Breaking boundaries: the influence of social insurance collection system reform on corporate innovation strategies

This study employs a staggered difference-in-differences (DID) approach to explore the impact of the exogenous shock policy of the Social Insurance Collection System Reform (SICSR) on corporate innovation strategies in China. The findings suggest that SICSR has a significant positive effect on corporate breakthrough innovation, while it does not impact incremental innovation. Moreover, the study finds that the impact is more pronounced among non-state-owned enterprises and enterprises with high-labour-intensity. Additionally, a mechanism analysis reveals that SICSR has a stronger promotional effect in regions characterized by high levels of marketization, while this effect diminishes as the level of corruption increases.