As SASAC has implemented EVA in State owned enterprises, this paper empirically analyzes the influence of EVA assessment on enterprise independent innovation capacity by using data from state owned listed companies of China from 2010 to 2013, and further discusses the adjusting effects of manager risk characteristics and the different performance in different industries. We find:(1) EVA assessment can significantly improve enterprises independent innovation capacity; (2) manager risk characteristics have positive adjusting effects on the relationship between EVA assessment and the input amount of enterprise independent innovation;(3) there is a difference in the influence of EVA assessment on enterprise independent innovation capacity. This study deepens and enriches the economic consequences of EVA assessment research, provides empirical evidence to support the implementation of the EVA policy deeply and widely, as well as gives certain enlightenment meaning to design EVA policy with disparity and practice EVA policy effectively.