How technical standardization enhances innovation resilience—Evidence from China’s high-tech manufacturing industry

Competition over technical standards has become a core arena in which enterprises and nations contend for industrial dominance and safeguard technological security in the digital economy era. Using data from A-share listed companies in China’s high-tech manufacturing industry from 2010 to 2023, this paper examines the impact of technical standardization on corporate innovation resilience. The findings reveal that technical standardization significantly enhances corporate innovation resilience, a conclusion that remains robust after addressing endogeneity through instrumental variable estimation and propensity score matching, as well as conducting multiple robustness checks, including alternative variable measurements, extended observation windows, additional control variables, and placebo tests. Mechanism analysis identifies two pathways through which technical standardization operates: fostering a collaborative culture and attracting patient capital within firms. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the positive effect of technical standardization on innovation resilience is more pronounced in growth-stage and mature-stage enterprises, firms with increasing R&D investment, and state-owned enterprises. Further analysis of economic consequences confirms that the standardization-driven enhancement of innovation resilience ultimately translates into higher market value. This study reveals the intrinsic mechanisms through which technical standardization empowers corporate innovation resilience, providing important empirical evidence for sustaining innovation capabilities in high-tech manufacturing amid international turbulence.