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Enterprise's R&D and Innovation Management

The Impact of City Business Environment on the High-quality  Development of Manufacturing Enterprises 

Yu Dengke1 , Zhu Ke1 , Xia Shiqi2 , Xiao Huan3

(1.School of Public Policy and Administration, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330031, China; 2.Business  School, University of Southampton, Southampton SO171BJ, England; 3.Postdoctoral Station of Management  Science and Engineering, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330031, China)

Abstract: High-quality development is the primary task for China as it aims to comprehen⁃ sively build a modern socialist country. Achieving high-quality economic development is based  on the high-quality development of enterprises, as the success of these enterprises directly influences the quality and growth of regional economies. The business environment serves as a vital  soft power for regional economic development and plays a crucial role in maintaining market con⁃ fidence, stimulating industrial vitality, and promoting the high-quality development of enter⁃ prises. Considering that manufacturing enterprises are central to China's economic development, this study focuses on exploring the relationship between the city business environment and the  high-quality development of manufacturing enterprises. It is believed that a favorable business  environment is a key factor supporting manufacturing enterprises to achieve high-quality devel⁃ opment. This study constructs the measurement variable for the city business environment from  seven dimensions: human resources, financial environment, innovation environment, government  environment, public services, market environment, and ecological environment. The entropyweighted TOPSIS method is applied to evaluate the business environment index and its compo⁃ nent dimensions across 293 prefecture-level cities in China from 2015 to 2021. Based on the  paired sample data with 1 374 A-share listed manufacturing enterprises, the study uses a panel  regression model and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis method to explore the impact of  the city business environment on the high-quality development of manufacturing enterprises and  its configuration effect. The results show that the business environment has a significant positive impact on the  high-quality development of manufacturing enterprises. Among various factors, the driving ef⁃ fect of the government environment is the strongest, while the effect of human resources is the  weakest. Additionally, the effect of the business environment on the high-quality development of  manufacturing enterprises shows obvious heterogeneity depending on the size and technical level  of the enterprises. However, the heterogeneity is not significant between coastal and inland enter⁃ prises. In addition, it is found that there are three configuration paths to achieve high-quality de⁃ velopment of manufacturing enterprises, namely, non-human-intensive and capital-intensive  high-quality development led by non-government, innovation-market-service triple-driving  high-quality development stimulated by government and finance, and innovation-marketecosystem triple-driving high-quality development led by non-government. This study reveals how the city business environment affects the high-quality development  of manufacturing enterprises and enriches the theories surrounding business environment and  high-quality development. The conclusions of the study highlight the need for municipal govern⁃ ments to pay more attention to the optimization of the business environment, providing new ideas  for promoting the high-quality development of manufacturing enterprises. Based on the conclu⁃ sions, three managerial suggestions are proposed: first, the city business environment should be  continuously optimized; second, we should scientifically evaluate the heterogeneous effects of  business environment optimization policies; finally, each city should adapt its approach to busi⁃ ness environment factors, taking into account specific local resources and technical endowments. Cities should develop business environment optimization plans that match their regional environ⁃ mental strengths to maximize the promotion effect of high-quality development of local manufac⁃ turing enterprises. 

Key words: city business environment; manufacturing enterprises; high-quality development; impact; empirical analysis