Does the Artificial Intelligence Pilot Zone Policy Enhance Manufacturing Firm Resilience? Evidence from Chinese Listed Manufacturing Firms

The Artificial Intelligence Pilot Zone Policy is an important strategic initiative for building artificial intelligence (AI) innovation hubs. It provides new opportunities to enhance manufacturing firm resilience and promote the sustainable development of the manufacturing sector. The creation of the National New-Generation Artificial Intelligence Innovation and Development Pilot Zones (AI Pilot Zones) is viewed in this study as a quasi-natural experiment. Using data from Chinese A-share-listed manufacturing firms from 2015 to 2023, we employ a staggered DID model to evaluate the impact of the policy on manufacturing firm resilience. We find that the AI Pilot Zone policy increases manufacturing firm resilience by an average of 0.0282 units. The analysis of potential mechanisms shows that the policy significantly promotes digital talent agglomeration, stimulates urban innovation vitality, and improves firm-level supply chain efficiency. These findings are consistent with the theoretical expectations and provide supportive evidence that these factors may constitute potential mechanisms associated with the policy’s effect on manufacturing firm resilience. The heterogeneity analysis reveals a pronounced “weakness-compensating” effect. At the regional level, the resilience-enhancing effect is stronger for manufacturing firms located in areas with relatively weak digital infrastructure. At the industry level, the effect is more pronounced among firms in low-technology manufacturing industries. At the firm level, the effect is stronger for firms with lower levels of human capital, weaker innovation capacity, and lagging digital transformation. Overall, this study provides micro-level evidence on the resilience effects of the AI Pilot Zone policy and offers policy implications for integrating AI more effectively with the real economy.