Abstract: How to improve the resource allocation efficiency of enterprise technology M&As and enhance their ability to realize value is the core issue under the current innovation driven development strategy. The implementation of the national innovation city pilot policy as an exogenous shock event is used to empirically test the impact of innovation policies on the efficiency of enterprise technology M&As. The research results show that policy implementation has reduced the probability of listed companies initiating technology M&As, but significantly improved the financial performance and innovation output of M&As, presenting a high-quality technology M&A feature of few but refined. The alleviation of information asymmetry, the reduction of M&A premium costs, and the improvement of collaborative integration efficiency are the core mechanisms for policy implementation to enhance the efficiency of technology M&As. Based on the manually collected regional information of both parties involved in M&As, this paper carries out an innovative exploration of the spillover effects of innovation policies in non pilot cities within the same province. The findings show that policies can increase the probability of corporate technology M&As in non pilot cities, and enterprises are more inclined to choose the companies with policy support as targets for M&As. The best M&A performance can be achieved when both parties have policy support. The impact of innovation policies on corporate technology M&As is more significant in the cities with higher levels of innovation endowments and in the non-state-owned enterprises. Based on this, the deepening of innovation policies should further promote the establishment of a pre-information filing and due diligence system covering innovation activities such as technology M&As, and establish a special fund for transaction cost subsidies or intellectual property evaluation for technology M&A enterprises, in order to systematically improve the efficiency of technology element allocation and enhance the integration performance after M&As.

Key words: innovative city pilot policy, technology M&A efficiency, information asymmetry, spillover effect