The Evolution of Regional Innovation with Spatial Knowledge Spillovers: Convergence or Divergence?

01/22/2018

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by   Junwen Qiu, et al.

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Based on endogenous economic growth models and the panel data of 31 regions in China, this paper explores the following four questions: Do spatial knowledge spillovers among regions exist? Do spatial knowledge spillovers promote regional innovative activities? What is the radiation range of spatial knowledge spillovers? Do external knowledge spillovers affect the evolution of regional innovations in the long run? The results show that spatial knowledge spillovers exist, and though the range of knowledge spillover is within 1000 kilometers in China, it pushes up regional innovative activities. Moreover, since developing regions benefit more from external knowledge spillovers than developed regions, it leads to the convergence of regional knowledge growth rate.