Author(s)

Xiaoman Zhao ¹

Affiliation(s)

¹ School of Finance, Harbin University of Commerce, Harbin, Heilongjiang, 150028, China

Corresponding Author

Xiaoman Zhao

ABSTRACT

The efficiency of enterprise investment is a key indicator of optimised resource allocation. Artificial intelligence can enhance the efficiency of capital allocation through data-driven methods and other approaches. Using data from Shanghai and Shenzhen A-shares between 2014 and 2023 collected from the National Artificial Intelligence pilot zone, this paper employs the Richardson model to measure investment efficiency and empirically examines the impact of artificial intelligence policies. The research found that the policies of the experimental zone had significantly increased enterprise investment efficiency and alleviated excessive investment. The mechanism of action involves curbing short-term thinking in management, optimising the digital development environment, and improving the inclusive finance index. Heterogeneity has a more significant impact on small-scale, non-high-tech and non-state-owned enterprises. The moderating effect indicates that a positive management tone can enhance the effectiveness of policies. This paper broadens the research perspective, addresses the shortcomings in model application, highlights the importance of tone, uncovers the 'local average processing effect' of digital inclusive finance, deepens our understanding of policy transmission heterogeneity, and offers the government guidance on how to improve the efficiency of enterprise resource allocation and regional economic development with the help of artificial intelligence. 

KEYWORDS

Artificial intelligence innovation and development pilot zone; Resource allocation efficiency; Enterprise Investment efficiency; Richardson model; Short-sighted behavior of management; Digital development environment; Digital inclusive finance; Regional economic development

CITE THIS PAPER

Xiaoman Zhao. Artificial Intelligence and Corporate Investment Efficiency—Based on a Natural Experiment of National New Generation Artificial Intelligence Innovation and Development Pilot Zones. Journal of Artificial Intelligence Practice (2026). Vol. 9, No. 1, 142-149. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/jaip.2026.090116.

REFERENCES

[1] Aghion P, Bergeaud A, Van Reenen J. The impact of regulation on innovation[J]. American Economic Review, 2023, 113(11): 2894-2936.
[2] Luo X, Wang L. Can digital transformation policy drive digital innovation of Chinese enterprises: based on the quasi-natural experiment of big data comprehensive pilot zones[J]. Chinese Management Studies, 2026, 20(5): 1407-1427.
[3] Kong L, Chen J. Impact of digital transformation on green and sustainable innovation in business: a quasi-natural experiment based on smart city pilot policies in China[J]. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 2025, 27(10): 24629-24657.
[4] Mannuru N R, Shahriar S, Teel Z A, et al. Artificial intelligence in developing countries: The impact of generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies for development[J]. Information development, 2025, 41(3): 1036-1054.
[5] Bag S, Rahman M S, Routray S, et al. Integrating big data and artificial intelligence technology to build renewable energy supply chain resilience: an empirical study[J]. Business Strategy and the Environment, 2025, 34(7): 8847-8869.
[6] Qiao-Franco G, Zhu R. China's artificial intelligence ethics: Policy development in an emergent community of practice[M]//The Making of China's Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Security Policy. Routledge, 2025: 36-52.
[7] Orlando B, Scuotto V, Cillo V, et al. University-business R&D collaborations and innovation in light of Artificial Intelligence: a new AI-based open innovation paradigm[J]. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 2026, 51(1): 452-480.
[8] Karakolis E, Pelekis S, Mouzakitis S, et al. Artificial intelligence for next generation energy services across Europe–the I-Nergy project[C]//International Conferences e-Society 2022 and Mobile Learning 2022. 2022: 61-68.
[9] Wang K, Dong K, Wu J, et al. Patterns of artificial intelligence policies in China: a nationwide perspective[J]. Library Hi Tech, 2025, 43(1): 295-325.
[10] Parhamfar M, Güven A F, Pinnarelli A, et al. Artificial intelligence in carbon trading: Enhancing market efficiency and risk management[J]. Journal of Computing and Data Technology, 2025, 1(1): 19-39.

Sponsors, Associates, and Links

---

• Power Systems Computation
  
  
• Internet of Things (IoT) and Engineering Applications
  
  
• Computing, Performance and Communication Systems
  
  
• Advances in Computer, Signals and Systems
  
  
• Journal of Network Computing and Applications
  
  
• Journal of Web Systems and Applications
  
  
• Journal of Electrotechnology, Electrical Engineering and Management
  
  
• Journal of Wireless Sensors and Sensor Networks
  
  
• Journal of Image Processing Theory and Applications
  
  
• Mobile Computing and Networking
  
  
• Vehicle Power and Propulsion
  
  
• Frontiers in Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
  
  
• Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining Letters
  
  
• Big Data Analysis and Cloud Computing
  
  
• Electrical Insulation and Dielectrics
  
  
• Crypto and Information Security
  
  
• Journal of Neural Information Processing
  
  
• Collaborative and Social Computing
  
  
• International Journal of Network and Communication Technology
  
  
• File and Storage Technologies
  
  
• Frontiers in Genetic and Evolutionary Computation
  
  
• Optical Network Design and Modeling
  
  
• Journal of Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence
  
  
• Natural Language Processing and Speech Recognition
  
  
• Journal of High-Voltage
  
  
• Programming Languages and Operating Systems
  
  
• Visual Communications and Image Processing
  
  
• Journal of Systems Analysis and Integration
  
  
• Knowledge Representation and Automated Reasoning
  
  
• Review of Information Display Techniques
  
  
• Data and Knowledge Engineering
  
  
• Journal of Database Systems
  
  
• Journal of Cluster and Grid Computing
  
  
• Cloud and Service-Oriented Computing
  
  
• Journal of Networking, Architecture and Storage
  
  
• Journal of Software Engineering and Metrics
  
  
• Visualization Techniques
  
  
• Journal of Parallel and Distributed Processing
  
  
• Journal of Modeling, Analysis and Simulation
  
  
• Journal of Privacy, Trust and Security
  
  
• Journal of Cognitive Informatics and Cognitive Computing
  
  
• Lecture Notes on Wireless Networks and Communications
  
  
• International Journal of Computer and Communications Security
  
  
• Journal of Multimedia Techniques
  
  
• Automation and Machine Learning
  
  
• Computational Linguistics Letters
  
  
• Journal of Computer Architecture and Design
  
  
• Journal of Ubiquitous and Future Networks