要素禀赋如何影响企业转型升级模式? ——基于制造业与服务业企业的差异分析

choices of the modes of transformation and upgrading at the micro level directly determine the direction of structural change of industries at the meso level, which in turn governs the rate and quality of economic growth at the macro level. With the new-generation information technology revolution and industrial transformation,new modes of transformation and upgrading emerge for firms. Existing literature mainly focuses on manufacturing firms and there is insufficient research on service firms and the differences between the two. Using the survey data of 2070 firms in 20 prefectures of Guangdong Province,together with the matching data of Chinese industrial and commercial firms and China city statistical yearbook, we quantitatively investigate from new structural economics perspective the differences in the modes of transformation and upgrading of firms in manufacturing and service sectors when relative prices of factor endowments change. We find that: (1) Among the six optional modes of transformation and upgrading,firms in the manufacturing sector and the service sector exhibit significant differences. Manufacturing firms are more likely to choose "substitution with machines", while service firms are more likely to prefer "diversification"; (2) Controlling the characteristics of firms and prefectures,the main factor that affects the probability of transformation and upgrading in manufacturing firms is total labor cost, whereas the counterpart for service firms is labor cost share; (3) An increase in labor cost significantly affects the probability of transformation and upgrading of firms in manufacturing and consumption service, but it has little impact on firms in production service. Different types of firms exhibit different transformation and upgrade paths. This paper contributes to the literature in two aspects: First, different from existing research on manufacturing firms, we take a further step to empirically investigate the characteristics and influencing factors of transformation and upgrading of service firms, which are completely different but interrelated; Second, the mechanism of endowment-driven industrial change is further extended from manufacturing to service, which widens the applicability of new structural economics in practice. These findings are helpful for understanding the characteristics and differences between different types of firms in their endowment-driven transformation and upgrading paths. Our paper may be also useful for all levels of government in their endeavor to formulate industrial policies, facilitate regional industrial transformation and upgrading,and achieve high-quality economic development.