An Assessment of the Policy Effects of Cross-border E-commerce Pilot Zones: A Perspective Based on Enterprises' New-quality Productive Capacity

Abstract

This paper assesses the policy effects of cross-border e-commerce pilot zones from the perspective of enterprises' new-quality productive capacity, using a multi-period DID method. The study finds that the establishment of these pilot zones significantly positively impacts enterprises' new-quality productive capacity, and this finding passes multiple robustness tests, including parallel trend tests and placebo tests. Heterogeneous analysis shows that enterprises in the eastern and central regions, non-state-controlled enterprises, smaller enterprises, and high-tech industry enterprises are more significantly affected by the policy. The mechanism test reveals that the policy promotes the development of new-quality productive capacity by boosting enterprises' digital transformation and alleviating financing constraints. This research empirical provides evidence for optimizing cross-border e-commerce pilot zone policies and offers references for the development of related regions and enterprises.