Industrial Agglomeration, University-Industry Collaboration and Patent Output: Evidence From the Chinese High-Tech Industry

Bing Sun,Ruihan Zhang,Hongying Mao

doi:10.1109/access.2020.3046079

Abstract

This article analyzes the different effects of industrial aggregation, industry-university collaboration, foreign direct investment and government support on innovation performance and the synergistic effect between them, thereby to identify the determinants of innovation output of Chinese high-tech industry in the period 2009-2018. The results indicate that industrial agglomeration and industry-university collaboration both have a significant positive impact on the patent output of high-tech industries, but the synergistic effect between industrial agglomeration and industry-university collaboration is significantly negative. Meanwhile, both of foreign direct investment and government support could negatively affect the innovation output, while their synergistic effect is positive.

Highlights

It is widely recognized that innovation is the main driver for establishing a competitive advantage and generating economic growth [1][2]
Using panel data from Chinese high-tech industries for the period of 2009 to 2018, we examine the complex impacts of industry agglomeration, university-industrial collaboration, foreign direct investment and government support on patent output in the context of open innovation, some conclusions have been summarized
Industrial agglomeration can significantly increase the patent output of hightech industries; in other words, the industrial agglomeration increases by 1%, and the patent output will increase by approximately 0.342%, suggesting that industrial agglomeration, as a spatial organization form, is an important channel to enhance innovation performance

Summary

Introduction

It is widely recognized that innovation is the main driver for establishing a competitive advantage and generating economic growth [1][2]. High-tech firms, as carriers of industrial upgrades and transformation, treat the production and use of knowledge as an important factor, making it a critical factor for a country to establish itself on the leading edge of economic and technological advances [3]-[4]. The causes of industrial agglomeration are that geographical concentration can provide firms with easy access to critical resources, lower transport costs, access to customers, and a specialized and skilled labor pool, thereby creating knowledge externality and fostering innovation [9]. University-industry collaboration has been widely perceived as a promising tool for enhancing organizational capacity in open innovation-where an organization employs external networks in developing innovation and knowledge [13], as a complementary option to traditional internal R&D [14].

Methods

Results

Conclusion