Administrative Monopoly Regulations and Regional Entrepreneurship: A Quasi-natural Experiment Based on the Fair Competition Review System

Xiong Jiacai; Du Chuan

doi:doi:10.16538/j.cnki.jsufe.2024.01.002

Summary

Breaking the shackles of administrative monopolies and creating a fair and orderly market environment are inherent requirements for promoting innovation and entrepreneurship to drive the high-quality development of the economy, and ultimately building a socialist modern power. Given that China has entered a new normal in economic development, the adverse effects of administrative monopolies on healthy economic development have become increasingly prominent. To clarify the relationship between the government and the market, and prevent the abuse of administrative power, the Chinese government introduced the Fair Competition Review System. This paper employs this system as a quasi-natural experiment to explore the impact and mechanism of administrative monopoly regulations on regional entrepreneurial activities. By collecting national industrial and commercial enterprise registration data and using a DID model for analysis, the study finds that administrative monopoly regulations significantly improve the level of regional entrepreneurship, and the results remain robust after various robustness tests. Mechanism analysis shows that administrative monopoly regulations mainly promote regional entrepreneurial activities by reducing the barriers of market entry, optimizing the efficiency of financial resource allocation, and improving the level of regional rule of law. In addition, this paper finds that in regions with a lower level of financial marketization, stronger government intervention capabilities, and stricter implementation and review of the system, the promotion effect of administrative monopoly regulations on regional entrepreneurship is more significant, and it plays a greater role in promoting the entry of private enterprises. Using more comprehensive and representative data from industrial and commercial registrations, this paper explores the impact of administrative monopoly regulations on micro enterprises from the perspective of entrepreneurship, complementing the research on administrative monopoly regulations, and broadening the research on the influencing factors of entrepreneurship from the perspective of administrative monopolies. The conclusions not only enrich the academic research, but also provide empirical evidence and policy implications for optimizing antitrust policies, promoting innovation and entrepreneurship strategies, and boosting the high-quality development of the economy.