem conducive to new quality productive forces by enhancing cross-sector collaboration in the application of AI technologies, facilitating technology spillovers and coordinated development across sectors; and iii. optimizing fiscal policies related to AI technology to precisely cultivate high-quality tax sources, thereby providing sustainable fiscal support for the development of new quality productive forces, such as through tax incentives and innovation subsidies.

China’s economy is currently in a critical period of transition from high-speed growth to high-quality development, with consumption playing an increasingly prominent role in economic growth. In recent years, however, the contribution of consumption to economic growth has declined. At the same time, tensions in the international landscape and trade frictions with countries such as the United States and Australia have adversely affected exports, and the structural imbalance caused by long-term high investment has also highlighted the limitations of China’s economic growth model. As such, shifting the growth paradigm and stimulating domestic demand have become important directions of the national economic development strategy. Nevertheless, China’s household savings rate has remained persistently high since the reform and opening-up period—rising from less than 28% in 2000 to 39% in 2010, and slightly declining to 37% in 2015—and is among the highest in the world. Such high saving rates have, to some extent, constrained the expansion of domestic demand, making it of great practical significance to study the factors influencing household savings. The existing literature mainly attributes China’s high saving rates to long-term factors such as uncertainties brought by market-oriented reforms, demographic changes, and institutional or cultural characteristics, which are however difficult to adjust in the short run. In contrast, the social security system offers a more policy-relevant perspective. Previous studies have shown that pension and health insurance schemes can reduce household saving rates, yet the role of the Housing Provident Fund (HPF) in shaping household saving decisions remains underexplored.
Using data from the Urban Household Survey (UHS) covering 2002-2014, this paper finds that a one-percentage-point increase in the HPF contribution rate reduces the household saving rate by 0.923 percentage points. Further mechanism analysis indicates that this effect is more pronounced among households with stronger precautionary saving motives, such as those with a higher share of employment in non-state-owned enterprises, lower per capita housing values, and lower education levels of the household head. Moreover, from a lifecycle perspective, the suppressing effect is stronger for households facing higher opportunity costs of interest loss, tighter liquidity constraints, or weaker tax benefits associated with HPF contributions. To address potential endogeneity concerns, we adopt housing reform allocation status and geographical distance to early pilot cities as instrumental variables, employ propensity score matching to re-balance the sample, and apply alternative measures of saving rates. Across all specifications, the negative impact of HPF contributions on household saving remains robust.
Based on the findings, this paper proposes the following policy recommendations: On the one hand, when adjusting the contribution ratio of the HPF, attention should be paid to the fact that it not only has the function of housing security but also exerts an impact on household consumption and savings decisions. Therefore, its dual attributes should be taken into account in evaluating its broader effects. On the other hand, raising the HPF contribution rate can serve as a feasible approach to reducing China’s persistently high household saving rate. Yet differentiated policies should be adopted for households with varying characteristics. For example, contribution rates may be appropriately lowered for households currently repaying housing loans or those not subject to liquidity constraints, while for residents nearing retirement—who face higher tax-shield costs and weaker policy effects—withdrawal conditions and limits may be relaxed to minimize welfare losses from contributions. This research confirms that the housing provident fund not only serves as a housing security mechanism but also significantly influences household savings behavior, offering a new perspective for understanding China’s high savings rate. Furthermore, it provides valuable insights for improving housing security policies, boosting consumption, and promoting high-quality economic development.

Against the backdrop of intensifying global climate change, persistent ecological degradation, and increasingly scarce resources, the concept of green development has become a universal consensus and shared goal among nations pursuing sustainable economic growth. As the world’s largest developing country, China has actively integrated into the global trade division of labor system by leveraging its low-cost labor advantage. While generating substantial economic gains, it has inevitably borne the environmental pressures transferred from developed countries, resulting in severe environmental pollution. Resolving the tension between economic transformation and ecological conservation has become an urgent requirement inherent to China’s pursuit of high-quality economic development. Green economic efficiency, as a key indicator balancing economic, social, and environmental performance, provides a scientific measure of China’s high-quality economic development. It not only demands finding a balance between resource utilization and environmental protection but also emphasizes enhancing the green attributes of economic activities through innovation-driven approaches and technological progress, thereby achieving synergistic development of economic growth and ecological conservation. In recent years, with the vigorous development of the digital economy, data elements have emerged as one of the core drivers of economic growth. They continuously empower socioeconomic expansion, industrial structure upgrading, and technological innovation, while also offering valuable insights for enhancing regional green economic efficiency.
This study uses the implementation of pilot policies for big data trading platforms as a quasi-natural experiment. Based on panel data from 284 prefecture-level cities and above in China from 2011 to 2023, it employs a combination of multi-period difference-in-differences models and super-efficiency SBM models to empirically examine the impact effects and mechanisms of data element market development on urban green total factor productivity. The study finds that the development of data element markets significantly enhances the efficiency of urban green economies, and this conclusion remains valid after undergoing a series of parallel trend tests, dual machine learning methods, and heterogeneity treatment effect tests. In terms of mechanisms, the development of data element markets primarily enhances government environmental regulation effectiveness, optimizes regional digital development environments, and stimulates regional green technological innovation vitality, thereby effectively driving a significant improvement in the green total factor productivity levels of Chinese cities. Further analysis shows that the development of data element markets also has significant spatial spillover effects, promoting the coordinated improvement of green total factor productivity in geographically adjacent regions and enhancing regional green development connectivity. In summary, this study provides important theoretical references and policy implications for deepening the understanding of the economic and environmental synergistic benefits of data element marketization reforms, releasing their technological dividends, and promoting the green and low-carbon sustainable development of regional economies.
Based on the findings, this paper proposes the following policy recommendations: first, strengthen the development of data resource trading platforms, improve the data trading platform system, establish a multi-tiered data trading market, and propel the transformation of data as an information technology factor into a new phase of deepened application and standardized development. Second, seize new opportunities presented by digital transformation, focus on key areas for establishing big data trading platforms, explore differentiated development paths, and comprehensively elevate the level of high-quality regional economic development. Third, narrowing development gaps between regions and building a regionally interconnected green digital economic development model are crucial measures for achieving green, high-quality development across the entire region. This research provides a scientific basis for governments to formulate more precise and effective digital economy policies, helping cities optimize and upgrade their industrial structures to achieve high-quality regional economic development. Establish a national-level data trading platform, build a multi-tiered data sharing and trading system, explore the cultivation of regional data trading platforms, and develop industry-specific data trading platforms.

Promoting the cross-regional flow of production factors and deepening the construction of a unified national market are foundational requirements for building a powerful domestic market in China. The core objective of this national strategy is to break down administrative boundaries, geographical barriers, and institutional transaction costs to achieve the efficient cross-regional allocation of resources. Firm cross-regional investment, which expands a firm’s business operating space, is a critical channel for facilitating this factor mobility.
Geographic distance, however, imposes significant cost burdens, information asymmetries, and management challenges, thereby hindering cross-regional investment and impeding the formation of an integrated market. While the economic impacts of physical infrastructure, such as high-speed rail, on mitigating these distances have been extensively studied, empirical research on the influence of digital infrastructure on corporate spatial location decisions remains scarce. This study examines whether the development of digital infrastructure can effectively stimulate cross-regional investment by firms into demonstration cities, thereby expanding their business operating space and providing new micro-level evidence on the construction of a unified national market.
To answer this question, this study employs China’s “Broadband China” strategy as a quasi-natural experiment. This top-down national policy was launched in 2013, with cities designated as demonstration zones in three phased batches during 2014, 2015 and 2016. Based on a comprehensive panel dataset constructed from 2007 to 2023, the study integrates firm-level financial data from all A-share listed companies, manually collected and geolocated parent-subsidiary relationship data, and the officially published list of “Broadband China” demonstration cities. A Difference-in-Differences model with multi-period shocks is employed to compare the differences in cross-regional investment attractiveness between demonstration and non-demonstration cities. 
The benchmark regression results indicate that the “Broadband China” policy significantly expands a firm’s business operating space by enhancing cities’ attractiveness for cross-regional investment. This result remains robust after a series of tests, including parallel trends analysis, placebo tests, PSM-DID, and entropy balancing. Mechanism analysis reveals this effect operates primarily through two channels. First, an information effect is identified. The study constructs a novel “average weighted geographic distance” metric to capture the economic spatial distance between parent companies and their subsidiaries. This finding provides evidence that optimized digital infrastructure facilitates the cross-regional flow of information, reduces the perceived risks and costs of remote management, and thus encourages firms to expand business operating space. Second is the cost effect, specifically reducing internal communication costs and lowering external transaction costs. Further analysis reveals a network synergistic effect. The study found that when both the starting point and destination of an investment possess high-quality digital infrastructure, it generates stronger network connectivity that surpasses the reduction of single-point information friction, thereby amplifying the effects on cross-regional investment activities. Regarding heterogeneity analysis, the impact of digital infrastructure varies across geographic distances and regional, urban, and corporate characteristics. Specifically, digital infrastructure significantly influences firms’ location choices for cross-regional investments in adjacent versus remote areas, eastern regions, large cities, non-state-owned enterprises, and high-tech firms. 
The contributions of this study are as follows. This paper makes contributions in three key areas. First, by examining firm’s business operating space, it reveals pathways for achieving the integration of efficient markets and effective government, providing micro-level evidence on how digital infrastructure drives the formation of a unified national market. Second, it uncovers the spatial effects and dual mechanisms through which digital infrastructure reshapes economic geography, enriching the existing research on digital infrastructure. Third, this study innovatively constructs the “average weighted geographic distance” metric between parent companies and subsidiaries. It validates the mechanism through which digital infrastructure drives spatial expansion of business operations from both information and cost perspectives. Furthermore, the heterogeneity analysis results provide policy references for optimizing digital infrastructure deployment and better advancing the construction of a unified national market.
Based on these findings, this study proposes the following policy recommendations. First, reinforce the “digital corridor” positioning of digital infrastructure to alleviate information asymmetry in cross-regional investment. Second, establish high-quality datasets complementary to digital infrastructure to strengthen data support for cross-regional allocation of factors. Third, optimize the spatial layout of digital infrastructure to leverage network synergies. Fourth, organically integrate digital infrastructure development plans with investment promotion policies.

The synergistic progression of digital transformation and environm-ental sustainability represents a critical pathway for industrial modernization, a process significantly shaped by supply chain networks where one firm’s digitalization can generate externalities for its partners’ environmental performance. Although digital technologies are recognized for their green potential, the direction and mechanisms of such spillovers along the supply chain remain theoretically and empirically unclear—specifically, whether digitalization influences upstream suppliers or downstream customers more strongly. This paper addresses this gap by developing a formal model and conducting rigorous empirical analysis to identify the direction, channels, and boundary conditions of these green spillovers.
Our theoretical model features a two-tier supply chain with a supplier, a client firm, and end consumers under incomplete contracting. It incorporates consumer utility from both physical and green attributes of final goods, where greenness accumulates from investments across production stages. As the demand-side leader and contract proposer, the client’s digitalization improves information flows and mitigates contractual incompleteness. This asymmetrically alters green investment incentives: it strengthens the client’s ability to monitor and signal demand for greener inputs, creating a strong incentive for upstream suppliers to improve green performance. In contrast, the model implies a weaker direct incentive for downstream customers, whose green efforts are more substitutable and less monitored upstream. Thus, we hypothesize that corporate digitalization generates a positive green spillover directed primarily upstream, with a negligible downstream effect.
Our empirical strategy is designed to test this proposition using micro-level data from China. We construct a novel and comprehensive dataset by meticulously matching the disclosed lists of major suppliers and customers of Chinese listed firms (sourced from CNRDS) with the granular establishment-level information from the National Tax Survey (NTS) spanning 2007 to 2016. This matching process is crucial as it allows us to incorporate the vast majority of non-listed firms that constitute supply chain links, mitigating a severe sample selection bias prevalent in studies relying solely on listed firm data. We derive two distinct analysis samples: a client-supplier panel (7,618 observations) and a client-customer panel (14,367 observations). Enterprise digitalization (DIG) is measured via text analysis of digital keywords in annual reports. Green development (GDE) is a composite index using entropy weighting, integrating NTS indicators on energy use, emissions, and pollution abatement costs.
Using a fixed-effects framework, we find robust evidence supporting the upstream spillover hypothesis. Client digitalization shows a significant negative association with supplier GDE (where lower GDE indicates better performance), while its effect on downstream customer GDE is negligible. This asymmetric finding holds across extensive robustness tests. We examine two underlying mechanisms. First, client digitalization reduces supplier transaction costs, proxied by business entertainment expense ratios, freeing resources for green investment. Second, it stimulates supplier innovation, raising expenditures on both external R&D services and internal R&D activities, thus enhancing technical capacity for green transformation.
Heterogeneity analysis shows the spillover is stronger in supply chains with higher transparency, supplier stability, and concentration. The effect is also more pronounced when clients and suppliers are geographically dispersed, suggesting digital tools can substitute for proximity and mitigate localized pollution agglomeration. We further find that digitally-induced supplier greening increases the supplier’s own total factor productivity (TFP) and contributes to overall supply chain TFP, indicating a “double dividend” aligning environmental and economic gains.
In conclusion, this study makes several contributions. It resolves a key ambiguity in the literature by providing theoretical reasoning and robust empirical evidence for a dominant upstream direction in the green spillover of corporate digitalization. It advances methodological practice by constructing a matched dataset that incorporates critical non-listed entities. It elucidates the dual operational channels of transaction cost reduction and innovation stimulation. Furthermore, it identifies critical moderating factors related to supply chain structure, geography, and ownership, offering actionable insights for managers and policymakers. To harness the full synergistic potential of digitalization for sustainability, strategies should focus on enhancing supply chain transparency and stability, leveraging digital tools for cross-regional green collaboration, and fostering governance structures that amplify market-driven environmental incentives.