Does Industrial Policy Play an Important Role in Enterprise Innovation?

Using a the sample of A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen during the twelfth five-year Plan period (2011–2015), this paper studies the impact of industrial policy and labor allocation on the innovation efficiency of enterprises to test the correlation among government policy, labor allocation and innovation efficiency. The empirical results show that industrial policy significantly improves the innovation efficiency of enterprises; at enterprises with low labor allocation, the innovation efficiency of enterprises is higher with an industrial policy. This study provides a new perspective and empirical evidence that government decision-makers can use in dealing with the relationship between government policies, labor market factors and enterprise innovation.