Import Competition and Firm Innovation: Evidence from China

This paper investigates whether and how import competition affects firm innovation. Using China's WTO accession as a quasi-natural experiment, we find that import competition reduces firm innovation, which is consistent with the Schumpeterian effect. We also find heterogeneous treatment effects across firm productivity and patent types. These results are consistent with the preference and knowledge spillover effects, but not with the escape-competition and trapped-factor effects.