Using the urban panel data of the Pearl River Delta, we explore the impact of producer services FDI on manufacturing upgrading. Considering the threshold effect of intellectual property protection in the process of producer services FDI affecting manufacturing upgrading, we establish a panel threshold model for empirical testing. The results show that producer services FDI can promote manufacturing upgrading, especially in improving technological efficiency. Producer services FDI has a single threshold of intellectual property protection for total factor productivity and technical efficiency. When the intensity of intellectual property protection is lower than the threshold, producer services FDI has a significant negative impact on manufacturing upgrading. When the intensity of intellectual property protection exceeds the threshold, the impact is significantly positive.The results show that the Pearl River Delta should pay attention to the supporting role of producer services FDI in manufacturing upgrading, properly improve the level of intellectual property protection of producer services, and help the development of local producer services while attracting high-quality FDI to promote manufacturing upgrading.

Dan Sun, Bo Li, Yuxiang Cao, Lihui Liu. Impact of Producer Services FDI on Manufacturing Upgrading in Pearl River Delta from the Perspective of Intellectual Property Protection. Academic Journal of Business & Management (2023) Vol. 5, Issue 22: 150-156. https://doi.org/10.25236/AJBM.2023.052221.

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