IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/growch/v55y2024i2ne12728.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

State‐led urbanization and technological innovation: A quasi‐natural experiment from county‐to‐district conversion in China

Author

Listed:
  • Chong Wang
  • Lei Wang

Abstract

Different from the market‐led urbanization in western countries, China's urbanization process has the characteristics of being state‐led, in which county‐to‐district conversion (CTDC) policy plays a key role in promoting urbanization. Our study uses the data of 279 cities as a simple to explore the effect of the state‐led urbanization of CTDC on technological innovation. We find that CTDC significantly promote innovation, and this promoting effect is enhanced with the improvement of urban innovation ability. The mechanism test shows that financial expenditure on education and science, population agglomeration, information and communication technology industry are three channels for CTDC to boost technological innovation. We also find that this promotion effect is more obvious in eastern cities and the cities with higher administrative hierarchy, and is weakest in western cities, however, CTDC adjustment in northeastern cities significantly inhibited technological innovation. Further research shows that when the distance between merged county and city administrative center within 20 km, the effect is negative, after the distance is more than 20 km, with the increase of distance, the promoting effect of CTDC increases.

Suggested Citation

  • Chong Wang & Lei Wang, 2024. "State‐led urbanization and technological innovation: A quasi‐natural experiment from county‐to‐district conversion in China," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(2), June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:growch:v:55:y:2024:i:2:n:e12728
    DOI: 10.1111/grow.12728
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/grow.12728
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/grow.12728?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pierre‐Philippe Combes & Gilles Duranton & Laurent Gobillon & Diego Puga & Sébastien Roux, 2012. "The Productivity Advantages of Large Cities: Distinguishing Agglomeration From Firm Selection," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 80(6), pages 2543-2594, November.
    2. Dorota Ciołek & Anna Golejewska & Adriana Zabłocka‐Abi Yaghi, 2022. "Innovation drivers in regions. Does urbanization matter?," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(4), pages 1933-1960, December.
    3. Thorsten Beck & Ross Levine & Alexey Levkov, 2010. "Big Bad Banks? The Winners and Losers from Bank Deregulation in the United States," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(5), pages 1637-1667, October.
    4. Koenker, Roger, 2004. "Quantile regression for longitudinal data," Journal of Multivariate Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 74-89, October.
    5. ZHANG, Hongyong, 2015. "How does agglomeration promote the product innovation of Chinese firms?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 105-120.
    6. T. Ravichandran & Shu Han & Sunil Mithas, 2017. "Mitigating Diminishing Returns to R&D: The Role of Information Technology in Innovation," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 28(4), pages 812-827, December.
    7. Krugman, Paul, 1991. "Increasing Returns and Economic Geography," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(3), pages 483-499, June.
    8. Xuan Tian & Tracy Yue Wang, 2014. "Tolerance for Failure and Corporate Innovation," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 27(1), pages 211-255, January.
    9. Feldman, Maryann P. & Audretsch, David B., 1999. "Innovation in cities:: Science-based diversity, specialization and localized competition," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 409-429, February.
    10. Tappeiner, Gottfried & Hauser, Christoph & Walde, Janette, 2008. "Regional knowledge spillovers: Fact or artifact?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 861-874, June.
    11. Fujita, Masahisa & Krugman, Paul & Mori, Tomoya, 1999. "On the evolution of hierarchical urban systems1," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 209-251, February.
    12. Robert D. Dewar & Jane E. Dutton, 1986. "The Adoption of Radical and Incremental Innovations: An Empirical Analysis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(11), pages 1422-1433, November.
    13. Sabyasachi Tripathi & Evgeniy Kutsenko & Victoria Boos, 2022. "How different patterns of urbanization affect regional innovation? Evidence from Russia," International Journal of Urban Sciences, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(2), pages 213-243, April.
    14. David B. Audretsch & Erik E. Lehmann, 2022. "The knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship," Chapters, in: Cristiano Antonelli (ed.), Elgar Encyclopedia on the Economics of Knowledge and Innovation, chapter 39, pages 317-324, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    15. Ron A. Boschma & Jan G. Lambooy, 2002. "Knowledge, Market Structure, and Economic Coordination: Dynamics of Industrial Districts," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 291-311.
    16. Carlino, Gerald A. & Chatterjee, Satyajit & Hunt, Robert M., 2007. "Urban density and the rate of invention," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(3), pages 389-419, May.
    17. Grace Carolina Guevara-Rosero & Stéphane Riou & Corinne Autant-Bernard, 2019. "Agglomeration externalities in Ecuador: do urbanization and tertiarization matter?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(5), pages 706-719, May.
    18. Luc Anselin & Attila Varga & Zoltan Acs, 2008. "Geographical Spillovers and University Research: A Spatial Econometric Perspective," Chapters, in: Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy, chapter 10, pages 122-134, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    19. Szczygielski, Krzysztof & Grabowski, Wojciech & Pamukcu, Mehmet Teoman & Tandogan, Vedat Sinan, 2017. "Does government support for private innovation matter? Firm-level evidence from two catching-up countries," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 219-237.
    20. Taehyun Kim, 2019. "Financing Technological Innovation: Evidence from Patent-Intensive Firms," Global Economic Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(3), pages 350-362, July.
    21. Nathan Nunn & Nancy Qian, 2014. "US Food Aid and Civil Conflict," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(6), pages 1630-1666, June.
    22. Edward L. Glaeser & Joshua D. Gottlieb, 2009. "The Wealth of Cities: Agglomeration Economies and Spatial Equilibrium in the United States," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(4), pages 983-1028, December.
    23. Landon Kleis & Paul Chwelos & Ronald V. Ramirez & Iain Cockburn, 2012. "Information Technology and Intangible Output: The Impact of IT Investment on Innovation Productivity," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 42-59, March.
    24. Eva Hagsten, 2016. "Broadband connected employees and labour productivity: a comparative analysis of 14 European countries based on distributed Microdata access," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(6), pages 613-629, September.
    25. Bronwyn H. Hall & Dietmar Harhoff, 2012. "Recent Research on the Economics of Patents," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 4(1), pages 541-565, July.
    26. Muhammad Naveed Iftikhar & Jonathan B. Justice & David B. Audretsch, 2022. "The knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship: an Asian perspective," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(4), pages 1401-1426, December.
    27. Rosenthal, Stuart S. & Strange, William C., 2008. "The attenuation of human capital spillovers," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 373-389, September.
    28. Borge, Lars-Erik & Brueckner, Jan K. & Rattsø, Jorn, 2014. "Partial fiscal decentralization and demand responsiveness of the local public sector: Theory and evidence from Norway," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 153-163.
    29. Maria Jennifer Grisorio & Francesco Prota, 2015. "The Impact of Fiscal Decentralization on the Composition of Public Expenditure: Panel Data Evidence from Italy," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(12), pages 1941-1956, December.
    30. Li, Pei & Lu, Yi & Wang, Jin, 2016. "Does flattening government improve economic performance? Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 18-37.
    31. Roberta Capello & Camilla Lenzi, 2015. "The Knowledge–Innovation Nexus. Its Spatially Differentiated Returns to Innovation," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 379-399, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wang, Chong & Wang, Lei, 2024. "Does broadband infrastructure promote urban innovation? Evidence from “Broadband China” demonstration policy," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 349-362.
    2. Fan, Xiaomin & Xu, Yingzhi, 2023. "Does high-speed railway promote urban innovation? Evidence from China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    3. Moretti, Enrico, 2011. "Local Labor Markets," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 14, pages 1237-1313, Elsevier.
    4. Michael Storper, 2010. "Agglomeration, Trade, And Spatial Development: Bringing Dynamics Back In," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 313-342, February.
    5. Aurélie LALANNE & Guillaume POUYANNE, 2012. "Ten years of metropolization in economics: a bibliometric approach (In French)," Cahiers du GREThA (2007-2019) 2012-11, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée (GREThA).
    6. Christ, Julian P., 2009. "The geography and co-location of European technology-specific co-inventorship networks," Violette Reihe: Schriftenreihe des Promotionsschwerpunkts "Globalisierung und Beschäftigung" 31/2010, University of Hohenheim, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Evangelisches Studienwerk.
    7. Fanchao Kong & Hongkai Zhang & Xiangyan Meng & Shuai Li & Jia Liu, 2022. "Can the Policy of National Urban Agglomeration Improve Economic and Environmental Gains? Evidence from Quasi-Natural Experiments with 280 Cities in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-18, June.
    8. Ning, Lutao & Wang, Fan & Li, Jian, 2016. "Urban innovation, regional externalities of foreign direct investment and industrial agglomeration: Evidence from Chinese cities," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 830-843.
    9. Enrico Berkes & Ruben Gaetani, 2021. "The Geography of Unconventional Innovation," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 131(636), pages 1466-1514.
    10. Behrens, Kristian & Robert-Nicoud, Frédéric, 2008. "Survival of the fittest in cities: agglomeration, selection, and polarisation," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 28506, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    11. Behrens, Kristian & Robert-Nicoud, Frédéric, 2015. "Agglomeration Theory with Heterogeneous Agents," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 171-245, Elsevier.
    12. Li, Yutao & Zhang, Jinning & Lyu, Yanwei, 2023. "Does telecommunications infrastructure promote entrepreneurship in developing countries? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 106-119.
    13. Matthias Firgo & Peter Mayerhofer, 2015. "Wissens-Spillovers und regionale Entwicklung - welche strukturpolitische Ausrichtung optimiert des Wachstum?," Working Paper Reihe der AK Wien - Materialien zu Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft 144, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik.
    14. Carlino, Gerald & Kerr, William R., 2015. "Agglomeration and Innovation," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 349-404, Elsevier.
    15. Roberto Ercole & Robert O'neill, 2017. "The Influence of Agglomeration Externalities on Manufacturing Growth Within Indonesian Locations," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 91-126, March.
    16. Wang, Yunmin & Cao, Guohua & Yan, Youliang & Wang, Jingjing, 2022. "Does high-speed rail stimulate cross-city technological innovation collaboration? Evidence from China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 119-131.
    17. Genghua Tang & Hongxun Mai, 2022. "How Does Manufacturing Intelligentization Influence Innovation in China from a Nonlinear Perspective and Economic Servitization Background?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-16, October.
    18. Guo, Bingnan & Wang, Yu & Zhang, Hao & Liang, Chunyan & Feng, Yu & Hu, Feng, 2023. "Impact of the digital economy on high-quality urban economic development: Evidence from Chinese cities," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    19. Ahlfeldt, Gabriel M. & Pietrostefani, Elisabetta, 2019. "The economic effects of density: A synthesis," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 93-107.
    20. Gábor Békés & Péter Harasztosi, 2018. "Grid and shake: spatial aggregation and the robustness of regionally estimated elasticities," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 60(1), pages 143-170, January.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:growch:v:55:y:2024:i:2:n:e12728. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley-Blackwell Digital Licensing or Christopher F. Baum (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0017-4815 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.