IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/riibaf/v73y2025ipas0275531924003738.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Place-based policies and local technology spillovers: Evidence from national high-tech zones in China

Author

Listed:
  • Li, Donghui
  • Chen, Wei
  • Hao, Kaixuan

Abstract

This study examines the impact of place-based policies on local technology spillovers, using a sample from the Chinese A-share market. The findings indicate that firms experience greater local technology spillovers following the establishment of national high-tech zones (HTZs). Channel analysis shows that HTZ policies facilitate the formation of R&D alliances and promote technology transactions. The positive effects are more pronounced in firms with higher knowledge absorptive capacity, those led by executives with academic backgrounds, and in environments with weaker market competition and intellectual property rights enforcement. Additionally, the research reveals that the technology spillovers generated by HTZ policies primarily spread between industries rather than within them.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Donghui & Chen, Wei & Hao, Kaixuan, 2025. "Place-based policies and local technology spillovers: Evidence from national high-tech zones in China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(PA).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:73:y:2025:i:pa:s0275531924003738
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ribaf.2024.102580
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0275531924003738
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ribaf.2024.102580?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nicholas Bloom & Mark Schankerman & John Van Reenen, 2013. "Identifying Technology Spillovers and Product Market Rivalry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 81(4), pages 1347-1393, July.
    2. Abebe, Girum & McMillan, Margaret & Serafinelli, Michel, 2022. "Foreign direct investment and knowledge diffusion in poor locations," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    3. Philippe Aghion & Jing Cai & Mathias Dewatripont & Luosha Du & Ann Harrison & Patrick Legros, 2022. "Industrial Policy and Competition," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Globalization, Firms, and Workers, chapter 15, pages 349-380, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    4. Xuan Tian & Jiajie Xu, 2022. "Do Place-Based Policies Promote Local Innovation and Entrepreneurship? [A model of growth through creative destruction]," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 26(3), pages 595-635.
    5. Wang, Jin, 2013. "The economic impact of Special Economic Zones: Evidence from Chinese municipalities," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 133-147.
    6. Kugler, Maurice, 2006. "Spillovers from foreign direct investment: Within or between industries?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 444-477, August.
    7. Liu, Zhiqiang, 2008. "Foreign direct investment and technology spillovers: Theory and evidence," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(1-2), pages 176-193, February.
    8. Bronwyn H. Hall & Adam B. Jaffe & Manuel Trajtenberg, 2000. "Market Value and Patent Citations: A First Look," NBER Working Papers 7741, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Clément de Chaisemartin & Xavier D’Haultfœuille, 2023. "Two-way fixed effects and differences-in-differences with heterogeneous treatment effects: a survey," The Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 26(3), pages 1-30.
    10. Sabrina T. Howell, 2017. "Financing Innovation: Evidence from R&D Grants," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(4), pages 1136-1164, April.
    11. Bruno Cassiman & Reinhilde Veugelers, 2002. "R&D Cooperation and Spillovers: Some Empirical Evidence from Belgium," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(4), pages 1169-1184, September.
    12. Callaway, Brantly & Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C., 2021. "Difference-in-Differences with multiple time periods," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 200-230.
    13. Hsu, Charles & Wang, Rencheng & Whipple, Benjamin C., 2022. "Non-GAAP earnings and stock price crash risk," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(2).
    14. Gangopadhyay, Kausik & Mondal, Debasis, 2012. "Does stronger protection of intellectual property stimulate innovation?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 116(1), pages 80-82.
    15. Matray, Adrien, 2021. "The local innovation spillovers of listed firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(2), pages 395-412.
    16. Simon Alder & Lin Shao & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2016. "Economic reforms and industrial policy in a panel of Chinese cities," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 305-349, December.
    17. Blomstrom, Magnus & Sjoholm, Fredrik, 1999. "Technology transfer and spillovers: Does local participation with multinationals matter?1," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(4-6), pages 915-923, April.
    18. Becker, Wolfgang & Dietz, Jurgen, 2004. "R&D cooperation and innovation activities of firms--evidence for the German manufacturing industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 209-223, March.
    19. Ju, Xiaosheng & Jiang, Shengjun & Zhao, Qifeng, 2023. "Innovation effects of academic executives: Evidence from China," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(3).
    20. Doruk Cengiz & Arindrajit Dube & Attila Lindner & Ben Zipperer, 2019. "The Effect of Minimum Wages on Low-Wage Jobs," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(3), pages 1405-1454.
    21. Sun, Liyang & Abraham, Sarah, 2021. "Estimating dynamic treatment effects in event studies with heterogeneous treatment effects," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 175-199.
    22. Prasanna Tambe & Lorin M. Hitt, 2014. "Job Hopping, Information Technology Spillovers, and Productivity Growth," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(2), pages 338-355, February.
    23. Roper, Stephen & Vahter, Priit & Love, James H., 2013. "Externalities of openness in innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(9), pages 1544-1554.
    24. Yi Lu & Jin Wang & Lianming Zhu, 2019. "Place-Based Policies, Creation, and Agglomeration Economies: Evidence from China's Economic Zone Program," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 325-360, August.
    25. Baker, Andrew C. & Larcker, David F. & Wang, Charles C.Y., 2022. "How much should we trust staggered difference-in-differences estimates?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(2), pages 370-395.
    26. Qiu, Jiaping & Wan, Chi, 2015. "Technology spillovers and corporate cash holdings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(3), pages 558-573.
    27. Oh, Jong-Min, 2017. "Absorptive capacity, technology spillovers, and the cross-section of stock returns," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 146-164.
    28. Zhang, Lin, 2017. "The knowledge spillover effects of FDI on the productivity and efficiency of research activities in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 1-14.
    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. Fang, Guanfu & Gao, Tiantian & Xu, Peng, 2024. "Beyond the borders: Estimating the effect of China's Bonded Zones on innovation and its spillovers," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    2. Cheng, Wenyin & Meng, Bo & Gao, Yuning & Dollar, David, 2024. "The paradox of decelerated technology importation and accelerated innovation in China: Insights from national technology development zones," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    3. Chen, Jidong & Shi, Xinzheng & Zhang, Ming-ang & Zhang, Sihan, 2024. "Centralization of environmental administration and air pollution: Evidence from China," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    4. Melnik, Walter & Smyth, Andrew, 2024. "R&D tax credits and innovation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 236(C).
    5. Gary A. Wagner & Javier E. Portillo, 2024. "Cashing in on culture: local employment effects from art and cultural district designation," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 48(4), pages 645-684, December.
    6. Chen, Yongmin & Jiang, Haiwei & Liang, Yousha & Pan, Shiyuan, 2022. "The impact of foreign direct investment on innovation: Evidence from patent filings and citations in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(4), pages 917-945.
    7. Zhao, Zhao & Liu, Ruiwen & Wang, Qi, 2024. "Place-based polices and e-commerce development in rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    8. Rik Chakraborti & Gavin Roberts, 2023. "How price-gouging regulation undermined COVID-19 mitigation: county-level evidence of unintended consequences," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 196(1), pages 51-83, July.
    9. Xin Nie & Jianxian Wu & Han Wang & Weijuan Li & Chengdao Huang & Lihua Li, 2022. "Contributing to carbon peak: Estimating the causal impact of eco‐industrial parks on low‐carbon development in China," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(4), pages 1578-1593, August.
    10. Fang, Hongxing & Chen, Linghong & Xiong, Jiacai & Zhu, Yushu, 2024. "Social Trust and Entrepreneurship: Insights from China's Social Credit System," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 62(PA).
    11. Lichter, Andreas & Löffler, Max & Isphording, Ingo Eduard & Nguyen, Thu-Van & Poege, Felix & Siegloch, Sebastian, 2021. "Profit taxation, R&D spending, and innovation," ZEW Discussion Papers 21-080, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    12. Davidson, Carl & Heyman, Fredrik & Matusz, Steven & Sjöholm, Fredrik & Chun Zhu, Susan, 2022. "How International Experience Helps Shape Labor Market Outcomes," Working Paper Series 1453, Research Institute of Industrial Economics, revised 09 Jun 2024.
    13. Chen, Sheng-Syan & Chen, Yan-Shing & Liang, Woan-lih & Wang, Yanzhi, 2020. "Public R&D spending and cross-sectional stock returns," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(1).
    14. Cui, Yi, 2024. "Place-based policies and capital misallocation: Evidence from Chinese cities," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 48(4).
    15. Gounopoulos, Dimitrios & Loukopoulos, Georgios & Loukopoulos, Panagiotis & Zhang, Yu, 2024. "Do CFO career concerns matter? Evidence from IPO financial reporting outcomes," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    16. Ma, Rui & Guo, Fei & Li, Dongdong, 2024. "Can public data availability affect stock price crash risk? Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    17. Brick, Kerri & De Martino, Samantha & Visser, Martine, 2023. "Behavioural nudges for water conservation in unequal settings: Experimental evidence from Cape Town," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    18. Roth, Jonathan & Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C. & Bilinski, Alyssa & Poe, John, 2023. "What’s trending in difference-in-differences? A synthesis of the recent econometrics literature," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 235(2), pages 2218-2244.
    19. repec:ags:aaea22:335779 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Chasiotis, Ioannis & Loukopoulos, Georgios & Toudas, Kanellos, 2024. "Organization capital, dividends and firm value: International evidence," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    21. Koh, Yumi & Li, Jing & Wu, Yifan & Yi, Junjian & Zhang, Hanzhe, 2023. "Young Women in Cities," IZA Discussion Papers 16353, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    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:eee:riibaf:v:73:y:2025:i:pa:s0275531924003738. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ribaf .

    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.