The Research Of Driving Forces Of Regional Innovation Based On Enterprises’ Demand

With the new round of science and technology revolution, marked by big data,intelligent manufacture, wireless networks, new energy, new materials, and biotechnology etc., technological innovation has been promoted to become the core of national development strategy as well as the growth engine of improving the quality and benefits of economic development in worldwide countries. Currently, China is faced with the transformation of economic development pattern. Since the strategic target to establish a creative country was put forward, technological innovation is becoming more and more important in China’s development. In the report of the 18 th National Congress, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 18 th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Thirteenth 5-year Plan of National Economic and Social Development, the following was repeatedly stressed: “To implement innovation-driven development strategy and to ensure a central position for technological innovation in the whole situation of national development. We must advance a multilevel innovation which includes theory, institution and culture innovation and is leaded by science and technology innovation. ” Every province all over the country successively has put forward to implement innovation-driven strategy and build innovation-oriented province.In order to achieve this purpose at national or regional level, we must firstly answer these questions: How to drive technological innovation? What are the driving force factors of regional innovation? Which is the core dynamics? What is the mechanism of its action? For the sake of solving these problems, it is necessary to set up a theoretical framework of regional innovation driving forces to enrich regional innovation theories and provide practical guidance for the implementation of innovation-driven strategy at different levels.Unlike common regions, resource-based regions have weak innovation base,moreover, the resource-dependent economy development has produced negative impact on regional innovation performance. Under the pressure of regional sustainable development, together with national and global technological innovation wave, the target of resource-based economy transformation have integrated into the achievement of innovation-driven strategy in these regions. Meantime, the innovation awareness of government is gradually enhanced, which is reflected as the increase of financial support for technological innovation. Enterprises have launched some innovation projects under government encouragement, which, however, was passive andintermittent. This innovation behavior is easy to be excluded(squeezed out) by the original resource-dependent pattern. Therefore, only clarifying the formation mechanism and crux of negative effect of resource-based economy development on innovation, does the focus of bringing technological innovation into effect in resource-based regions can be found out, which will help us research the form path of regional innovation driving force. This is not only a supplement to the crowding out mechanism but also a perfection to the motivation mechanism of technological innovation in the resource-based regions. Moreover, it is significant for the transformation of resource-based economy, technology innovation as well as the merging of the two.In the context of implementing innovation-driven strategy at both national and regional levels, taking regional innovation driving forces as the research object and resource-based regions with weak innovation base as examples, this thesis discusses the innovation driving forces in resource-based regions from the enterprises’ demand for innovation. Firstly, a model of regional innovation driving forces is built to reveal the action mechanism of innovation driving forces factors with the enterprises’ innovation demand at the core. Secondly, enterprises’ innovation demand model is set up. Based on the realistic conditions of the resource-based regions in China, this thesis proposes hypothesis about the technical attributes of resource and non-resource sectors, regional innovation institution and entrepreneurs’ innovative spirit etc. At this basis, the particularity of enterprises’ innovation demand in these regions is analyzed. Thirdly, by gradually relaxing the initial hypothesis, this thesis deducts the whole evolution process from innovation-excluded to innovation-driven in resource-based regions. By analyzing the different effects of enterprises’ innovation demand in different stage of this process,the crux of innovation-excluded and the critical factor of innovation-driven are revealed.Then, in virtue of Eviews6.0, this thesis constructs panel data model to verify the "causes" and "consequences" of the lack of enterprises’ innovation demand in resource-based regions. Finally, according to the results of both theoretical analysis and empirical test, taking inspiration of the enterprises’ innovation demand as the breakthrough point, this thesis offer some suggestions about how to form innovation driving forces in resource-based regions.The main research contents, the important views and innovation of this thesis are as follows:(1) Regional innovation driving force model based on enterprises’ innovationdemand: Enterprises’ innovation demand is the source of regional innovation driving forces. Regional innovation system is a complex adaptive system. Its dynamic mechanism is a kind of decentralized coordination from bottom to the top. Its innovation driving forces mainly come from the initiative of the bodies in regional innovation system and the interaction between the bodies and the innovative environment(that is, adaptability). In regional innovation system, enterprises are innovative bodies with the most subjective initiative. The driving forces of regional innovation system mainly come from the following three aspects: enterprises’ innovation demand, the correlation between innovation subjects and the openness of regional innovation system. They directly promote the evolution of regional innovation system. In addition, the enterprises’ innovation demand not only directly drives regional innovation, but also interacts with the other two factors to form resultant forces which become the indirect driving forces of regional innovation system.(2) The particularity of enterprises’ innovation demand in resource-based regions:resource-based and non-resource-based enterprises are lack of innovation demand. The innovation demand of enterprise is determined by both its perceived usefulness and perceived feasibility of technical innovation. The former depends on the expected innovation performance of enterprise. Moreover, regional innovation atmosphere will directly change the standard innovation performance or generate positive or negative reference to enterprise innovation, which will change the perceived usefulness of technical innovation indirectly. The latter depends on the expected innovation difficulties of enterprise. It is also directly or indirectly affected by regional innovative environment. The two parties differ from the nature of enterprises and the entrepreneurs’ initiative spirit. Influenced by various factors, resource-based enterprises are lack of innovation motivation because of the negative perception to usefulness of innovation,while the innovation ability of non-resource-based enterprises is insufficient due to its negative judgment about the feasibility of innovation. In short, enterprises in resource-based regions are all void of innovation demand.(3) The importance of enterprise innovation demand in the evolution of technological innovation in resource-based regions: In different conditions, the interaction development between resource-based economy and technology innovation shows two trends: exclusion and fusion. Enterprises’ innovation demand plays different roles in different stages: it is the transmission channel in the negative impact of resource dependence on regional innovation performance. And then, it gradually becomes themain driving force of the integrationo of resource-based economy and technology innovation. Under initial assumptions, such as the technical attributes two sectors, the entrepreneurs’ innovation spirit, the distribution of natural resource revenue, the government’s innovation consciousness and the supporting methods to regional innovation etc., technological innovation in resource-based regions will be excluded.With the gradual relaxation of hypothesis, technological innovation in resource-based regions will successively experience the following three phases: dominated by government with the exogenous innovation demand of enterprises, driven by both the semi-endogenous innovation demand of enterprises and government, promoted by the endogenous innovation demand of enterprises. These hypotheses are exactly the key factors to stimulate the enterprises’ innovation demand in resource-based regions and impel the economic transformation.(4) The empirical tests of the driving forces of regional innovation based on provincial panel date, the “cause” and “consequences” of the lack of enterprises’ innovation demand in resource-based regions are conducted.The empirical results of regional innovation driving forces at provincial level in China show that: the intensity of enterprises’ innovation demand for innovator, the degree of industry-university-research synergy innovation and the introduce innovation subject from outside have significant direct driving effect on regional innovation performance. The intensity of enterprises’ innovation demand for innovator and the degree of the introduce innovation subject from outside have significant positive interaction to regional innovation performance. To the regional innovation performance of technology research and development, the interaction between the intensity of enterprises’ innovation demand for innovator and the degree of industry-university-research synergy innovation is positive, but not significance. But to the regional innovation performance of technology application, it is negative.Based on panel date of 16 resource-based provinces in China during 2007-2013,the empirical test results show that: The profit growth rate of resource-based enterprises has negative correlation with the enterprises’ innovation demand in resource-based regions, but not significant. At present, the enterprises’ innovation demand mainly relies on the fiscal support from the government in resource-based regions. Positive innovation atmosphere has significant incentive effect to the enterprises’ innovation demand in resource-based regions, but the abundance of human capital is just the reverse.Based on relevant data of 30 provinces in China during 2007-2013, the empirical test results of panel data models show that: High dependency on resource has negative effect on the regional innovation performance and weakens the enterprises’ innovation demand in resource-based regions. The enterprises’ demand for innovator and innovative technology have positive effect on the regional innovation performance of technology research and development; The enterprises’ demand for innovator,innovative funds and technology have positive effect on the regional innovation performance of technology application. Among these, the positive effect of enterprises’ demand for innovator is the most significant. The negative effect of resource dependency on enterprises’ innovation demand is the transmission channel in the negative impact of resource dependence on regional innovation performance.(5)With enterprises’ innovation demand as breakthrough, the formation path of innovation driving forces in resource-based regions is as follows: To improve the enterprises’ expectation to the performance of technological innovation through institutional innovations about lowering the cost, ensuring the returns and encouraging the behavior of technological innovation. To reduce the enterprises’ expectation to the risk and difficulty of technological innovation by perfecting innovation factors market system and innovation insurance institution. To create innovation culture by improving innovation environment, especially the soft environment, cultivating regional innovation poles, perfecting the regulation and incentive system of innovation. On this basis, to expand the enterprises innovation demand in resource-based regions by enhancing the perceived usefulness and perceived feasibility of technical innovation. And then, to strengthen the correlation between regional innovation subjects and the introduced innovation talents, funds and technology, even innovative subjects in the course of regional openness. Finally, These forces will combine together to become powerful driving forces of technological innovation in resource-based regions.