Abstract: Currently, artificial intelligence (AI) serves as an important driving force for the intelligent transformation of China’s manufacturing industry and the development of the real economy. Taking China’s A-share listed manufacturing companies from 2011 to 2021 as samples, this paper empirically examines the influence of the national AI innovation application pilot zone policy on the financial asset allocation of the manufacturing enterprises within the pilot zones, as well as its underlying mechanisms, by employing a multi-period Difference-in-Differences (DID) model. The results reveal that the national AI innovation pilot zone policy has significantly reduced the level of the financial asset allocation among the manufacturing enterprises within the pilot zones. The mechanism analysis indicates that the policy of the national AI innovation pilot zone has enhanced the total factor productivity of the manufacturing enterprises and alleviated their financial constraints, thereby suppressing the financial asset allocation level of these enterprises. The heterogeneity analysis reveals that the inhibitory effect of the national AI innovation pilot zone policy on the financial asset allocation in the manufacturing sector is stronger when the human capital of enterprises is of higher quality or when asset specificity is lower. The economic consequences analysis reveals that the policy has the potential to increase R&D investments in manufacturing enterprises. Therefore, the pilot zones should further build innovative application scenarios for artificial intelligence, and the non pilot zones should actively learn from the beneficial experiences of the pilot zones.

Key words: artificial intelligence, financial asset allocation, manufacturing companies