An Empirical Study on the National Heterogeneity of High-End Manufacturing Technology Innovation and GVC’s Division of Labor Status

Although the relationship between technological innovation and the status of the global value chain’s (GVC) division of labor has been essentially affirmed by academia, the direct regression of all countries does not account for national differences pertaining to different economic development levels. This paper divides the countries selected for this study into developed and developing countries and then conducts empirical tests on two sample sets to explore the heterogeneity of technological innovation and GVC division of labor status. The results reveal the following: (1) in developed countries, the GVC division of labor status of high-end manufacturing is generally higher than that of developing countries; (2) in developed countries, the technological innovation of high-end manufacturing plays a significant role in promoting GVC’s division of labor, while developing countries have a significant inhibitory effect; and (3) staff input and financial developmental levels have significantly promoted GVC’s status in the division of labor. Earlier studies have shown that, in developing countries, technological innovation in high-end manufacturing industries does not fully serve the goal of exporting intermediate goods. This study’s conclusions offer a new method of explaining the nature of a given country, the logic of technological innovation, and the differences in the GVC division of labor status.