Abstract: Based on the pollution data of Chinese industrial enterprises from 2000 to 2012, this paper systematically examines the impacts of import sophistication on enterprises' energy efficiency from the micro-enterprise level. The research results show that import sophistication significantly improves the energy efficiency of enterprises. The core conclusions of this article are still valid after sample selection bias and the endogenous nature of variables are taken into consideration and different measurement indicators are used. In addition, an intermediary effect model is constructed to examine how import sophistication affects the energy efficiency of enterprises. It is found that the “technology spillover effect” and the “competition effect” brought about by import sophistication are two channels to promote the improvement of enterprises' energy efficiency. Import sophistication has a stronger role in promoting the energy efficiency of exporting companies than that of non-exporting companies. The possible explanation is that compared with the non-exporting enterprises, when exporting enterprises learn from foreign advanced technology and management experience to improve their energy efficiency, their higher productivity and familiar technical improvement methods are more adept at absorbing the advanced energy-saving technology. Therefore, import sophistication has greater impacts on improving the energy efficiency of exporting companies. Besides, import sophistication plays a greater role in promoting the energy efficiency of foreign-funded enterprises than that of domestic enterprises. The possible reason is that there is a generation gap between the foreign technology and the domestic technology grasped by domestic companies, thus it's hard for domestic companies to fully absorb the foreign advanced energy-saving technologies; whereas foreign-funded enterprises, inherently “foreign” without any technological gaps, can seamlessly connect with foreign advanced energy-saving technologies, so foreign-funded enterprises are better at absorbing and utilizing foreign advanced energy-saving technologies to improve their energy efficiency. Import sophistication significantly improves the energy efficiency of processing trade enterprises, but has no significant effects on the energy efficiency of general trading enterprises. The possible reason is that the production of general trading enterprises adopts domestic factors more than imported factors, so the import sophistication has no impacts on improving the energy efficiency of general trading enterprises. The “double-overseas” mode of processing trade enterprises determines that they use more imported factors. The imported products with higher technical complexity can produce more imported technology spillovers for processing trade enterprises to learn, absorb and utilize, so as to improve the energy efficiency of enterprises. Import sophistication significantly promotes the improvement of energy efficiency of enterprises in the eastern region, but has no significant effects on improving the energy efficiency of enterprises in the central and western regions. The possible reason is that China's eastern region has absorbed a large amount of advanced labor force and capital with the help of the coastal oriented gradual opening policy, and has better geographical location and a higher level of economic development. The ability of learning, digesting and absorbing new technologies in this region is much stronger than that in the central and western regions. When enterprises in this region import products with high technical complexity, they will acquire more spillover technologies due to their strong learning and absorption capacity. On the contrary, enterprises in the central and western regions are less sensitive to spillover technologies due to their poor learning and absorption capacity. The research conclusions of this article contain important policy implications. Import sophistication helps to improve the energy efficiency of enterprises. It shows that measures such as import trade and the opening to the outside world, are not only conducive to accelerating China's economic growth and foreign trade development, but also to improving enterprises' energy efficiency and enhancing China's social welfare level. The shift from the high-energy-consumption, high-emission, and low-output extensive economic development mode to the “green development” mode is beneficial to reduce energy consumption and improve the sustainable development of economy. Through the “one-size-fits-all” type of large-scale shutdown of high-energy-consumption, high-emission, and low-output companies, energy efficiency can be significantly improved in the short term, but in the long run it will drag down the economic growth and harm the welfare of the entire society. Therefore,government departments can encourage enterprises to increase the complexity of high technology products import and expand opening to the outside world to improve the energy efficiency and realize energy conservation and emissions reduction. At the same time, enterprises should strengthen the human capital accumulation, focus on labor skills of ascension, enhance the absorption capacity of workers, increase investment in R&D, improve the utilization rate of energy in enterprises, and achieve the “win-win” of energy conservation and emission reduction and economic growth.

Key words: Import Sophistication, Energy Efficiency, Technology Spillover Effect, Competition Effect, Mediating Effect Model

摘要： 本文利用2000—2012年中国工业企业污染数据,从微观企业层面系统考察进口技术复杂度对企业能源效率的影响及其作用机制。研究结果显示,进口技术复杂度显著促进了企业能源效率的提升;在考虑样本选择性偏误、变量的内生性及使用不同的衡量指标后,核心结论仍然成立;进一步的异质性检验发现,进口技术复杂度对企业能源效率的促进作用在出口企业、外资企业、加工贸易企业及东部地区企业中更为显著。此外,机制检验表明进口技术复杂度通过技术外溢效应和竞争效应提高企业能源效率。

关键词: 进口技术复杂度, 能源效率, 技术外溢效应, 竞争效应, 中介效应模型