Special economic zones and inter-prefecture collaborative innovation: evidence from China
研究中国一项经济特区建设监管政策如何影响地级市间的协同创新，发现新设特区使地级市间的发明专利申请联合申请量增加25-28%，且东部省份和两大城市群效果更显著。
This paper studies whether and how the establishment of new special economic zones (SEZs) following a regulatory policy on SEZ construction can affect inter-prefecture collaborative innovation in China. This policy required SEZs to develop leading industries reflecting the local region’s comparative advantage, and to improve the business environment. We find new SEZs established after this policy increased inter-prefecture joint applications for invention-patents of a treated prefecture by 25–28%. The positive effect was more salient for eastern provinces and the two largest urban agglomerations. Agglomeration of leading industries and the strengthened intellectual property right protection effectively increased collaborative innovation.