Enhancing enterprise resilience through business environment optimization: evidence from multi-mechanism pathways in China

Against the backdrop of escalating global trade frictions and China's "dual circulation" strategy, we construct a Cobb–Douglas production function model to theoretically formalize the mechanisms linking business environment improvements to corporate resilience, and manually assembles and assesses the business environment index for over 250 prefecture-level cities nationwide. The database of Chinese A-share listed businesses from 2013 to 2022 and the business environment index of prefecture level cities are matched, and the influence and intermediate mechanism of the business environment on enterprise resilience are experimentally examined. The empirical results show that improving the business environment can promote the enhancement of enterprise resilience. After conducting multiple robustness tests, the research conclusion of this article remains reliable. In addition, the results of the intermediary mechanism test show that the optimization of the business environment is mainly achieved by reducing the institutional costs of enterprises, alleviating financing constraints, promoting innovation, and eventually strengthening businesses' ability to withstand negative influences. Furthermore, this study discovered variations in how the business environment affects company resilience. This study provides limited theoretical support for further deepening institutional reform, promoting continuous optimization of the business environment, enhancing enterprise resilience, maintaining a steady national economic cycle and optimising the Chinese economy's superior growth.