开放度、吸收能力与中国区域创新能力.pdf

Openness, Absorptive Capacity and Regional Innovation in China Chih-Hai Yang∗ Department of Economics National Central University E-mail: chyang@mgt.ncu.edu.tw Hui-Lin Lin Department of Economics National Taiwan University E-mail: huilin@ntu.edu.tw Abstract This paper systematically investigates the impacts of openness on regional innovations in China, especially the role of absorptive capacity in mediating the spillover effect brought about by openness. Based on provincial-level data over the 1997-2007 period, the empirical results show that the estimated patents-RD elasticity is lower than that for OECD countries, while there is a significant RD spillover effect across regions in China. The innovation effect of technology imports is negative, suggesting that it may serve as a substitute for in-house RD and thereby result in a negative influence on innovation. Openness to trade, in terms of FDI and high-tech product exports, is witnessed to exhibit a significantly positive impact on the promotion of regional innovation. Importantly, the effects of technology imports and FDI on innovations vary significantly between coastal and non-coastal regions. Using human capital as a proxy for absorptive capacity, we find that it helps to learn external sources of knowledge and then contributes to innovation. Moreover, absorptive capacity is expected to play an important role in mediating the spillover effect brought about by openness to trade. JEL codes: O32, O34 Key words: RD, Technology Import, Patent, Absorptive Capacity ∗Corresponding aut