| 贾洋,汤旭东,刘诗源.退出制度完善与小微企业创新——来自个人破产试点的证据[J].数量经济技术经济研究,2026,(6):235-260 | | 退出制度完善与小微企业创新——来自个人破产试点的证据 | | Exit Systems and Innovation in Small and Micro Enterprises: Evidence from the Personal Bankruptcy Pilot | | | | DOI： | | 中文关键词: 退出制度完善 个人破产试点 小微企业创新 | | 英文关键词: Improving the Market Exit Mechanism Personal Bankruptcy Pilot Small and Micro Enterprise Innovation | | 基金项目: | | | 中文摘要: | | 健全完善市场主体退出制度体系是“十五五”时期的重要改革部署。本文以2016~2022年新三板挂牌小微企业为研究样本，将各城市渐次开展个人破产试点作为一项准自然实验，构建双重差分模型考察退出制度完善的创新激励效应。研究发现，在政策实施后，试点城市小微企业的专利申请数有所增加，且企业家风险承担意愿的激发与企业信贷可得性的提升是其潜在作用机制。进一步地，当城市知识产权保护水平更高、营商环境更好，以及社会信用水平更高时，政策效果更显著。相关结果表明，个人破产制度不仅增强了小微企业对研发岗位及高学历人才的招聘需求，还提高了员工薪酬水平，通过激发创新活力改善了企业经营绩效。本研究拓展了有关小微企业创新的文献，为中国推进个人破产正式立法提供了政策参考。 | | 英文摘要: | | The promotion of the establishment of a personal bankruptcy system is a key strategic objective of the 15th Five-Year Plan period. In the context of China’s current legal landscape, despite the applicability of corporate bankruptcy laws, there remains a significant absence of a personal bankruptcy legislation that is applicable to individuals, a gap that has been referred to by the legal community as “half of a bankruptcy law”. Due to the prolonged absence of personal bankruptcy system, there is a lack of institutional support for the protection of debtors’ legitimate rights, which makes it challenging for individuals to resolve debt issues through bankruptcy procedures akin to businesses, thus freeing themselves from the shackles of debt. This deficiency has frequently led to tragic outcomes where entrepreneurs, overwhelmed by debt, resort to drastic measures.
On the one hand, various provisions within China’s commercial law framework clearly stipulate that entrepreneurs are required to assume joint liability for corporate debts with their personal assets. On the other hand, due to the weak risk resilience and low financial transparency of micro and small enterprises (SMEs), entrepreneurs often need to use their personal assets or credit to provide collateral or guarantees to obtain loans from creditors such as banks. Under these circumstances, once the enterprise goes bankrupt, the limited liability of a firm is effectively converted into unlimited personal liability. Small business owners are compelled to become “deadbeats”, ensnared in the dual dilemma of financial ruin and social stigma. This significantly limits the innovative and entrepreneurial activities of those “honest but unfortunate” debtors, hindering high-quality economic development.
To enhance the exit mechanism for market participants, China has recently introduced personal bankruptcy pilot reforms in several. Focusing on SMEs listed on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ) from 2016 to 2022, this study employs a multi-period difference-in-differences model to examine the effects of personal bankruptcy pilot on innovation. The results show that the pilot implementation led to an 8.1% increase in the number of patent applications by SMEs. Moreover, the mechanism analysis indicates that, on the one hand, the personal bankruptcy pilot reduces collateral default risk, thereby enhancing the risk-taking willingness of SMEs, and ultimately leading to an increase in their innovation levels. On the other hand, it shows that the pilot reduces uncertainty in the enforcement of debt contracts, improving the credit accessibility for SMEs, thereby providing greater financial support for innovation. The heterogeneity analysis indicates that this effect was more pronounced in those cities with stronger intellectual property protection, better business environments, and relatively higher levels of social credit. Furthermore, the personal bankruptcy pilot increased hiring among SMEs, particularly for R&D positions and highly educated personnel, further raising employee compensation levels and effectively improving business performance.
Within the domestic legal sphere, there remains considerable debate over the level of maturity of the conditions for personal bankruptcy legislation in China, along with questions regarding the timing and approach of its implementation.?On the one hand, some scholars argue that personal bankruptcy can provide entrepreneurs with a “safety net” for innovation, stimulate entrepreneurial spirit and new economic momentum. On the other hand, some scholars claim that the conditions for personal bankruptcy legislation in China are hardly mature, and worry that the personal bankruptcy system will become a hotbed for “deadbeat borrowers” to evade debts. This paper examines the phased implementation of personal bankruptcy policy pilot in various cities, and finds that the promotion of the personal bankruptcy system can stimulate innovation among SMEs. This finding provides valuable policy references for decision-makers to assess the effectiveness of the personal bankruptcy system, facilitating the acceleration of its formal legislation, which is well-established in mature Western markets. Furthermore, as China’s SMEs currently face challenges of insufficient motivation for innovation and low-quality innovation outcomes, this paper offers policy-level insights for the optimization of institutional frameworks to incentivize innovation among SMEs. | | 查看全文 相关附件： 下载数据代码附录 |
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