In the current global economic landscape, there has been a shift in the factors that drive enterprise development. Now, technology and innovation are becoming the core elements that drive enterprise competitiveness and sustainable development. SRUI(specialized,refined ,unique and innovative) enterprises focusing on innovation have injected new vitality into national innovation through their flexible market advantages, relentless pursuit of efficiency, and broad scope in terms of number and distribution. However, in the face of increasingly fierce international and regional trade competition, enterprises can gain competitive advantages in the highly competitive market environment only by focusing on a certain market segment. At the same time, SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) are faced with difficulties, such as high investment and low return, as well as limited resources. In order to disperse risks, enterprises often adopt diversified development strategies. This makes it difficult for SRUI enterprises to maintain their core competitive advantages in a particular segment. Since introducing the "SRUI" concept, regions have enacted policies to foster SME evolution into SRUI entities, aiming to boost quality growth. The effectiveness of these policies in enhancing SRUI innovation and transformation has become a key concern.
While existing research focuses on the key role of policy support in enhancing the innovation capability of SRUI enterprises, the specific mechanism by which policies can lead firms to focus on SRUI strategies and thus enhance innovation performance remains to be verified. At the same time, the SRUI enterprises’ policy environment is multi-level, and considering only a single policy does not fully capture their overall impact on innovation performance. Therefore, this study investigates the impact of different dimensions of SRUI policies (policy effectiveness, policy quantity, and complexity of policy combinations) on innovation performance, and reveals the mediating role of enterprises’ SRUI strategies. The heterogeneity tests are conducted based on regional distribution and enterprise type. There are 541 SRUI “little giant” enterprises in China selected as the research sample, covering the period from 2013 to 2023. The list of SRUI “little giants” enterprises comes from the WIND database, the enterprise patent data is sourced from the Patsnap database, the data related to policy measures is sourced from the PKULaw database, and the control variables are sourced from the CSMAR database. Considering the lag effect of policy measures, the policy-related variables are measured using a three-year rolling window period.
It is concluded that the policy effectiveness, policy quantity, and complexity of policy combinations have a positive impact on enterprises’ innovation performance; SRUI strategy plays a significant mediating role between SRUI policy and innovation performance. Further analysis shows that the promotion effect of SRUI policy is more significant in the eastern region, as well as among non-state-owned enterprises.
Drawing from the above findings,this study proposes some managerial insights. (1) The government should fully leverage SRUI policies to incentivize enterprise innovation and foster a conducive policy environment. It needs to tailor detailed, targeted measures to SRUI enterprises, while ensuring policy coherence and synergy to minimize overlap and conflict, thereby maximizing the policy’s impact. (2) Taking into account the type of property rights of enterprises and regional characteristics, the government should accurately grasp the local resource structure, industrial base and enterprise characteristics, and then formulate diversified support policies. (3) The government must rigorously oversee the review process and performance evaluation to guarantee the efficient execution of the policy, thereby facilitating the implementation of the SRUI enterprises’ strategy.
The research contributions of this paper are mainly reflected in three aspects. Firstly, it offers a more comprehensive and nuanced view of policy effects from three distinct dimensions, thereby enriching the research framework that examines the interplay between macro-policies and micro-enterprise innovation behaviors. Secondly, the study introduces the SRUI strategy, elucidating the specific mechanisms through which policies influence innovation performance and enhancing the analytical framework for understanding SRUI policy impacts. Lastly, it reveals that enterprises of different types or regions exhibit varied responses to policy initiatives. Consequently, when devising policies, the government should consider the specific property rights and geographical traits of businesses to support their development more effectively and in a targeted manner.