中共十八大以来规模空前的反腐败斗争取得了显著的成果，反腐努力在肃清官员队伍，净化官场风气的同时，带来了怎样的经济后果引起了众多学者的兴趣。企业创新作为企业建立自身竞争壁垒，谋取企业持续性发展的关键途径，受到诸多因素的影响。本文收集了中共十八大以来中国内地31个省（直辖市、自治区）的反腐败数据，以沪深A股上市公司为研究对象，构建了2013年-2020年3346家公司的18417个公司年面板数据，使用固定效应模型研究了反腐败对企业创新的影响。实证结果表明，十八大以来的反腐败努力促进了企业创新。不论是用反腐败立案数还是反腐败处分人员数量衡量反腐水平，从创新投入端出发还是从创新产出端出发，反腐败对企业创新的促进作用都是显著的。进一步研究发现，这一促进作用通过企业现金持有渠道和追求政治关联渠道传导。当反腐败水平上升时，企业经营面临的政治风险和不确定性下降，因此出于应对风险而持有现金的需求降低，从而能够将更多的资源用于企业创新；与此同时，反腐败努力降低了企业与官员建立政治联系的潜在收益，增加了官商勾结的成本，从而减少了企业追求政治关联对企业创新的资源挤出效应，最终提升了企业创新水平。本文还分析了不同分组条件下反腐败促进企业创新的异质性，发现不同所有权性质、处于不同行业、位于不同地区的企业，其企业创新水平受到反腐败努力的促进作用存在明显差别。具体而言，反腐败对民营企业、高新技术企业的企业创新促进作用高于对国有企业及非高新技术企业的促进作用，东部地区的反腐败努力对该地区企业创新水平的促进作用也要高于非东部地区。基于上述实证结果，我们分别从政府管理角度及企业经营角度提出了针对性建议。在政府方面，应该坚定不移地推进反腐败斗争，进一步巩固当前的反腐成果，构建亲清政商关系，为企业经营提供稳定透明的政治环境；与此同时加强不同地区之间的协同发展，东部地区省份应该带动非东部地区省份发展民营经济，加强政府间交流，利用东部地区的反腐经验指导非东部地区加强反腐工作。在企业经营方面，企业应该重视战略抉择时的科学性及长期性，避免为追求短期利益而竞相追逐政治关联。
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the unprecedented anti-corruption struggle has achieved remarkable results. Many scholars are interested in the economic consequences brought by the anti-corruption efforts while cleaning up the ranks of officials and purifying the atmosphere of officialdom. As a key way for enterprises to establish their own competitive barriers and seek sustainable development, enterprise innovation is affected by many factors. This paper collects the anti-corruption data of 31 provinces (municipalities, autonomous regions) in mainland China, takes Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies as the research object, constructs the annual panel data of 3346 companies from 2013 to 2020, and uses the fixed effect model to study the impact of anti-corruption on enterprise innovation.The empirical results show that the anti-corruption efforts since the 18th CPC National Congress promote enterprise innovation. Whether the number of anti-corruption cases or the number of anti-corruption punishment personnel is used to measure the anti-corruption level, focus on the innovation input end or the innovation output end, the promotion effect of anti-corruption on enterprise innovation is significant. Further research shows that the promotion effect is created through cash holding channels and the pursuit of political connections channels. When the level of anti-corruption rises, the political risk and uncertainty faced by enterprises decrease, so the demand for cash to cope with the risk decreases, so that more resources can be used for enterprise innovation; at the same time, anti-corruption efforts reduce the potential benefits of establishing political ties between enterprises and officials, increase the cost of collusion between officials and businessmen, and reduce the pursuit of political power. Finally, it improves the level of enterprise innovation.This paper also analyzes the heterogeneity of anti-corruption promoting enterprise innovation under different grouping conditions, and finds that enterprises with different ownership nature, different industries and different regions have significantly different promotion effects on enterprise innovation level by anti-corruption efforts. Specifically, anti-corruption promotes the innovation of private enterprises and high-tech enterprises higher than that of state-owned enterprises and non high-tech enterprises, and the anti-corruption efforts in the non-eastern region also promote the innovation level of enterprises higher than that in the eastern region.Based on the above empirical results, we put forward targeted suggestions from the perspective of government management and enterprise management. On the government side, we should unswervingly promote the anti-corruption struggle, further consolidate the current anti-corruption achievements, build a pro “qin-qing” government business relationship, and provide a stable and transparent political environment for enterprise operation; at the same time, we should strengthen the coordinated development between different regions, and the eastern provinces should drive the non-eastern provinces to develop private economy, strengthen intergovernmental exchanges, and make use of the experience of eastern region in anti-corruption to guide the non-eastern region. In the aspect of enterprise management, enterprises should pay attention to the scientificity of strategic choice, and avoid chasing political connections for short-term interests.
