Public Procurement of Innovation and R&D Investment of Digital Enterprises

Abstract

Abstract: The impact of government procurement on enterprise research and development has received attention from many scholars. However, most studies have failed to distinguish between conventional government procurement and public procurement of innovation, and there is a lack of specialized research on digital enterprises. Basing on the text data of Chinese government procurement contracts, using text analysis method, this paper manually collects and organizes public procurement of innovation data and matches it with the data of listed companies in the digital economy. From a micro perspective, the impact of public procurement of innovation on R&D of digital enterprises is examined. The result shows that public procurement of innovation significantly promotes R&D in digital enterprises, and the conclusion remains valid after relevant robustness tests. The mechanism test indicates that public procurement of innovation not only significantly reduces the financing constraints of digital enterprises, but also significantly increases their probability of obtaining venture capital. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that public procurement of innovation has a more significant incentive effect on the R&D of digital enterprises that are non-state-owned, at pre-R&D stage, and exposed to a low-level market-oriented institutional environment. This paper puts forwards some targeted policy suggestions for promoting the innovative development of digital enterprises.

Key words: public procurement of innovation, digital enterprises, R&D

Peng Ruijuan, Xu Jianbin. Public Procurement of Innovation and R&D Investment of Digital Enterprises[J]. Management Review, 2026, 38(4): 104-116.

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