Abstract: This paper explores the effect of geographic distance on government procurement with a sample of A-share listed companies in China from 2015 to 2021. The empirical test shows that the closer the geographical distance between the place of incorporation of the enterprise and the local government, the more government procurement orders the enterprise obtains; the endogeneity test and a series of other robustness tests support the above conclusion. The mechanism test finds that the mechanism of the impact of geographic distance on government procurement is that government procurement increases rent-seeking behavior and enhances the level of political affiliation. In addition, there is a significant difference in the effect of geographic distance on government procurement due to the heterogeneity of political-business relations and government dependence. The effect of geographic distance on government procurement is more significant for enterprises with high government dependence and located in areas with poor government-business relations. The economic consequence test shows that government procurement can bring economic benefits to enterprises, which is reflected in the improvement of enterprise innovation level.
In this regard, giving full play to the financial function and continuing to optimize the business environment of government procurement will further stimulate the confidence and vitality of enterprises. Financial departments and procurement units should adhere to the full tracking service, serve as a good business “waiter”, and achieve the whole process of government procurement projects, electronic transactions, real-time supervision, and online complaints, so as to save the suppliers' time and costs, enhamaing the efficiency of government procurement and satisfaction. Efforts should also be made to improve the quality of service, building a fresh new government-business relationship. The government-business relationship is not only related to the business environment, but also reflects the party style, political style and social style. Reshaping the government-business relationship in terms of system, mechanism and ideology will definitely help to remove the soil for collusion between business and the government and power-for-money deals in government procurement, thus creating a “clean” government procurement environment. It is also necessary to expand the scope of information disclosure, and to enhance the transparency of government procurement. The government should not only do a good job in the information disclosure regarding procurement announcement and procurement results, but also strictly implement “disclosure of procurement intention”, and clarify the key requirements of information disclosure in terms of time, format, content and channels in the “intention” link before the procurement, the “contract” link after the transaction, and the “acceptance” link of the public service project, so as to ensure that all kinds of market players participate in the government procurement activities on equal terms. The research in this paper enriches the literature on the economic consequences of government procurement, and has certain reference significance for the current deepening of the reform of the fiscal and taxation system and vigorously promoting the reform of government procurement.

Key words: Geographic Distance, Government Procurement, Rent-seeking Behavior, Political Connection

摘要： 政府采购作为财政支出管理的重要措施,是国家对经济实施宏观调控的有效手段。本文以2015—2021年A股上市公司为样本,探讨了地理距离对政府采购的影响。实证检验表明,企业注册地与地方政府的地理距离越近,企业获得的政府采购订单越多。内生性检验与其他一系列稳健性检验均支持上述结论。机制检验发现,地理距离对政府采购的影响机制在于政府采购增加了寻租行为、提升了政治关联水平。受政商关系、政府依赖异质性的影响,地理距离对政府采购的影响有显著差异。位于政商关系差地区和对政府依赖高的企业,其与政府的地理距离对政府采购的影响更为显著。经济后果检验表明,政府采购能够为企业带来经济效益,体现在企业创新水平的提升。本文研究丰富了政府采购的经济后果的文献,对于当前深化财税体制改革、大力推进政府采购改革具有一定借鉴意义。

关键词: 地理距离, 政府采购, 寻租行为, 政治关联