Summary:
With the rapid development of the digital economy, mergers and acquisitions (M&As) have increasingly become an important strategic tool for firms to acquire external resources and enhance innovation capability. In recent years, M&A transactions targeting digital firms have expanded substantially in China and have gradually become an important force reshaping firms’ innovation behavior and industrial competition patterns. Compared with conventional firms, digital firms possess distinctive digital resources, including data assets, digital technologies, platform ecosystems, and digital talents. These resources are characterized by scalability, modularity, interoperability, and cross-scenario applicability, enabling firms to integrate heterogeneous resources more efficiently and enhance innovation activities through digital collaboration. Therefore, an important question is whether acquiring digital firms generates stronger innovation effects than acquiring non-digital firms and through what mechanisms these effects occur. Existing studies have examined the relationship between digital transformation, M&A activities, and corporate innovation. However, important gaps remain. Some studies regard digital M&A mainly as a means of facilitating digital transformation but pay insufficient attention to the underlying process of resource acquisition and integration. Other studies directly analyze the role of digital resources while overlooking digital firms as the organizational vehicles through which such resources are obtained. Moreover, most existing literature relies on traditional indicators such as patent quantity or quality to measure innovation outcomes. While these indicators capture changes in innovation performance, they may fail to identify structural changes in firms’ technological systems and knowledge allocation patterns. To address these limitations, this paper investigates the impact of acquiring digital firms on innovation from the perspective of patent structure evolution. We argue that the value of digital M&As lies not only in increasing innovation output but also in reshaping the organization and allocation of innovation activities across technological domains. Patent structure evolution provides a more comprehensive perspective because it reflects changes in technological breadth, specialization, and knowledge allocation patterns. Using Chinese A-share listed firms from 2008 to 2022, this paper combines information from the Zephyr global M&A database, patent records from the China National Intellectual Property Administration, and firm-level financial data from CSMAR. A difference-in-differences framework is employed to estimate the causal effects of digital M&As, and multiple robustness and endogeneity tests are conducted. The empirical findings reveal several important results. First, acquiring digital firms significantly promotes corporate innovation. Firms engaging in digital M&As experience increases in both total patent applications and digital patent output, and these effects are significantly stronger than those associated with traditional M&A activities. Second, digital M&Aspromote the simultaneous expansion of innovation in both breadth and depth. Specifically, corporate innovation activities gradually expand into a broader technological coverage across upstream and downstream industrial-chain activities, while concurrently building deeper digital technology accumulation and improving technological complexity and impact. Third, digital resource acquisition serves as the primary mechanism through which digital M&As affect innovation. Different types of digital resources also play distinct roles in the innovation process. Platform ecosystem resources contribute more strongly to increases in innovation output, whereas digital technologies play a greater role in optimizing innovation structure and enhancing technological depth. Furthermore, stronger innovation effects are observed among non-state-owned firms, firms acquiring technologically advanced targets, and firms operating in regions with stronger intellectual property protection and more competitive market environments. This paper contributes to the literature by establishing an integrated framework linking digital firms, digital resources, and innovation outcomes, and by extending innovation measurement from conventional indicators to patent structure evolution. The findings suggest that policymakers should improve mechanisms for identifying and allocating digital assets and provide institutional support for efficient resource integration. Firms should place greater emphasis on strategic matching and resource complementarity in digital M&A activities. Future research may further investigate the long-term effects of digital M&As on technological trajectories and organizational transformation.
罗知, 汪洋子, 王怡静, 丁宇澄. 并购数字企业如何影响创新——基于专利结构演化的视角[J]. 金融研究, 2026, 553(7): 189-206.
LUO Zhi, WANG Yangzi, WANG Yijing, DING Yucheng. How Does Acquiring Digital Firms Affect Innovation: Evidence from the Perspective of Patent Structure Evolution. Journal of Financial Research, 2026, 553(7): 189-206.
[1]蔡跃洲和牛新星,2021,《中国数字经济增加值规模测算及结构分析》,《中国社会科学》第11期,第4~30页。 [2]陈强远、张醒和汪德华,2022,《中国技术创新激励政策设计:高质量发展视角》,《经济研究》第10期,第52~68页。 [3]陈思翀、魏筱和余明桂,2026,《非上市企业的绿色低碳技术创新价值——技术并购中的市场溢价与创新协同》,《金融研究》第1期,第113~131页。 [4]程新生和王向前,2023,《技术并购与再创新——来自中国上市公司的证据》,《中国工业经济》第4期,第156~173页。 [5]方森辉、唐浩丹和蒋殿春,2022,《数字并购与企业创新——来自中国上市企业的经验证据》,《管理科学》第6期,第83~96页。 [6]冀云阳、周鑫和张谦,2023,《数字化转型与企业创新——基于研发投入和研发效率视角的分析》,《金融研究》第4期,第111~129页。 [7]李宏兵、孙丽棠和万海远,2025,《公共数据开放与企业数字劳动需求》,《管理世界》第9期,第148~170页。 [8]李玉花、林雨昕和李丹丹,2024,《人工智能技术应用如何影响企业创新》,《中国工业经济》第10期,第155~173页。 [9]刘洪愧、李希晨、姜丽等,2025,《全球创新网络下的中国企业创新——跨国合作与质量提升》,《管理世界》第8期,第56~83页。 [10]马鸿佳、王春蕾、李卅立等,2024,《数据驱动如何提升数字平台生态系统竞争优势？——基于数据网络效应视角》,《管理世界》第12期,第170~185页。 [11]唐浩丹、方森辉和蒋殿春,2022,《数字化转型的市场绩效:数字并购能提升制造业企业市场势力吗？》,《数量经济技术经济研究》第12期,第90~110页。 [12]唐要家、王钰和唐春晖,2022,《数字经济、市场结构与创新绩效》,《中国工业经济》第10期,第62~80页。 [13]谢红军和齐翔,2025,《数字技术与企业价值——基于数字并购场景的研究》,《管理世界》第10期,第146~175页。 [14]杨鹏、孙伟增、张柳钦等,2025,《数字经济政策与企业数字创新质量》,《统计研究》第7期,第70~81页。 [15]杨震宁和袁梓晋,2025,《数字创新网络嵌入与关键核心技术攻关》,《中国工业经济》第5期,第156~173页。 [16]叶永卫、李鑫和刘贯春,2022,《数字化转型与企业人力资本升级》,《金融研究》第12期,第74~92页。 [17]尹振东、马昕、龚雅娴等,2025,《数据驱动、精准创新与社会福利》,《经济研究》第1期,第177~193页。 [18]钟腾龙、闵悦、张晓涛等,2025,《外部需求转移与企业创新:理论、机制与中国证据》,《管理世界》第10期,第38~62页。 [19]周鹏、王卓、谭常春等,2024,《数字技术创新的价值——基于并购视角和机器学习方法的分析》,《中国工业经济》第2期,第137~154页。 [20]Agrawal, A., J. S. Gans, and A. Goldfarb, 2019, “Exploring the Impact of Artificial Intelligence: Prediction versus Judgment”,Information Economics and Policy, 47, pp.1~6. [21]Antràs, P., D. Chor, T. Fally, and R. Hillberry, 2012, “Measuring the Upstreamness of Production and Trade Flows”,American Economic Review: Papers & Proceedings, 102(3), pp.412~416. [22]Giustiziero, G., T. Kretschmer, D. Somaya, and B. Wu, 2023, “Hyperspecialization and Hyperscaling: A Resource-Based Theory of the Digital Firm”,Strategic Management Journal, 44(6), pp.1391~1424. [23]Helfat, C. E., and R. S. Raubitschek, 2018, “Dynamic and Integrative Capabilities for Profiting from Innovation in Digital Platform-Based Ecosystems”,Research Policy, 47(8), pp.1391~1399. [24]Jacquemin, A. P., and C. H. Berry, 1979, “Entropy Measure of Diversification and Corporate Growth”,Journal of Industrial Economics, 27(4), pp.359~369. [25]Jaffe, A. B., and K. Palmer, 1997, “Environmental Regulation and Innovation: A Panel Data Study”,Review of Economics and Statistics, 79(4), pp.610~619. [26]Jones, C. I., and C. Tonetti, 2020, “Nonrivalry and the Economics of Data”,American Economic Review, 110(9), pp.2819~2858. [27]Parker, G., M. Van Alstyne, and X. Jiang, 2017, “Platform Ecosystems: How Developers Invert the Firm”,MIS Quarterly, 41(1), pp.255~266. [28]Piccoli, G., J. Rodriguez, and V. Grover, 2022, “Digital Strategic Initiatives and Digital Resources: Construct Definition and Future Research Directions”,MIS Quarterly, 46(4), pp.2289~2316. [29]Piccoli, G., V. Grover, and J. Rodriguez, 2024, “Digital Transformation Requires Digital Resource Primacy: Clarification and Future Research Directions”,The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 33(2), 101835. [30]Seru, A., 2014, “Firm Boundaries Matter: Evidence from Conglomerates and R&D Activity”,Journal of Financial Economics, 111(2), pp.381~405. [31]Yoo, Y., O. Henfridsson, and K. Lyytinen, 2010, “The New Organizing Logic of Digital Innovation: An Agenda for Information Systems Research”,Information Systems Research, 21(4), pp.724~735. [32]Yoo, Y., R. J. Boland, K. Lyytinen, and A. Majchrzak, 2012, “Organizing for Innovation in the Digitized World”,Organization Science, 23(5), pp.1398~1408.
