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High-speed railways and collaborative innovation

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  • Hanley, Douglas
  • Li, Jiancheng
  • Wu, Mingqin

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of infrastructure on innovation collaboration between enterprises in different locations using the introduction of high-speed railways in China. Applying an instrumental variable approach to control for the endogeneity of high-speed railways, and using a large enterprise census that includes both manufacturing and service sectors in China, we find that high-speed railways can improve innovation collaboration substantially at the city level. More importantly, we match city pairs based on high-speed railway routes and calculate the amount of time saved by a high-speed railway for each city pair. The empirical results suggest that the innovation collaboration also increases significantly at the city-pair level. Innovation quality, measured by patent citations between cities, also increases. Further evidence on spatial heterogeneity, industry heterogeneity and ownership heterogeneity suggests that the impact of high-speed railways is more significant for collaboration in less developed regions, in the service sector and in domestic enterprises.

Suggested Citation

  • Hanley, Douglas & Li, Jiancheng & Wu, Mingqin, 2022. "High-speed railways and collaborative innovation," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:regeco:v:93:y:2022:i:c:s0166046221000776
    DOI: 10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2021.103717
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    High-speed railway; Patent; Innovation collaboration; China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • R41 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure

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