Abstract

From the perspective of industrial linkages, this paper uses the integrated data of the China Industrial Enterprise Database and the Customs Trade Database from 2000 to 2013 to investigate the impact of upstream and downstream import competition on the total factor productivity (TFP) of manufacturing enterprises. The findings are summarized as follows: (1) Import competition significantly improves the TFP of manufacturing enterprises through upstream and downstream industry linkages; (2) The upstream import competition can better promote TFP of manufacturing enterprises with weaker competition, and has a more significant promoting effect on non-state-owned enterprises and ones located to the east of the "Hu Huanyong line".