Abstract:

Different from existing literature that primarily focuses on the direct impact of government-guided funds (GGFs) on invested enterprises, this paper innovatively examines how such funds influence innovation interactions among multiple invested enterprises. A limited body of literature has found that GGFs can significantly enhance corporate innovation performance. However, these investigations have largely concentrated on direct effects (such as capital provision and legitimacy empowerment), with limited in-depth analysis of positive externalities, particularly regarding innovation spillovers and industrial ecosystem development. Drawing on ecosystem theory, this study posits that GGFs can serve as ecosystem architects, constructing an innovation ecosystem centered on the GGFs through common shareholder connections, encompassing fund managers, co-investors, and numerous portfolio companies. Within this system, GGFs perform core organizational and coordination functions, enhancing entrepreneurial firms' embeddedness in the ecosystem by coordinating innovation interactions among ecosystem members. Specifically, GGFs promote innovation spillovers among portfolio companies through three mechanisms: information transmission, resource integration, and relational governance.

This study employs GGFs investment event data from 2003-2019, patent application data and patent citation data from 2000-2022, and utilizes parametric and non-parametric event study methods to systematically examine the effects and mechanisms of GGFs on intra-portfolio innovation spillovers. Empirical results demonstrate that after firms join GGFs portfolios, their innovation interactions with other portfolio companies are significantly enhanced. Mechanism tests reveal that GGFs facilitate inter-firm innovation collaboration through information transmission, resource integration, and relational governance channels, with these promotional effects being more pronounced when portfolio companies exhibit higher geographical dispersion, GGFs operate at higher administrative levels, and trust levels between entrepreneurial firms and portfolio companies are lower. Heterogeneity analysis results indicate that intra-portfolio innovation interactions are significantly enhanced when funds possess extensive investment experience, participate as lead investors, and have managers with state-owned backgrounds, or when entrepreneurial firms are high-tech enterprises, are in non-early development stages, represent cross-regional investment projects, and operate in regions with well-developed intellectual property protection systems. Further research reveals that intra-portfolio innovation spillovers effectively promote corporate innovation output, particularly demonstrating superior performance in core technology breakthroughs. These findings suggest that policymakers should deepen their understanding of the ecosystem-enabling functions of GGFs and refine institutional designs to fully unleash their positive externalities; fund managers should focus on optimizing operational mechanisms and strengthening innovation leadership and resource allocation capabilities; and enterprises should proactively integrate into innovation ecosystems and improve their innovation interaction strategies with portfolio companies.

The theoretical contributions of this study manifest in three dimensions: First, from an innovation ecosystem perspective, it deepens theoretical understanding of the mechanisms through which GGFs influence corporate innovation performance, extending the research perspective from individual firms to the portfolio level and providing ecosystem-level empirical evidence for how GGFs promote corporate innovation activities. Second, it reveals the unique functions of GGFs—as special common shareholders with public policy orientation—in shaping internal ecosystem structures and driving innovation spillovers, elucidating how equity-based coordination mechanisms uniquely facilitate innovation interactions within ecosystems and ultimately advance key core technologies. Third, by thoroughly examining the moderating effects of fund characteristics, firm attributes, and regional governance environments on the heterogeneous effects of intra-portfolio knowledge flows, it provides important insights for optimizing GGFs operational models and advancing innovation ecosystem evolution.

Key words: government-guided fund, innovation ecosystem, investment portfolio, innovation spillover, key core technology

摘要：

区别于已有文献主要关注政府引导基金对被投企业的直接影响,本文聚焦于政府引导基金在创新生态系统中的架构者角色,探讨政府引导基金如何影响其投资组合内企业之间的创新溢出效应。基于事件研究法,研究发现,加入政府引导基金投资组合能够显著提升企业的创新生态嵌入性,促进组合内企业间的创新溢出,并助力企业关键核心技术突破。政府引导基金作为共同股东通过信息传递、资源整合和关系治理机制有效地协调企业间创新互动,促进了组合内的创新溢出。异质性分析表明,投资经验、领投行为及管理人国有属性等基金特征,以及技术属性、成长阶段与投资属地等企业特征均显著影响组合内企业间创新互动强度;而以区域知识产权保护为代表的契约治理与关系治理存在互补效应,共同强化组合内的创新互动。进一步研究发现,组合内企业间创新互动对创业企业关键核心技术突破具有积极影响。本文揭示了政府引导基金促进创新溢出的功能机理,为评估引导基金在创新生态系统中的正外部性提供了经验证据。

关键词: 政府引导基金, 创新生态, 投资组合, 创新溢出, 关键核心技术