Research On The Impact Of Import Trade On Urban Innovation Ability From The Perspective Of Industrial Structure Upgrading

Since China entered the new normal of the economy,the mode of economic development has gradually changed from extensive development to high-quality development,the way of traditional production factors such as manpower and capital to drive economic growth has gradually declined,and innovation-driven economic development has become a social consensus.As a gathering place for innovation elements and an important carrier for economic activities,the innovation ability of cities also represents the national innovation level to a certain extent,and studying how to improve urban innovation capabilities is of profound significance for building a new engine of economic development.China’s reform and opening up more than 40 years of practical experience shows that only adhere to a high level of opening up can achieve high-quality development,as one of the important connotations of promoting high-level opening up,expanding import trade has also become an inherent requirement to transform the mode of economic growth,since 2018,the government has introduced a series of trade policies to expand imports,and will optimize the import structure,expand the scale of imports to the national strategic level,more and more scholars began to pay attention to the economic effects of import trade,It includes a broad discussion of the innovative effects of import trade.Current research mostly explores the innovation effect of import trade from the perspective of enterprises,and few research focuses on urban innovation,so will import trade have a certain impact on urban innovation ability? If so,through which transmission mechanisms do this effect? Existing research shows that trade opening can promote industrial structure transformation and upgrading to improve urban innovation ability,and import trade,as an important part of foreign trade opening up,can it also promote the improvement of urban innovation ability through the mechanism of industrial structure transformation and upgrading? If import trade will have an impact on innovation ability,is there a certain difference in the impact of this impact on cities,different types of cities and different urban agglomerations in different regions?In order to answer the above questions,this paper constructs a relevant model based on previous research from the perspective of industrial structure transformation and upgrading,and explores the relationship between import trade and urban innovation capacity through empirical research.Firstly,the direct transmission mechanism and indirect transmission mechanism of import trade to urban innovation capacity are analyzed from the theoretical level,and secondly,based on the panel data of 260 cities in China from 2004 to 2015,the transformation and upgrading of industrial structure are measured from the three dimensions of quantity,quality and rationalization,and the direct impact mechanism and indirect impact mechanism of import trade on urban innovation ability are verified through empirical research under the framework of two-way fixed effect model,and all city samples are evaluated according to their regions.The types and urban agglomerations are further divided to test the differentiated impact of import trade on urban innovation capabilities from multiple levels The results show that:(1)import trade can significantly improve the city’s innovation ability;(2)Import trade can enhance urban innovation ability by promoting the transformation and upgrading of industrial structure quantity and industrial structure quality,but the role of import trade in improving urban innovation ability by promoting the rationalization of industrial structure is not obvious;(3)The impact of import trade on the innovation capacity of different cities is obviously different: from the perspective of cities in different regions,import trade can significantly improve the innovation capacity of cities in the eastern region,but the effect on the improvement of urban innovation capacity in the central region and the western region is not obvious;From the perspective of different types of cities,import trade has a significant role in promoting the innovation capacity of first-tier cities and third-tier cities,and the improvement of the innovation capacity of third-tier cities is stronger than that of first-tier cities,but the improvement of the innovation capacity of second-tier cities is not obvious.From the perspective of different urban agglomerations,import trade can enhance the innovation ability of cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration and the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration,but has no significant effect on the urban innovation ability in the Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration,weaker on the urban innovation ability in the Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration,and the weakest effect on the urban innovation ability in the Yangtze River midstream urban agglomeration.Based on the research conclusions,this paper puts forward the following suggestions:(1)scientifically develop import trade and continuously release innovation dividends;(2)Actively promote the transformation and upgrading of industrial structure,and empower urban innovation with the support of high-quality industries;(3)Fully consider the location and resource advantages,and formulate differentiated innovative development strategies according to local conditions.The innovations in this paper are mainly reflected in:(1)focusing on the city level,examining the impact of import trade on their innovation ability,and enriching the domestic theoretical research on import trade-driven innovation.(2)The relationship between import trade and urban innovation ability is discussed from the perspective of industrial structure transformation and upgrading,which makes up for the shortcomings that the current research ignores that industrial structure transformation and upgrading can also be used as an innovation carrier,and enriches the transmission path of import to innovation.(3)The differential impact of import trade on different regional cities,different types of cities and different types of national city agglomerations was discussed,which is conducive to re-examining the current relevant policies from the perspective of regional unbalanced development,and then providing useful references for promoting the collaborative innovation and development of various cities in China.