An Analysis on the Spatial Effect of Absorptive Capacity on Regional Innovation Ability Based on Empirical Research in China

Abstract

Innovation is the primary driving force for development and the core of green, healthy, and sustainable economic development. This paper researches the spatial effect of absorptive capacity on regional innovation capacity from the perspective of knowledge spillover. We use the seven dimensions such as R & D intensity to build an absorptive capacity index evaluation system. After statistical verification, we select the most suitable empirical model, the dynamic Spatial Durbin Model with two-way fixed effect. The empirical results show that: (1) The promotion effect of absorptive capacity on knowledge spillovers in one province has no obvious effect on innovation promotion in other provinces, especially provinces at similar economic levels. However, it tends to inhibit the innovation development of neighboring provinces. (2) The impact of absorptive capacity on promoting knowledge spillovers varies from region to region. The eastern provinces of China are not affected by the absorptive capacity of neighboring provinces. The regression results of the central and western regions are not substantially different from the full sample. This study puts forward some policy suggestions based on the empirical results. It shows that a higher absorptive capacity does not mean better performance. The Chinese government should thus promote innovation in different provinces according to the local conditions. Sustainability 2020, 12, 3021 2 of 23 Although China has already become the second largest economy in the world, its comprehensive innovation capacity is relatively weak. Up to now, there have been some problems in China's innovation development, such as imbalance and inadequacy. Population and resource mismatches and weak industrial sustainability are already prominent. The Chinese government has given long-term attention and support to innovation development. President Xi Jinping has repeatedly stressed at various conferences that innovation development is urgent. The National Innovation Blue Book: China Innovation Development Report (2016) summarizes the situation: "There are two major constraints on China's innovation development. One is the insufficient use of innovation resources; the other is the insufficient economic transformation rate of innovation results." In view of the above, after consulting the relevant literature, this paper found that the two ratios are closely related to knowledge elements and absorptive capacity. Knowledge is an important factor in innovation development, and its spillover has a significant effect on sustainable economic development [1]. Absorptive capacity also plays a positive role in this process [2]. Nieto and Quevedo emphasized that only when external knowledge is absorbed is the entire spillover process complete. In addition, absorptive capacity is the key to improving spillover efficiency.[3] EgbeTokun and Savin explained that a region with high absorptive capacity can quickly transform received knowledge into expected economic output and realize benefits [4].Based on the above, thi...

Application of Multiattribute Decision-Making for Evaluating Regional Innovation Capacity

“…is paper normalizes the data from the 31 provinces in China for 2017 using equations ( 10) and (12) and calculates the gap ratio, and the results are shown in Table 10. Finally, the regional innovation capacity and ranking of each province are calculated using equation (13), as shown in Table 11.…”

“…Hamidi et al examined the relationship between regional compactness and regional innovation capacity in the United States [12]. Tang et al studied the spatial effect of absorptive capacity on regional innovation capacity from the perspective of knowledge spillover theory [13]. Many organizations have also published reports on the evaluation of innovation.…”

Should There Be Industrial Agglomeration in Sustainable Cities?: A Perspective Based on Haze Pollution

“…This innovation compensation mechanism reduces the pressure of regional pollution control. This theory was later developed into the scale effect theory [13] and the knowledge spillover theory [14]. The scale effect theory suggests that the scale effect of specialised division of labour among industrial enterprises stimulates sustainable production behaviour [15,16].…”

“…Both industrial agglomeration and haze pollution control are important components of sustainable cities. Much of the research between the two has focused on the economic consequences, industrial agglomeration and pollution emission supervision [33], land-use pattern after pollution [34], financial consequences of pollution estimation [35], industrial structure characteristics [14], and many other aspects. At the same time, due to the spillover effects of industrial agglomeration and the mobility of pollution, some scholars have studied the spatial nature of the relationship between the two [36], but most of them do not discuss causality identification caused by endogenous problems [29,30].…”

“…This greatly reduces the credibility of the results. In addition, there are still many other problems, such as excessively high selection of sample levels leading to insufficient sample size [3], excessively simple setting of spatial weight matrix [2], or unreasonable setting of spatial weight matrix [14].…”