Population aging and corporate innovation performance: evidence from China

Drawing on the contingency theory, this study investigates how population aging reshapes corporate innovation in China. With the CSMAR firm database, we find that population aging suppresses corporate patenting by raising labour costs and diluting human capital quality. We further document that scientific expenditure could weaken the impact of population aging on corporate patenting, thereby acting as a strategic buffer. These findings jointly show that population aging constrains corporate innovation performance; for policy implications, they indicate that government policies stimulating scientific expenditure can be a direction to overcome the constraint effect.