The Knowledge Spillover Effect of Multi-Scale Urban Innovation Networks on Industrial Development: Evidence from the Automobile Manufacturing Industry in China

Abstract

Multi-scale urban innovation networks are important channels for intra- and inter-city knowledge spillovers and play an important role in urban industrial innovation and growth. However, there is a lack of direct evidence on the impact of multi-scale urban innovation networks on industrial development. Drawing upon the “buzz-and-pipeline” model, this paper analyzes the impact of multi-scale urban innovation networks on industrial development by taking the automobile manufacturing industry in China’s five urban agglomerations as an example. Firstly, based on the Form of Correlation between International Patent Classification and Industrial Classification for National Economic Activities (2018) and co-patents, we construct urban innovation networks on three different geographical scales, including intra-city innovation networks, inter-city innovation networks within urban agglomerations, and innovation networks between cities within and beyond urban agglomerations. Then, we employ the ordinary least squares model with fixed effects at the urban agglomeration level to explore the impact of urban multi-scale knowledge linkages on the development of the automobile manufacturing industry and the results showed that urban innovation networks at three different geographical scales have different impacts on industrial development. Specifically, intra-city innovation networks have a facilitating effect on industrial development, while both inter-city innovation networks within urban agglomerations and innovation networks between cities within and beyond urban agglomerations have an inverted U-shaped impact on industrial development. The interactions between urban innovation networks on three different geographical scales have a negative effect on industrial development. Simultaneously, the agglomeration level of urban industry plays a positive moderating role in the impacts of multi-scale urban innovation networks on industrial development.