Does Industrial Agglomeration Promote Regional Innovation Convergence in China? Evidence From High-Tech Industries
利用2005-2016年中国30个省份数据，通过空间计量模型分析高技术产业集聚对区域创新σ收敛、绝对β收敛和条件β收敛的影响，发现集聚能促进创新收敛，且不同子行业效果不同。
The literature examining the importance of industrial agglomeration in innovation performance has expanded greatly in recent years, but the impact of industrial agglomeration, especially high-tech industrial agglomeration on regional innovation convergence, has been neglected. Using quantitative data from 30 provinces in China pertaining to the period 2005–2016, in this article, we analyze regional innovation convergence by focusing on three different types of convergence: σ-convergence, absolute σ-convergence, and conditional β-convergence. On the basis of the spatial effects, this article empirically investigates the impact of high-tech industrial agglomeration on regional innovation convergence in China by using spatial econometric models. The empirical results show that there is significant spatial autocorrelation in regional innovation. Thus, in the assessment of regional innovation convergence, the spatial effects should not be neglected. Moreover, our results demonstrate that regional innovation exists three different types of convergence (i.e., σ-convergence, absolute β-convergence, and conditional β-convergence). In addition, high-tech industrial agglomeration can promote regional innovation convergence. Finally, the grouping of high-tech industries into five subindustries shows that industrial agglomeration has different effects on regional innovation convergence. Overall, our findings provide convincing empirical evidence of the relationship between the high-tech industrial agglomeration and regional innovation convergence and valuable insights into how to realize regional innovation convergence.