Title: Industrial agglomeration and regional innovation in China: a three-stage innovation perspective

Authors: Yuliang Zhou; Zhangwen Li; Xinyan Xie

Addresses: School of Finance, Guangdong University of Finance and Economics, China ' School of Economics and Commerce, South China University of Technology, China ' School of Public Administration, Guangdong University of Finance and Economics, China

Abstract: This paper divides regional innovation activities into the following three stages: R&D investment, patent output, and new product launch. Based on panel data of 30 provinces of mainland China from 1998 to 2018, an improved innovation factor model is established to empirically analyse the effects and differences of Marshall-Arrow-Romer (MAR), Jacobs, complementarity (DIV), and competitive (COM) externalities on the three-stage regional innovation. The results show that: 1) close technology exchange exists between the eastern and central regions, and the role of technological radiation in the economic centre of the western region is strengthened; 2) Jacobs externality can promote regional innovation activities of high-tech industries and neighbouring provinces, while MAR, DIV, and COM externalities all play negative roles; their effects in the three-stage innovation differ significantly; 3) fixed capital investment, human capital investment, and labour force all promote innovation, but only fixed capital exerts spatial effects.

Keywords: industrial agglomeration; regional innovation; MAR externality; Jacobs externality; DIV externality; COM externality; three-stage innovation; China; R&D investment; patent output; new product launch.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSD.2021.122715

International Journal of Sustainable Development, 2021 Vol.24 No.3/4, pp.245 - 276

Accepted: 30 Dec 2021
Published online: 06 May 2022 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article