Abstract:

The increasing rigidity of costs and technological leaps have led to the growing prominence of "rat race" competition in the manufacturing sector. The gradual improvement of technical standards has put forward new requirements for the development of the manufacturing industry and has raised the question of what impact they have on "rat race" competition, which is the focus of this study. Based on the data of Chinese A-share listed manufacturing enterprises from 2011 to 2023, this study empirically analyzed the impact of technical standards on "rat race" competition and its underlying mechanism. The empirical results show that technical standards can alleviate "rat race" competition, and the effect is more significant in alleviating product homogeneity-driven "rat race" competition. In terms of the mechanism of action, technical standards mainly alleviate "rat race" competition by promoting technological innovation and enhancing human capital. In terms of the moderating mechanism, the fair competition review system, by breaking down administrative monopolies and local protection, enhances the inhibitory effect of technical standards on "rat race" competition. Intellectual property protection, by reducing the property rights risks in the implementation of technical standards, encourages enterprises to transform common technologies into competitive advantages, thereby alleviating "rat race" competition. In terms of heterogeneity tests, the impact of technical standards on "intra-industry" competition varies asymmetrically due to industry nature and regional characteristics. On the one hand, the improvement of technical standards can only slightly alleviate the overcapacity-driven "rat race" competition of enterprises in the eastern region and non-high-tech enterprises. On the other hand, technical standards can alleviate the product homogeneity-driven "rat race" competition of high-tech enterprises and enterprises located in both the eastern and western regions. The marginal contributions of this study mainly involve three aspects. First, it focuses on the "rat race" behavior at the enterprise level and, based on the manifestations and formation logic of "rat race" competition, innovatively divides it into overcapacity-driven and product homogeneity-driven types, providing a clear analytical framework for understanding the composition and connotation of enterprise "rat race" competition. Second, from the perspective of "rat race" competition, it is the first to verify the micro-governance effect of the macro technical standard system, providing direct empirical evidence for the government to use regulatory policies to solve the problems of overcapacity and product homogeneity. Third, it incorporates technological innovation and human capital into the research framework of technical standards and "rat race" competition, and introduces the fair competition review system and intellectual property protection as moderating variables to systematically analyze the impact mechanism and boundary conditions of technical standards on "rat race" competition. This not only fills the gap in existing research but also provides a reference for enterprises to find effective paths to break the "intra-industry" competition dilemma. The research results provide new solutions for enterprises to alleviate "rat race" competition and for government and other relevant departments to optimize policy design. For enterprises, they should not only actively embrace the standard strategy, treating the adoption, participation, and even the leading formulation of technical standards as an important competitive strategy, but also simultaneously increase R&D and innovation, focus on core technologies, and attach importance to continuously improving the knowledge structure and skill levels of employees through recruitment, training, and incentive mechanisms, making human capital a key force in supporting the implementation and surpassing of standards. For the government, it is necessary to vigorously build an institutional environment that supports technological development, taking technological standards as the main handle of industrial and innovation policies. It should proactively plan and promote advanced technological standards in key national areas, guide the effective allocation of resources, accelerate industry integration and upgrading, and avoid disorderly internal competition. It is also essential to strengthen the rigid constraints of the fair competition review system to prevent technological standards from being improperly used to cause market monopolies or regional blockades, and ensure the openness, non-discrimination and fairness of standards. At the same time, it is necessary to improve and strictly enforce intellectual property protection, increase the cost of infringement, and effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of innovators and essential patent holders.

Key words: technical standards, "rat race" competition, capacity utilization, product differentiation

摘要：

成本刚性上升和技术跃迁导致“内卷式”竞争在制造业行业愈加突出,技术标准的逐步完善对制造业发展提出新的要求,对其“内卷式”竞争产生何种影响是本研究的重点。基于2011-2023年中国A股制造业上市企业数据,实证分析技术标准对企业“内卷式”竞争的影响及其内在机制。研究发现:技术标准能够缓解企业“内卷式”竞争,并且技术标准对企业“内卷式”竞争的影响具有科技属性和区域异质性;在作用机制方面,技术标准通过提高技术创新和人力资本缓解企业“内卷式”竞争;公平竞争审查制度和知识产权保护能够强化技术标准对企业“内卷式”竞争的抑制效果。研究结果为企业缓解“内卷式”竞争、政府等相关部门优化政策设计提供新的解决路径。

关键词: 技术标准, “内卷式”竞争, 产能利用, 产品差异化