Regional Technological Innovation Research Articles

Fiscal expenditure efficiency and green economic efficiency: evidence from Chinese cities

This study develops indicators for evaluating Green Economy Efficiency (GEE) and Fiscal Expenditure Efficiency (FEE) at the prefecture level and above within Chinese cities. Utilizing the super-efficiency SBM model and a three-stage DEA model, we empirically examine the influence of FEE on GEE. To address the issue of endogeneity arising from reverse causality between FEE and GEE, this research employs fiscal autonomy and officials’ tenure as instrumental variables for FEE. The key findings are summarized as follows: (1) GEE exhibits a fluctuating upward trend from 2006 to 2020, while FEE remains relatively stable overall. Notably, the GEE and FEE in the eastern region surpass those in the central and western regions. (2) A one percentage point increase in FEE corresponds to a substantial 7.597% rise in GEE, indicating a significant promotional effect, a result consistently upheld in robustness tests. Furthermore, factors such as urbanization level, economic development, education level, and industrial structure also contribute to urban green economic growth. (3) FEE primarily contributes to GEE through local economic growth, urban infrastructure development, and regional innovation levels. (4) The impact of FEE on GEE is more pronounced in developed cities, larger cities, those with high fiscal freedom, and highly urbanized cities. Based on these conclusions, policy recommendations are proposed: (1) contingent upon local circumstances, each municipal government should optimize its fiscal expenditure structure and enhance FEE based on its unique endowments; (2) make full use of spatial correlation and knowledge spillover effect to promote the coordinated growth of FEE and GEE; (3) improve urban infrastructure construction and encourage regional technological innovation.

Two-Way FDI assists agricultural sustainable development: Based on digitalization and greening perspectives.

With the new challenges and crises facing agriculture, digitalization and green transformation have become important ways to solve the problems. This paper uses an international economics perspective to chart a new path for sustainable agricultural development. Specifically, it analyzes whether two-way international direct investment (FDI) can facilitate agricultural digital-green fusion(DGF)? Using a sample of 31 provinces (autonomous regions) from 2012 to 2021, this study finds: (1) Two-way FDI can significantly contribute to agriculture's DGF. (2) In the mechanism test, it is proved that two-way FDI can promote agriculture's DGF level by promoting green technology innovation capacity and overall regional technology innovation capacity. (3) The positive effects of two-way FDI are prominent in the eastern and central regions, coastal regions, and economically developed areas. (4) In the spatial Durbin model, the local two-way FDI growth improves agriculture's DGF level in the surrounding areas to a certain extent. The government is advised to prioritize openness, foster an environment for technological innovation, leverage spatial radiation for agricultural DGF, and advance digitally empowered agricultural modernization.

How can pilot free trade zones affect regional technology innovation? –evidence from China at the city level

ABSTRACT This paper examines the impact of pilot Free Trade Zones (FTZs) on technology innovation in China. Applying a multi-phase difference in difference (DID) model with the data from 280 Chinese cities during 2004 – 2019, covering 18 pilot FTZs, we found significant positive technology innovation effects of pilot FTZs. Specifically, the establishment of pilot FTZs has encouraged ‘substantive innovation’ through improving business environment, producer services agglomeration and financial development. Further spatial analysis shows that the innovation effect of the pilot FTZs has a positive spillover effect on neighbouring cities whose innovation capabilities are improved significantly, and thus narrows the innovation gap between cities. In terms of time dimension, the positive effect of pilot FTZs on innovation is immediate and continuously amplified. The above conclusions are robust using the placebo test, PSM-DID and control of provincial effects. The results provide important implications in extending the pilot FTZs to a wider coverage.

How does regional technological innovation affect energy poverty? The role of industrial structure distortion

China still faces relatively serious energy poverty, and technological innovation is considered effective at alleviating this issue. This paper empirically investigates the impact of regional technological innovation on energy poverty based on panel data from 30 provinces in China from 2001 to 2020. This paper explores the effect of industrial structure distortion in the process of technological innovation on energy poverty. This paper conducts asymmetry analysis and investigates the heterogeneous impact of technological innovation on energy poverty in different areas. The research conclusions are as follows: (1) Regional technological innovation can effectively alleviate energy poverty. (2) Industrial structure distortion moderates the impact of technological innovation on energy poverty, and it weakens the effect of technological innovation in alleviating energy poverty, although the moderating effect is not significant in coal-producing regions. (3) The effect of technological innovation on alleviating energy poverty is more obvious in regions where energy poverty is prominent. (4) The role of technological innovation in alleviating energy poverty shows spatial heterogeneity, and this alleviation effect is more obvious in the western and non-coal producing regions. We also propose several policy implications for alleviating energy poverty.

Design of performance assessment and management model for regional technological innovation under the background of machine learning

Design of performance assessment and management model for regional technological innovation under the background of machine learning

Empirical analysis of regional technological innovation efficiency under the background of talent sharing based on SAF model

Empirical analysis of regional technological innovation efficiency under the background of talent sharing based on SAF model

Design of Performance Assessment and Management Model for Regional Technological Innovation under the Background of Machine Learning

Design of Performance Assessment and Management Model for Regional Technological Innovation under the Background of Machine Learning

The impact of digital finance on energy total factor productivity

In the context of modern scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, the development of digital finance is conducive to improving the ecological environment and the energy total factor productivity (TFP). In this paper, DEA cross-efficiency model is used to measure the energy TFP, and moment estimation method is used to empirically test the influence and heterogeneity of digital finance on energy TFP, and then the intermediary model is constructed to study and analyze the influence mechanism based on the sample data of 30 provinces in the Chinese Mainland from 2011 to 2018. The following research findings are obtained. First, the development of digital finance has played a significant role in improving energy TFP. Second, spatial heterogeneity exists in the process of digital finance affecting energy TFP improvement, that is, digital finance has a more obvious improvement effect on the energy TFP in central and western China than in eastern China. Third, digital finance can affect energy TFP through technological innovation; that is, the improvement of regional technological innovation is an important transmission mechanism for digital finance to affect energy TFP.

How the Digital Economy Empowers the Structural Upgrading of Cultural Industries—An Analysis Based on the Spatial Durbin Model

The digital economy (De) is a major driving force in pushing structural improvements in the cultural industry. Theoretically, the De can empower the structural upgrading of the cultural industry by promoting technological innovation. Empirically, based on the provincial panel data of 31 regions in China from 2013 to 2020, this research utilizes the spatial Durbin model (SDM) to reveal the impact of the De on the structural upgrading of cultural industries. It also utilizes the mediation effect to test the path of the De on the structural upgrading of cultural industries through regional technological innovation. It is found that (1) the structural upgrading of the cultural industry shows significant spatial autocorrelation, and the eastern region is where the high–high cluster pattern predominates. (2) The De could successfully encourage the restructuring of the local cultural industry, and the spillover effect in space also promotes improving the organization of the cultural industry in neighboring regions. (3) A mechanism analysis shows that the De realizes the upgrading of cultural industry structure by enhancing regional technological innovation ability. Based on this, relevant policy recommendations are made to promote the upgrading of cultural industry structure in three dimensions: improving the level of the De, strengthening the ability of inter-regional cooperation, and promoting technological innovation. The study provides an important reference for the upgrading of China’s cultural industry structure from the De’s perspective.

Enhancing high-quality development in regional innovation ecosystems

This study explores the enhancement of high-quality development in regional innovation ecosystems, focusing on the influence of technological innovation and corporate financing support. By employing innovation ecosystem theory, the authors analyze various factors that affect ecosystem development and utilize panel regression and spatial econometrics to examine the impact of regional technological innovation and corporate financing on high-quality ecosystem development. The findings are as follows: (1) Urbanization in the Yellow River Basin exhibits areas with development advantages, stability, and disadvantage. (2) The regression analysis of the entire sample reveals a synergistic effect of regional innovation and corporate financing support in promoting high-quality ecosystem development. (3) The regression analysis of the local sample demonstrates that the impact of high-quality development factors within the innovation ecosystem differs among the upstream, middle, and downstream regions of the Yellow River Basin, with the middle region exerting the most significant influence. Multiple factors contribute to resistance in developing the regional innovation ecosystem in the basin, leading to the accumulation of “reverse effects” over time. Thus, improving the quality development of the Yellow River Basin ecosystem requires collaborative management and coordinated improvements across multiple entities. This research offers insights for China's ecological protection and high-quality development strategies in the Yellow River Basin and other regions currently constructing mechanisms for high-quality development in their regional ecosystems.

The impact of digital economy on regional technological innovation capability: An analysis based on China's provincial panel data.

The development of the digital economy in China facilitates the transformation of old and new growth drivers. It can greatly promote the upgrading of technological innovation capacity, realize economies of scale and scope, and constantly promote the generation of new industries and new forms of business with the deep integration of digital economy and traditional industries, thereby promoting the high-quality development of China's economy. This paper uses inter-provincial panel data from 2013 to 2020 and a dynamic spatial Durbin model to quantify the impact of the digital economy on regional technological innovation capability (RTIC). The results show that: (1) the digital economy has positive spatial spillover effect and can boost the province's and neighboring provinces' regional technological innovation capability; (2) regional technological innovation capability has obvious spatial and temporal aggregation effects; (3) the impact of the digital economy on RTIC is mainly short-term effects, and there is regional heterogeneity, with the western region experiencing the highest effects and the eastern region experiencing less. Therefore, it is urgent to accelerate the development speed of the digital economy, grasp the law of dynamic economic development, identify the regional heterogeneity of the digital economy development, and deepen inter-regional digital technology cooperation to comprehensively drive the improvement of regional technological innovation capability.

Spatial–Temporal Evolution and Driving Factors of Economic Dual Circulation Coordinated Development in China’s Coastal Provinces

China’s coastal area is an important node, carrying the connection between internal and external circulation. It is of great significance to explore the spatial and temporal evolution of economic dual circulation coordinated development and its driving factors. In this paper, the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) evaluation model based on the Criteria Importance Though Intercriteria Correlation and entropy (CRITIC-entropy) weight method, coupling coordination model, standard deviation ellipse and exploratory spatial data analysis were used to analyze the spatial and temporal evolution characteristics of economic dual circulation coordinated development of China’s coastal area. In addition, the geographical detector was employed to identify its driving factors. The results showed that: (1) The development level of internal and external economic circulation in China’s coastal area was mainly stable and rising in a fluctuating manner, and the level of internal circulation was higher than that of external circulation. The overall coupling coordination degree of economic dual circulation exhibited a positive trend. (2) There was regional heterogeneity and spatial correlation in the coupling coordination degree of economic dual circulation in the coastal area of China, and the spatial distribution pattern showed the characteristic of being “strong in the internal and weak in the external”. (3) The coordinated development of economic dual circulation was driven by multiple factors. Regional technological innovation capability, per capita income level, circulation development level, marketization process, digitization level and financial development level were the core driving forces. Based on the findings of this paper, a series of policy recommendations for improving the coordination development between internal and external economic circulation was proposed.

Financial Development and Environmental Pollution Control - An Analysis of Intermediary Effect Based on Technological Innovation

Abstract Based on the rapid development of green finance and the panel data of 30 provinces in China (excluding Tibet, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao) from 2007 to 2020, to deeply discuss the relationship between financial development (FD), technological innovation and environmental pollution (EP) control is the centre of this article by using panel fixed-effect and intermediary effect model. The influence of FD on EP is tested by building a benchmark regression model. In addition, the intermediary effect model is adopted to explore how FD affects EP control through technological innovation mechanism. The conclusions show that China’s FD can effectively promote regional EP control on the whole, and FD can improve EP through technological innovation mechanism, but there is significant regional heterogeneity: compared with high government intervention areas, FD can promote EP control through technological innovation in low government intervention areas. Therefore, it is suggested that all regions promote the construction of financial infrastructure, upgrade the level of regional financial marketisation, speed up the realisation of regional technological innovation and EP control. This work is conducive to the formulation of appropriate government policies to promote the improvement of the financial system and the establishment of innovative mechanisms, and the reasonable reduction of government intervention and the improvement of the efficiency of financial resource allocation based on the needs of financial market players.

Evaluation of Regional Technological Innovation Capacity Based on Factor Analysis: Taking Henan Province as an Example

As a big province in central China, the improvement of technological innovation capacity in Henan Province plays an important role in the improvement of technological innovation capacity in the central region and even in the whole country. The article constructs a comprehensive evaluation index system from three dimensions of technological innovation: input, output, and environment, including four important subjects: government, enterprises, higher education institutions and research and development institutions. Three common factors, enterprise innovation factor, learning and research innovation factor and higher education environment factor, are extracted by factor analysis method to evaluate the technological innovation capacity of Henan Province. The results show that the comprehensive score of technological innovation capacity in Henan Province lies in the national average level, among which the environmental factor of higher education ranks highest, but the enterprise innovation factor and the learning and research innovation factor rank behind. Therefore, Henan Province needs to rely on the relevant strategies of regional integration, accelerate the construction of collaborative innovation industrial system, actively establish docking cooperation with higher education institutions and research and development institutions, optimize the allocation of higher education resources, and further improve the technological innovation capacity of enterprises and the technological innovation results transformation capacity of higher education institutions and research and development institutions.

Can Environmental Regulations Promote Regional Industrial Transfer?

In the context of building a “Beautiful China”, it is imperative to strengthen environmental regulations to restrict industrial pollution emissions. However, there are significant differences of regulations intensity among different regions, which will lead to an increase in the cost of compliance with regulations for polluting industries, so these industries tend to transfer from areas with strong environmental regulations to areas with weak environmental regulations. Based on the panel data of 282 prefecture-level cities and national patent data from 1994 to 2010, this paper constructs a difference in difference model (DID) to empirically study the impact of environmental regulations on regional industrial transfer and its mechanism. We find that, firstly, the “Two-Control Zones” policy has significantly promoted regional industrial transfer, and its effect has gradually increased in the long run. Then, the promotion effect of the “Two-Control Zones” policy on regional industrial transfer is heterogeneous among different regions due to the regional market environment and resource endowment; that is, the promotion effect is the greatest in Central China, then in Eastern China, and finally in Western China. At the same time, the frequency of industrial transfer in areas with high resource dependence is significantly lower than that in areas with low resource dependence. Finally, mechanism studies find that environmental regulation enhances inter-regional industrial liquidity and promotes regional technological innovation, and the role of environmental regulation on technological innovation is more obvious in regions with weak industrial liquidity. This proves that the “Pollution Heaven Hypothesis” and the “Porter Hypothesis” can be established at the same time in the Chinese context, which provides more reliable empirical evidence for the government to formulate environmental regulations, restrict pollution emissions, and balance environmental governance and sustainable economic development.

Digital economy and green total factor productivity-based on the empirical research on the resource-based cities.

Green economy is the core content of the high-quality economic development, and the digital economy is the new driving force to accelerate the realization of high-quality economic development. In this regard, this paper selects 248 resource-based cities in China from 2011 to 2019 as the research objects and uses the fixed effect model and mediation effect model to test the relationship between digital economy and regional green total factor productivity. We get the following conclusions: First, there is the nonlinear relationship between digital economy and regional green total factor productivity, and this relationship shows the inverted U-shape. Secondly, digital economy can influence regional green total factor productivity through the path transmission mechanism of regional technological innovation, industrial structure, and environmental regulation. Finally, the effect of digital economy on regional green total factor productivity is heterogeneous, especially in the eastern region and cities with high human capital level. Based on the digital economy, the findings of this paper provide theoretical basis and reference suggestions for promoting the green development of regional economy. The government should attach importance to regional green development, actively guide the digital economy to promote green development, accelerate the development of the digital economy, and achieve high-quality economic development finally.

How does financial development environment affect regional innovation capabilities? New perspectives from digital finance and institutional quality

<p><big>Based on China's 30 provincial panel data from 2006 to 2018, this paper uses the spatial Durbin model to empirically study the influence path and transmission mechanism of financial development on regional technological innovation, and introduce digital finance environment, marketization degree, and government environmental management as an adjustment variable to verify its regulating effect on financial development and regional technological innovation. The study found that the overall promotion of digital finance to local technological innovation is not significant. Besides, the characteristics of ownership discrimination and weak risk appetite in the bank's medium and long-term credit market have led to its failure to promote regional technological innovation. In contrast, the stock market and bond market in direct financing channels have enhanced local innovation capabilities. When the external environmental system is used as the adjustment variable, the results show that an excellent digital finance development, marketization degree, and government environmental management can effectively and positively regulate the effect of financial development and technological innovation.</big></p>

Spatial Spillover Effect of Digital-Finance-Driven Technology Innovation Level Based on BP Neural Network

The spillover effect of technological innovation has a huge role in promoting the development of the regional economy. In the process of economic development, financial agglomeration is becoming increasingly common. Based on the back-propagation neural network, this paper analyzed the spatial spillover effect of technological innovation driven by digital finance. This paper proposed the use of Matlab for the training analysis of back-propagation neural networks. Results show that the previous warning analysis results are reasonable. Conclusion analysis was then conducted. The mechanism and influence of digital finance in promoting regional technological innovation were analyzed in terms of supply and demand. The supply side mainly alleviated the problem of financing constraints, while the demand side mainly affected the consumption behavior of residents, and both sides jointly promoted regional technological innovation. Among the regional differences in the degree of financial agglomeration, the differences within and between groups were calculated and compared, and they comprehensively reflected the development status of financial agglomeration. The results show that the total number of patents in city D was less than that in city C in the past four years, but the annual growth rate was very fast, especially in 2020, reaching 40%. Therefore, the innovation environment of City D was continuously improving, and the innovation activities are becoming increasingly active. Moreover, data and financial innovation technology have a strong spatial spillover effect. This paper aimed to study the spatial spillover effect of digital-finance-driven technological innovation based on BP neural network, which contributes to the spatial spillover effect of digital-finance-driven technological innovation.

How does heterogeneous environmental regulation affect net carbon emissions: Spatial and threshold analysis for China

The Chinese government has made great efforts in air pollutant reduction and carried out strict regulation policies. Since numerous air pollutants and CO2 tend to have the same root, source, and process, recent studies argue that environmental regulation may also contribute to reducing carbon emissions. To investigate how various types of environmental regulations affect carbon emissions reduction, this paper constructs the spatial Durbin model and panel threshold model based on provincial panel data in China during 2003–2019. The main findings are as follows: First, China's net carbon emissions show a decreasing trend from east to west, displaying significant spatial agglomeration characteristics. Then, formal and informal environmental regulations have inverted U-shaped impacts on net carbon emissions. The “green paradox” and “reverse emission reduction” effects come into play at different stages. Finally, the threshold model reveals that with the improvement of regional technological innovation levels, the carbon-reducing effect of environmental regulation will increasingly come to the fore. These research findings are conducive to providing theoretical guidance for government to formulate and implement environmental regulation policies rationally.

How to carry out technological innovation in the rare earth industry?

As an important strategic industry in China, the rare earth industry needs to extend its industrial chain to the high-end by carrying out technological innovation. This paper discusses the dynamics of technological innovation in rare earth enterprises and how local governments regulate the behaviors of these enterprises. First, we establish an evolutionary game model between local governments and rare earth enterprises, considering direct and indirect factors of policy regulations regarding the rare earth industry. Second, we analyze the mechanism and evolution process of governance strategy selection and explain the efficiency and evolution path of the local governance system under different policy orientations by finding the stable point of the replication dynamic process. Finally, we use numerical simulation to analyze the impacts of initial willingness and direct and indirect factors on the dynamic evolution process. The results demonstrate that (1) the regulation cost of local governments and subsidies have negative impact on local government decisions and rewards generated by enterprises' technological innovation have positive impact on local government decisions; (2) benefits, direct subsidies from local governments, and indirect performance rewards from the central government have positive impact on enterprises' technological innovation decisions. Based on the empirical results, we recommend that to promote enterprises' participation in technological innovation, central and local governments should create policy for rules and regulations for rare earth enterprises by comprehensively considering the technological risks and spillover effects rather than increasing subsidies. Moreover, based on their characteristics, rare earth enterprises should create an environment for technological innovation and integrate into regional technological innovation platforms.