Research on the Impact of Free Trade Zones on the Total Factor Productivity of Manufacturing Enterprises

建设自由贸易试验区是中国推动制度型开放的关键战略举措。本文将自贸试验区视为准自然实验，基于2007~2022年中国A股制造业上市公司数据，采用多期双重差分模型，实证分析自由贸易试验区对制造业企业全要素生产率的影响。实证结果表明，自由贸易试验区的设立显著提升了制造业企业的全要素生产率，该结论在多项稳健性检验中依然成立。进一步的异质性分析显示，自贸区政策在沿海地区的促进效应显著强于内陆地区，表明区域差异会对政策的作用效果有影响。本研究为深化自贸区改革、优化政策布局以及制造业企业发展提供了有益的经验证据与政策启示。The establishment of free trade pilot zones is a key strategic measure for China to promote institutional-oriented opening-up. This paper regards the free trade pilot zones as a quasi-natural experiment. Based on the data of Chinese A-share manufacturing listed companies from 2007 to 2022, a multi-period difference-in-differences model is adopted to empirically analyze the impact of free trade pilot zones on the total factor productivity of manufacturing enterprises. The empirical results show that the establishment of free trade pilot zones significantly improves the total factor productivity of manufacturing enterprises, and this conclusion still holds in multiple robustness tests. Further heterogeneity analysis reveals that the promoting effect of the free trade policy in coastal areas is significantly stronger than that in inland areas, indicating that regional differences can have an impact on the effect of the policy. This study provides useful empirical evidence and policy implications for deepening the reform of free trade zones, optimizing policy layout, and the development of manufacturing enterprises.