Spatial policy and firm innovation: evidence from Chinese urban agglomeration policy
摘要
Urban agglomerations stand as epicenters of concentrated innovative endeavors, with a nuanced understanding of regional innovation dynamics within urban agglomerations holding profound theoretical and pragmatic implications. Governmental planning assumes a central role in the developmental trajectory of urban agglomerations, yet its nuanced impact on the innovation endeavors of pertinent stakeholders remains inadequately elucidated. Leveraging a distinctive dataset amalgamating urban, industrial, and enterprise patent records, this article employs a robust empirical approach utilizing a Difference-in-Differences model to scrutinize the effects and mechanisms of national urban agglomeration planning on enterprise innovation. Empirical findings underscore a substantive and heterogeneous positive impact of government planning on enterprise innovation output. The results of the mechanism analysis show that government planning affects enterprise innovation by stimulating R&D investment, improving market integration, expanding knowledge spillovers, and influencing enterprise internal operations and management decisions. This article contributes to discussions on the intricate interplay between government planning and innovation dynamics within urban agglomerations.