Participation in GVC, Innovation and Productivity: An Empirical Analysis of Firm-Level Data

近几十年来，由于信息和通讯技术的进步以及贸易壁垒的降低，各公司在其边界内和在其国内经济中只保留了生产阶段的一部分，造成了生产在国际上日益分散的过程。该项目旨在阐明参与全球价值链（GVCs）是否以及如何影响企业生产力和创新。它将在三个方面做到这一点。首先，我认为企业参与全球价值链会通过更高的创新直接或间接地对其生产率产生积极影响，而这些影响会随着企业在全球价值链中的地位而变化。其次，我将坚持认为，参与全球价值链增加了企业投资无形资产和与其他企业或机构合作创新的激励。最后，我将论证，一个国家和一个行业劳动力的技能禀赋会影响企业从全球化中受益的方式。理解全球价值链的生产力和创新效应是越来越多的文献关注的焦点。大量研究使用货物贸易和外资所有权的数据来揭示贸易参与或跨国地位与经济表现之间的联系。然而，参与全球价值链的范围远不止简单的商品交易或离岸外包，而且人们对参与全球价值链的其他方面对企业绩效的影响所知甚少。我的研究工作旨在通过说明生产的国际碎片化和间接参与全球价值链（通过与进出口公司的贸易联系）对企业生产率和创新的影响来填补这一空白。此外，该项目还将有助于研究全球价值链升级模式。虽然现有的全球价值链研究是从绩效衡量中推断出升级，但本研究将通过研究创新能力和知识资本投资的改善来研究这种改进发生的方式，并将调查全球价值链中的技术转移和学习机会如何以及通过哪些渠道成为创新能力。这个研究项目将在各个方面对决策者特别有意义。首先，企业绩效与其生产的国际碎片化水平或在全球价值链中的定位相关的潜在结论，与旨在促进企业或国家竞争力的产业政策高度相关。这一潜在发现意味着，政策应该重新定位，更好地考虑全球经济在活动和任务方面的组织，而不是行业或产品，因为全球价值链的好处可能不仅仅局限于高科技部门和制造业。其次，更重要的是，参与全球价值链可能会影响公司层面的重要决策（例如，对创新或知识的投资），这些影响可能是全球活跃企业与国内企业之间或全球活跃企业之间生产率表现差异的原因。因此，创新政策对于在全球价值链中创造和获取价值可能至关重要，这意味着贸易促进或产业政策与创新政策之间的协调应该至关重要。第三，如果在全球价值链中取得成功需要对远远超出研发范围的知识资产进行投资，那么我的分析还将强调，创新政策需要采取比研发更广泛的视角，以帮助企业在全球价值链中取得成功。最后，关于一个国家或一个部门的技能禀赋在全球价值链参与与企业绩效之间的联系中所起的调节作用的潜在结论表明，为了扩大企业从全球价值链中获得的收益，应该协调产业政策、教育和技能政策。

In recent decades, advances in information and communication technology and falling trade barriers have led firms to retain within their boundaries and in their domestic economies only a subset of the production stages, generating a growing process of the international fragmentation of production. This project aims to shed light on whether and how participation in global value chains (GVCs) affects firm productivity and innovation. It will do so in three respects. First, I will argue that a firm' involvement in GVCs affects positively its productivity both directly and indirectly via higher innovation and that these effects vary with a firm's position in a GVC. Second, I will maintain that the participation in GVCs increases a firm's incentives to invest in intangibles and collaborate on innovation with other enterprises or institutions. Last, I will argue that the skill endowment of a country's and a sector's workforce influences the way firms benefit from globalisation.Understanding the productivity and innovation effects of GVCs is the focus of a growing literature. A large number of studies have used data on trade in goods and foreign ownership to uncover the link between trade participation, or multinational status, and economic performance. However, participation in GVCs is much wider than simply trading goods or offshoring, and far less is known about the effects of other aspects of GVC participation on firm performance. My research work will aim at filling this gap by illustrating the effects of the international fragmentation of production and indirect participation in GVCs (via trading links with importing or exporting firms) on firm productivity and innovation. Additionally, this project will also contribute to the body of research studying patterns of upgrading in GVCs. While existing research on GVCs deduces upgrading from measures of performance, this research will examine the way in which this improvement takes place by looking at improvements in innovation capabilities and investment in knowledge capital, and it will investigate how and through which channels technology transfer and learning opportunities in a GVC become innovation capacity.This research project will be of particular relevance for policy makers in various respects. Firstly, the potential conclusion that a firm's performance and its level of international fragmentation of production or positioning in a GVC are related is highly relevant for industrial policies aiming to foster a firm's or a country's competitiveness. This potential finding implies that policies should be re-oriented to take better account of the organisation of the global economy in terms of activities and tasks instead of industries or products as benefits from GVCs may not be confined to high-tech sectors and manufacturing only. Secondly, even more important would be the potential finding that participation in GVC may affect important firm-level decisions (e.g. investment in innovation or knowledge), and these effects might be the reasons behind the differences in productivity performance between globally active and domestic firms, or among globally active firms. Innovation policies may therefore be crucial for the creation and capturing of value within GVCs, which implies that coordination between trade promotion or industrial policies and innovation policies should be essential. Thirdly, should success in GVCs require investment in knowledge-based assets that extend far beyond R&D, my analysis will also highlight the need for innovation policies to take a much broader view than just R&D for helping firms succeed in GVCs. Finally, the potential conclusion on the moderating role of a country's or a sector's skill endowment in the link between GVC participation and firm performance suggests that industrial policies and education and skill policies should be coordinated in order to amplify firms' gains from GVCs.