| Inward Foreign Direct Investment(IFDI)and Outward Foreign Direct Investment(OFDI)are the two main channels of international capital flow,as well as important channels for technology spillovers,playing a crucial role in the development of countries and regions.With the promotion of the "Belt and Road" initiative and the establishment of Free Trade Zones,China’s two-way direct investment has further developed.In addition to continuing to attract IFDI,China is also actively promoting local enterprises to carry out OFDI,and two-way FDI presents a trend of coordinated development.With the coordinated development of two-way FDI,China can not only obtain more production factors such as labor,capital,and energy but also optimize the allocation of intangible assets such as knowledge and technology.However,China’s economic development has entered a "new normal," which requires a transition from factor-driven to innovation-driven in order to obtain sustained growth momentum.In this context,it is more urgent to formulate and implement innovation-driven development strategies.Therefore,it is of great significance to explore the impact of the coordinated development of two-way FDI on regional innovation capability.Based on the above background and the theories of bi-directional direct investment and regional innovation,this paper uses the provincial panel data from 2003 to 2020 in China as the research sample,with regional innovation capability as the dependent variable and the level of bi-directional FDI synergy development as the independent variable,to analyze the spatial correlation between regional innovation capability and bi-directional FDI synergy development.The spatial panel Durbin model is used to empirically test the impact of bi-directional FDI synergy development on regional innovation capability in China.Considering the development differences between the eastern and central-western regions and the influence of the policy of free trade zones,this paper further divides the sample into the eastern and central-western regions,and free trade zones and non-free trade zones for further analysis.To further study the mechanism of the effect of bi-directional FDI synergy development on regional innovation capability,this paper constructs a mediating effect model to explore the impact channels of bi-directional FDI synergy development on regional innovation capability.According to the empirical results,the following conclusions can be drawn:(1)China’s regional innovation capability exhibits a high degree of stable spatial correlation between provinces,with significant spatial agglomeration characteristics and non-uniform spatial heterogeneity.After the financial crisis,there was a significant spatial dependence in the development of two-way FDI.(2)Two-way FDI cooperation can not only enhance the local innovation capacity but also drive the improvement of innovation capacity in surrounding areas,and the effect of this spatial spillover is stronger.(3)The impact of two-way FDI on regional innovation capability exhibits regional heterogeneity and policy heterogeneity.On the one hand,compared with the central and western regions,the development of two-way FDI in the eastern region has a greater promoting effect on the improvement of local innovation capability,but its impact on the innovation capability of surrounding areas is not significant.On the other hand,the development of two-way FDI in the free trade zone has a stronger and more significant effect on the improvement of local and surrounding innovation capability than non-free trade zones.(4)Further exploration reveals that two-way FDI can enhance regional innovation capability by improving human capital levels and optimizing industrial structures.Based on the above conclusions,the policy implications of this paper are as follows:(1)We should take the opportunity of high-level opening up to the outside world and enhance the regional innovation capacity with the two-way FDI synergistic development as the main grasp.(2)Focus on promoting the positive interaction of two-way FDI synergistic development between regions,take full account of the development differences of each region,and coordinate the coordinated development of the East,Central and Western regions at the overall level.(3)The Pilot Free Trade Zone should make good use of the advantages of pilot policies,give full play to the leading role of IFDI and OFDI,and promote the synergistic development of two-way FDI to achieve mutual benefits and win-win situation.(4)Promote the improvement of human capital level and optimization of industrial structure in the region through the technological spillover effect,reverse technological spillover effect and spatial spillover effect of two-way FDI synergistic development,boost human capital accumulation and industrial structure optimization and upgrading with high level of opening up to the outside world,so as to promote regional innovation capacity. |
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