R&D Effort,Spatial Spillovers And Regional Innovative Performance

Innovation,which provides inexhaustible impetus for productivity improvement,is the internal source of economic growth according to the endogenous growth theory.Nowadays,it is critical for China to optimize the economic structure and seek new momentum for development.Thus,it is of great significance to implement the strategy of innovation-driven development.Existing empirical studies show that knowledge and technology spillovers arising from innovative activities are crucial to the interregional convergence in innovative capacity and economic growth.Through the analysis of internal and external factors which influence regional innovative performance,it is confirmed that spatial spillovers do exist in the process of knowledge creation.This paper provides empirical evidences for exploring ways to enhance regional innovation capability from the perspective of regional interaction and collaboration.Based on the provincial data of invention patent applications from 2000 to 2017,the statistical analysis suggests an inequal and non-random distribution of innovative activity in China.The presence of a strong and positive spatial autocorrelation process in the innovative activity is confirmed.To explore the determinants of regional innovative performance,further regression analysis is carried out through a knowledge production function introduced by Griliches and Jaffe.Firstly,a spatial panel model is constructed based on a contiguity matrix and a geographic proximity matrix.Findings confirm a positive spatial interdependence on regional innovative performance.More specifically,not only the endogenous R&D effort has an important impact on the innovative performance but also the geographical neighbors' R&D effort is concerned.Secondly,based on the core-periphery theory,all provinces are divided into two classes,the core areas and the periphery ones.And a nonlinear regression model containing distance variables is constructed.Estimation results confirm the existence of the one-way knowledge spillovers from the core areas to the periphery ones.That is to say,the knowledge produced and R&D effort made by the core areas can advance the innovative performance in the periphery areas.Moreover,there exist a distance decay and a time lag of the knowledge spillovers.According to the empirical analyses,innovative performance of a certain region depends not only on the R&D effort made by itself,but also the innovation performed in spatial associative areas.To make full use of the positive externalities of the innovative process and achieve regional synergy,it is necessary to increase benign interactions between regions and dredge the channels of knowledge spillovers.Knowledge spillovers between the core areas and periphery ones approve of the construction of innovative highlands,including national innovation centers,innovative provinces and cities.Through all these moves,not only the innovative capability of the highlands can be enhanced,but also peripheral areas.Because highlands can affect their peripheries with the radiation effects.Finally,regional synergy will be achieved and the innovative process will get promoted.