Abstract
As important carriers of local innovation activities, innovative industrial clusters are attracting increasing attention. Therefore, several countries have started promotion policies for innovative industrial clusters. However, there are few empirical studies on relevant policies. This paper investigates the impact of China’s “innovative industrial cluster pilot” (IICP) policy on regional innovation. Taking the implementation of IICP policy as a quasi-natural experiment and using the panel data of 266 prefecture-level cities in China in 2008-2019, this paper provides strong evidence that IICP policy promotes regional innovation. The conclusion still holds after a battery of robustness checks. The heterogeneity test shows that the promoting effect of IICP policy on innovation is more significant in central and western region than in eastern region. Moreover, the lower the city administrative level and the lower the dependence on natural resource, the more prominent the innovation effect of IICP policy. Further, the mechanism test shows that the IICP policy can promote regional innovation indirectly by strengthening government support for innovation and attracting the agglomeration of science and technological talents, but the mediation effect of industrial structure has not been verified.
Highlights
Is paper attempts to empirically test the implementation effect of industrial cluster pilot” (IICP) policy
Since this paper focuses on regional innovation, the invention patents were used to measure the level of regional innovation. e patent data was collected from Chinese Research Data Services Platform (CNRDS). e data on locations and buildup time of IICPs was obtained from the website of Torch High Technology Industry Development Center, Ministry of Science and Technology. e city-level data was collected from the “China City Statistical Yearbook (2009–2020)”
It shows that the innovation level of the treated group is significantly higher than that of the control group. is result is a preliminary indication that IICP policy can promote the level of regional innovation
Summary
Is paper attempts to empirically test the implementation effect of IICP policy. Zheng and Li took high-tech industrial development zones (HIDZs) as the research object and confirmed that HIDZ pilot governance is conducive to the rise of innovation in China [1]. To fill this research gap, this study focuses on China’s IICP policy and examines its impact on regional innovation. In order to enrich research conclusions, this paper examines the heterogeneity and underlying mechanism of the impact of IICP policy on regional innovation. This study provides evidence on the relationship between industrial cluster and regional innovation from the empirical perspective. E innovative industrial cluster pilot policy in China provides a chance to remedy this research gap.
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