AI Policy and Chinese Enterprise Internationalization: A Triple-Logic Framework of Capability Building, Cost Restructuring, and Resilience Enhancement

AI Policy and Chinese Enterprise Internationalization: A Triple-Logic Framework of Capability Building, Cost Restructuring, and Resilience Enhancement | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article AI Policy and Chinese Enterprise Internationalization: A Triple-Logic Framework of Capability Building, Cost Restructuring, and Resilience Enhancement Zengjie KUANG, Xiongfei BI, Qi GAO, Haoyu SUN This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8673797/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Artificial intelligence (AI), as the core driving force of a new round of technological revolution, has increasingly become an important policy and technological support for promoting corporate internationalization strategies. This paper takes Chinese A-share listed companies from 2013 to 2023 as samples, uses a multiperiod difference-in-differences (DID) model, and investigates the impact and mechanism of the policy of artificial intelligence innovative application pilot zones on corporate outward foreign direct investment (OFDI). The study revealedthat AI policy significantly promotes the implementation of the corporate "going global" strategy, increasing the average scale of corporate foreign investment by approximately 6.5%. Mechanism tests further show that AI policy promotes corporate OFDI through three paths: capability building, cost reshaping, and resilience enhancement. The policy effect shows significant differences across different ownership types, technology levels, and industries: state-owned enterprises benefit more than nonstate-owned enterprises do, reflecting differences in institutional advantages and resource acquisition capabilities; nonhigh-tech enterprises are more sensitive to the policy, indicating that external policies have more obvious marginal incentives for enterprises with weak technological foundations; and labor-intensive and capital-intensive industries also show a more prominent policy response, indicating that they are the core force driving internationalization through digitalization. Therefore, the formulation and practice of future AI policies should integrate regional conditions, enterprise types, and industrial characteristics; implement differentiated policy tools; and fully stimulate the endogenous motivation and strategic potential of corporate internationalization. Business and commerce/Business and management Social science/Business and management Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences Business and commerce/Information systems and information technology AI Industrial Policy Outward FDI Dynamic Capabilities Strategic Resilience Difference-in-Differences Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8673797","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":593630105,"identity":"04ce913a-11b2-4e63-a254-b237cb8f4be0","order_by":0,"name":"Zengjie KUANG","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Shanghai Customs University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zengjie","middleName":"","lastName":"KUANG","suffix":""},{"id":593630108,"identity":"85ae79a6-672f-4bef-adc5-4b7400947e35","order_by":1,"name":"Xiongfei BI","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Shanghai Customs University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xiongfei","middleName":"","lastName":"BI","suffix":""},{"id":593630109,"identity":"5f024cd3-add1-4011-adec-9cc4590d91f6","order_by":2,"name":"Qi GAO","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Shanghai Customs University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Qi","middleName":"","lastName":"GAO","suffix":""},{"id":593630110,"identity":"1d3b8ec5-f16d-46dd-a818-7f99ee93334a","order_by":3,"name":"Haoyu SUN","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA8klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYHADHjApx8befoA0LcZ8PGcSSNOSOE/CwQCvOvkZ2akbPu5hsDe43Xvww8e2w+ltEgwJDD8qtuHUYnAjd9vNGc8YEjfcOZcsObPtcG6bdOMBxp4zt3FrkcjddpvnAEOCwY0cA2lekBaZAwnMjG24tcjPAGr5cwDosBs5xr+BWtLZJBIM8GphADrsNsMBBsYNN3LMQLYkENRicObttps9BxgSZwK1WM44l27YBgzkg/j8It+eu+3GD6DD+IAOu/GhzFpevr394IMfFXgcBgH/IRQjG4Q+QEg9EvhDgtpRMApGwSgYMQAA6zldeeKaIWwAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Shanghai Lixin University of Accounting and Finance","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Haoyu","middleName":"","lastName":"SUN","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-01-23 01:08:20","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8673797/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8673797/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":103083797,"identity":"dc135c09-1df3-4efd-84df-cae66e5a27f0","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-20 15:20:38","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":396571,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eLegend not included with this version.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Figure1.TrendofAIinnovationintensityandOFDIscale.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8673797/v1/5ac93c0431cd6e0f7aa75f83.png"},{"id":103504268,"identity":"4b8fdbf3-57d8-454b-8865-d088ebc8e72e","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-26 13:18:51","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":199705,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eLegend not included with this version.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Figure2.Paralleltrendtest.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8673797/v1/ebc8c2b789092af5400098a7.png"},{"id":103504705,"identity":"82eea7f6-18b1-4781-b4df-f5ce392d9b32","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-26 13:21:02","extension":"png","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":356463,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eLegend not included with this version.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Figure3.Placebotest.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8673797/v1/2f8fc24178787f09ec4f01b8.png"},{"id":103083799,"identity":"2eb79f3e-572b-4844-9e8a-8bd502afdd18","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-20 15:20:38","extension":"png","order_by":4,"title":"Figure 4","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":319738,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eLegend not included with this version.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Figure4.Estimatorplot.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8673797/v1/4d1301d56d4e7d6eb8757dbb.png"},{"id":106094454,"identity":"8d851990-ffda-4f46-af8b-9c7dea4e8168","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-03 11:42:38","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1199529,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Articlefilemanuscript20260209.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8673797/v1_covered_600e228d-eeae-4d99-8ec3-567aae5707de.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"AI Policy and Chinese Enterprise Internationalization: A Triple-Logic Framework of Capability Building, Cost Restructuring, and Resilience Enhancement","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"AI Industrial Policy, Outward FDI, Dynamic Capabilities, Strategic Resilience, Difference-in-Differences","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8673797/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8673797/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eArtificial intelligence (AI), as the core driving force of a new round of technological revolution, has increasingly become an important policy and technological support for promoting corporate internationalization strategies. This paper takes Chinese A-share listed companies from 2013 to 2023 as samples, uses a multiperiod difference-in-differences (DID) model, and investigates the impact and mechanism of the policy of artificial intelligence innovative application pilot zones on corporate outward foreign direct investment (OFDI). The study revealedthat AI policy significantly promotes the implementation of the corporate \"going global\" strategy, increasing the average scale of corporate foreign investment by approximately 6.5%. Mechanism tests further show that AI policy promotes corporate OFDI through three paths: capability building, cost reshaping, and resilience enhancement. The policy effect shows significant differences across different ownership types, technology levels, and industries: state-owned enterprises benefit more than nonstate-owned enterprises do, reflecting differences in institutional advantages and resource acquisition capabilities; nonhigh-tech enterprises are more sensitive to the policy, indicating that external policies have more obvious marginal incentives for enterprises with weak technological foundations; and labor-intensive and capital-intensive industries also show a more prominent policy response, indicating that they are the core force driving internationalization through digitalization. Therefore, the formulation and practice of future AI policies should integrate regional conditions, enterprise types, and industrial characteristics; implement differentiated policy tools; and fully stimulate the endogenous motivation and strategic potential of corporate internationalization.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"AI Policy and Chinese Enterprise Internationalization: A Triple-Logic Framework of Capability Building, Cost Restructuring, and Resilience Enhancement","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-02-20 15:20:33","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8673797/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"85ac88ee-71ac-43ed-80dc-825203cdd009","owner":[],"postedDate":"February 20th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":63168131,"name":"Business and commerce/Business and management"},{"id":63168132,"name":"Social science/Business and management"},{"id":63168133,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences"},{"id":63168134,"name":"Business and commerce/Information systems and information technology"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-03T03:40:19+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-02-20 15:20:33","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8673797","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8673797","identity":"rs-8673797","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}