省级知识产权保护与企业出口稳定性

Provincial Intellectual Property Protection and Firm-Level Export Stability

摘要: 省级知识产权保护是高质量出口的重要制度安排，然而现有文献尚缺乏其对企业出口稳定性影响的系统探讨。本文基于2000~2016年海关数据库以及中国大陆除西藏自治区的30个省级单位的知识产权保护强度数据，探究省级知识产权保护强度对企业出口稳定性的影响及作用机制。研究发现，强化省级知识产权保护能够显著提升企业出口稳定性。异质性分析表明，这一积极影响在经济发展水平较高的地区以及技术模仿门槛较低的产品类别中更为明显；与此同时，知识产权保护会激励大企业开展更多的出口试探行为，从而对其出口稳定性产生一定的抑制效果。机制检验表明，知识产权保护主要通过推动企业出口产品多样化来提升出口稳定性，且企业出口产品技术水平的提升能够进一步增强这种积极影响。

Abstract: Provincial-level intellectual property protection constitutes a key institutional foundation for pro-moting high-quality exports. However, the existing literature lacks a systematic examination of the impact on firms’ export stability. This study examines the impact of provincial-level intellectual property protection intensity on firms’ export stability and explores the underlying mechanisms. The analysis is based on Chinese customs data from 2000~2016 and provincial-level intellectual property protection intensity data for 30 units in the mainland of China (excluding Xizang Autonomous Region) over the same period. The results indicate that stronger provincial-level intellectual property protection significantly enhances firms’ export stability. Heterogeneity analyses show that this positive effect is more pronounced in economically more developed regions and in product categories characterized by lower technological imitation barriers. At the same time, stronger intellectual property protection encourages large firms to undertake more exploratory exporting, which in turn exerts an inhibiting effect on their export stability. Mechanism tests suggest that intellectual property protection enhances export stability primarily by promoting firms’ product diversification, while improvements in the technological sophistication of exported products further amplify this effect.