Abstract: The impact of local fiscal pressures on enterprise technological innovation has consistently been a focal point of scholarly interest This paper collects data from local government reports，specifically focusing on fiscal revenue growth objectives，and uses the disparity between these targets at both the prefectural and provincial levels as a measure of local fiscal stress A greater discrepancy in fiscal targets across provinces and cities highlights the competitive nature of local governments’ fiscal objectives setting process Approaching from a unique perspective of local fiscal target pressures，this study provides a theoretical framework to understand their influence on technological innovation endeavors Through an empirical analysis employing microdata from Ashare companies listed in China，this paper explores the intricate relationship between fiscal strategies and innovation，thereby contributing to the academic discussion on this subject
The study reveals a pronounced negative correlation between the pressure of fiscal targets and the volume of corporate invention patent filings This adverse effect remains robust through various methodological adjustments，including variable substitutions，the exclusion of outliers and specific years，and the accounting for the influence of municipalities directly governed by the central government and subprovincial cities Moreover，this negative correlation sustains its significance in negative binomial regression analyses To address potential concerns of endogeneity，instrumental variable techniques and differenceindifferences methodologies were applied，further affirming the causal link between fiscal pressure and technological innovation within enterprises
Mechanism analysis sheds light on the dual nature of fiscal target pressure：on one side，it encourages an increase in fiscal allocation for science and technology expenditures，potentially nurturing enterprise innovation On the flip side，it escalates local government efforts for higher tax collection，thereby increasing the real tax burden on enterprises and consequently impeding their capacity for innovation Predominantly，the adverse effects of fiscal pressure on enterprise technological innovation eclipse the positive influences Diving deeper，heterogeneity analysis shows that fiscal target pressure notably disrupts the innovation endeavors of firms with strong innovation properties，while its inhibitive impact is milder on firms with lesser innovation capabilities Furthermore，the innovation pursuits within technologyintensive sectors are particularly vulnerable to fiscal target pressure，unlike those in laborintensive and capitalintensive sectors，where its effects are not as substantial An exploration of fiscal surpluses and deficits across regions indicates that the repressive effect of fiscal target pressure on corporate technological innovation is mostly observed in areas grappling with fiscal deficits，with this trend being less pronounced in regions enjoying fiscal surpluses

Key words: fiscal pressure, tax efforts, enterprise technological innovation

摘要： 地方财政压力对企业行为的影响一直是学术界关注的重点问题。本文使用手工整理的2003—2020年中国地方政府工作报告中财政收入增长目标数据来衡量地方财政目标压力，研究了其对企业技术创新的影响。研究发现：虽然财政目标压力可以在一定程度上提高财政支出中的科技支出规模，但地方政府也会通过加强税收征管努力来完成财政收入目标，进而提升了企业实际税负。这在一定程度上抑制了以发明专利产出为代表的企业技术创新活动。异质性分析表明，地方政府财政目标压力对创新能力较强的企业和处于技术密集型行业的企业的创新活动的抑制最为明显，且这种抑制效应更多体现在存在财政赤字的地区。本文的研究结论为我国通过进一步完善财政体制改革来实现创新驱动战略提供了政策启示。

关键词: 财政压力, 征税努力, 企业技术创新