IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v11y2022i8p1132-d869984.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

High-Speed Railway Facilities, Intercity Accessibility and Urban Innovation Level—Evidence from Cities in Three Chinese Megacity Regions

Author

Listed:
  • Na Li

    (Institute of Urban and Demographic Studies, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, Shanghai 200020, China)

  • Haiyan Lu

    (School of Economics and Management, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen), Shenzhen 518055, China)

  • Yongxin Lv

    (School of Economics and Management, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen), Shenzhen 518055, China)

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of high-speed railways (HSR) on urban innovation levels by improving intercity accessibility. We employ prefecture city-level data within three megacity regions in China from 2009 to 2018. Using the number of invention patents granted as a proxy for the innovation level of a city, we find that HSR facilities significantly improve urban innovation levels through better regional intercity accessibility and that there is a diminishing effect as commuting time increases. The impact mechanisms of innovation improvement can be explained by an ever-increasing potential of interaction activities among talents and technology investment opportunities among cities. We contribute to the literature by highlighting the spatial attenuation impact of HSR on urban innovation levels as well as the underlying mechanisms. Particularly, talent interaction exerts a larger effect on urban innovation levels than technology investment opportunities. Moreover, we unravel the heterogeneous effects that more innovative cities and cities with double first-class universities gain more from the improved intercity accessibility brought by HSR. This research has policy implications that promoting HSR facilities improves innovation levels of cities with different resources.

Suggested Citation

  • Na Li & Haiyan Lu & Yongxin Lv, 2022. "High-Speed Railway Facilities, Intercity Accessibility and Urban Innovation Level—Evidence from Cities in Three Chinese Megacity Regions," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-16, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:8:p:1132-:d:869984
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/8/1132/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/8/1132/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dong, Xiaofang & Zheng, Siqi & Kahn, Matthew E., 2020. "The role of transportation speed in facilitating high skilled teamwork across cities," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    2. Chia-Lin Chen & Roger Vickerman, 2017. "Can transport infrastructure change regions’ economic fortunes? Some evidence from Europe and China," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(1), pages 144-160, January.
    3. Zvi Griliches, 1998. "Patent Statistics as Economic Indicators: A Survey," NBER Chapters, in: R&D and Productivity: The Econometric Evidence, pages 287-343, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Komikado, Hiroshi & Morikawa, So & Bhatt, Ayushman & Kato, Hironori, 2021. "High-speed rail, inter-regional accessibility, and regional innovation: Evidence from Japan," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    5. Sheng-qiang Jiang & An-na Shi & Zhi-hang Peng & Xin Li, 2017. "Major factors affecting cross-city R&D collaborations in China: evidence from cross-sectional co-patent data between 224 cities," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 111(3), pages 1251-1266, June.
    6. Haitao Ma & Chuanglin Fang & Bo Pang & Guangdong Li, 2014. "The Effect of Geographical Proximity on Scientific Cooperation among Chinese Cities from 1990 to 2010," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(11), pages 1-11, November.
    7. Yang, Xuehui & Zhang, Huirong & Lin, Shanlang & Zhang, Jiaping & Zeng, Jianlong, 2021. "Does high-speed railway promote regional innovation growth or innovation convergence?," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    8. Mourad Dakhli & Dirk De Clercq, 2004. "Human capital, social capital, and innovation: a multi-country study," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(2), pages 107-128, March.
    9. Yasusada Murata & Ryo Nakajima & Ryosuke Okamoto & Ryuichi Tamura, 2014. "Localized Knowledge Spillovers and Patent Citations: A Distance-Based Approach," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 96(5), pages 967-985, December.
    10. Thomas Scherngell & Yuanjia Hu, 2011. "Collaborative Knowledge Production in China: Regional Evidence from a Gravity Model Approach," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(6), pages 755-772.
    11. Riccardo Crescenzi & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Michael Storper, 2012. "The territorial dynamics of innovation in China and India," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 12(5), pages 1055-1085, September.
    12. Jiwu Wang & Nina Liu & Yichen Ruan, 2020. "Influence Factors of Spatial Distribution of Urban Innovation Activities Based on Ensemble Learning: A Case Study in Hangzhou, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-19, January.
    13. 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.
    14. Wang, Jiating & Cai, Siyuan, 2020. "The construction of high-speed railway and urban innovation capacity: Based on the perspective of knowledge Spillover," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    15. INOUE Hiroyasu & NAKAJIMA Kentaro & SAITO Yukiko, 2017. "The Impact of the Opening of High-Speed Rail on Innovation," Discussion papers 17034, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    16. repec:fth:harver:1473 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Sam Youl Lee & Richard Florida & Gary Gates, 2010. "Innovation, Human Capital, and Creativity," International Review of Public Administration, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(3), pages 13-24, January.
    18. Filipe Campante & David Yanagizawa-Drott, 2018. "Long-Range Growth: Economic Development in the Global Network of Air Links," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(3), pages 1395-1458.
    19. Hasan, Iftekhar & Tucci, Christopher L., 2010. "The innovation-economic growth nexus: Global evidence," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 1264-1276, December.
    20. Dong, Xiaofang, 2018. "High-speed railway and urban sectoral employment in China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 603-621.
    21. Zoltan J. Acs & Luc Anselin & Attila Varga, 2008. "Patents and Innovation Counts as Measures of Regional Production of New Knowledge," Chapters, in: Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy, chapter 11, pages 135-151, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    22. Audretsch, David B. & Feldman, Maryann P., 2004. "Knowledge spillovers and the geography of innovation," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: J. V. Henderson & J. F. Thisse (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 61, pages 2713-2739, Elsevier.
    23. Marrocu, Emanuela & Paci, Raffaele & Usai, Stefano, 2013. "Proximity, networking and knowledge production in Europe: What lessons for innovation policy?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 80(8), pages 1484-1498.
    24. Tang, Chenghui & Guan, Mingming & Dou, Jianmin, 2021. "Understanding the impact of High Speed Railway on urban innovation performance from the perspective of agglomeration externalities and network externalities," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    25. Neil Lee, 2015. "Migrant and ethnic diversity, cities and innovation: Firm effects or city effects?," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(4), pages 769-796.
    26. (Ato) Xu, Wangtu & Huang, Ying, 2019. "The correlation between HSR construction and economic development – Empirical study of Chinese cities," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 24-36.
    27. Nicola Cortinovis & Frank van Oort, 2019. "Between spilling over and boiling down: network-mediated spillovers, local knowledge base and productivity in European regions," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 19(6), pages 1233-1260.
    28. Holl, Adelheid, 2016. "Highways and productivity in manufacturing firms," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 131-151.
    29. Lin, Yatang, 2017. "Travel costs and urban specialization patterns: Evidence from China’s high speed railway system," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 98-123.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xiaoli Shi & Ying Chen & Menghan Xia & Yongli Zhang, 2022. "Effects of the Talent War on Urban Innovation in China: A Difference-in-Differences Analysis," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-22, September.

    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. Fan, Xiaomin & Xu, Yingzhi, 2023. "Does high-speed railway promote urban innovation? Evidence from China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    2. Hanley, Douglas & Li, Jiancheng & Wu, Mingqin, 2022. "High-speed railways and collaborative innovation," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    3. Yu, Lamont Bo & Tran, Trang My & Lee, Wang-Sheng, 2023. "Bridging the gap: Assessing the effects of railway infrastructure investments in Northwest China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    4. Yang, Xuehui & Zhang, Huirong & Li, Yan, 2022. "High-speed railway, factor flow and enterprise innovation efficiency: An empirical analysis on micro data," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 82(PB).
    5. Wang, Jiating & Cai, Siyuan, 2020. "The construction of high-speed railway and urban innovation capacity: Based on the perspective of knowledge Spillover," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    6. Fan, Xiaomin & Xu, Yingzhi, 2024. "How does the opening of high-speed railway affect the regional pollution gap in China? From the perspective of knowledge spillover," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    7. 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.
    8. Bhatt, Ayushman & Kato, Hironori, 2021. "High-speed rails and knowledge productivity: A global perspective," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 174-186.
    9. Li, Jing & Yu, Qian & Ma, Ding, 2024. "Does China's high-speed rail network promote inter-city technology transfer? ——A multilevel network analysis based on the electronic information industry," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 11-24.
    10. Kang, Meiling & Li, Yucheng & Zhao, Zhongkuang & Song, Min & Yi, Jun, 2023. "Travel costs and inter-city collaborative innovation: Evidence of high-speed railway in China," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 286-302.
    11. Chen, Zhenhua, 2023. "Socioeconomic Impacts of high-speed rail: A bibliometric analysis," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    12. Tang, Chenghui & Guan, Mingming & Dou, Jianmin, 2021. "Understanding the impact of High Speed Railway on urban innovation performance from the perspective of agglomeration externalities and network externalities," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    13. Ziyang Chen & Xiao Feng & Ziwen He, 2022. "A Key to Stimulate Green Technology Innovation in China: The Expansion of High-Speed Railways," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-21, December.
    14. repec:bof:bofrdp:urn:nbn:fi:bof-201512111472 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Sam Tavassoli & Nunzia Carbonara, 2014. "The role of knowledge variety and intensity for regional innovation," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 493-509, August.
    16. Wu, Xiaokang & Yang, Jijun, 2023. "High-speed railway and patent trade in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    17. repec:zbw:bofrdp:urn:nbn:fi:bof-201512111472 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Filippopoulos, Nikolaos & Fotopoulos, Georgios, 2022. "Innovation in economically developed and lagging European regions: A configurational analysis," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(2).
    19. Cui, Wenyue & Tang, Jie, 2023. "Innovation convergence clubs and their driving factors within urban agglomeration," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    20. Chao Li & Qian Zhou & Shi Chen, 2022. "Bringing Minds Together: High‐speed Railways, Team Building, and Innovation Collaboration," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 30(6), pages 34-58, November.
    21. Jingbo Cui & Tianqi Li & Zhenxuan Wang, 2023. "Research collaboration beyond the boundary: Evidence from university patents in China," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(3), pages 674-702, June.
    22. Chen, Jun, 2021. "High-speed rail and energy consumption in China: The intermediary roles of industry and technology," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).

    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:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:8:p:1132-:d:869984. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.