Title: Fair Competition Review System, Competition Neutrality and Short-Term Innovation Shocks

Speaker: Xiang Ruibing, Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Economics, Shandong University.

Abstract: The implementation of the fair competition review system is of great significance for consolidating the market-oriented foundation of sustained and healthy economic development and promoting high-quality economic development. Taking the implementation of the fair competition review system as a quasi-natural experiment, this paper constructs a difference-in-differences model to evaluate the short-term impact of the system on firms’ high-quality innovation activities. The core finding is that the fair competition review system exerts a significant negative impact on firms’ high-quality innovation in the short term. Among them, state-owned and large-scale firms are less affected by the negative shock, while firms in recession are not significantly affected. Mechanism analysis shows that the fair competition review system achieves the shock effect mainly by intensifying market competition, reducing fund supply, and alleviating resource misallocation. Although the short-term negative impact of the fair competition review system on firms’ high-quality innovation helps improve business performance, it also increases operational risks. This paper provides practical insights for deepening the understanding of the relationship between the fair competition review system and firms’ high-quality innovation, grasping the short-term economic effects of competition policy, and promoting the coordinated development of competition policy and innovation-driven strategy.

Date & time: 07 May 2026, 12:15 - 13:15

Venue: B321, Zhixin Building, Central Campus, Shandong University