Acta Geographica Sinica ›› 2014, Vol. 69 ›› Issue (12): 1779-1789.doi: 10.11821/dlxb201412004

• Orginal Article • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Analyzing the space-time dynamics of innovation in China

Yeqing CHENG1,2(), Zheye WANG3, Jing MA4   

  1. 1. College of Geography and Tourism, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158, China
    2. Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, CAS, Changchun 130102, China
    3. Department of Geography, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242, USA
    4. Shenzhen Middle School, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518001, China
  • Received:2013-11-14 Revised:2014-06-19 Online:2014-12-25 Published:2014-12-25
  • Supported by:
    Key Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.KZZD-EW-06-03, No.KSZD-EW-Z-021;Key Project of the Ministry of Education of China, No.13JJD790008]

Abstract:

Through an integration of exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) and confirmatory spatial data analysis (CSDA), this study examines the space-time dynamics of regional innovation at the provincial scale in China from 2000 to 2011. The results show that: firstly, since the implementation of national innovation strategy, the annual growth ratio of innovation outputs of the provinces in China has experienced a drastic process of acceleration, which suggests the overall improvement of regional innovation capabilities. However, an overwhelming status in growth rate still belongs to eastern region, leading to the rise of the coastal-interior division and the divergence among regions, and regional innovation in China may fall into the “Matthew Effect” that the strong will become stronger and the weak will be constantly weaker. Secondly, regional innovation outputs and inputs in China experience an increasing change of spatial clustering over time. Various types of hot spots are identified over time, revealing that innovation hot spots overlay well with other variables. Finally, the selected explanatory variables, such as GDP, RDE, RDP and PCH, have significant direct impacts on provincial innovation in China. There exist obvious spatial spillover effects in provincial innovation activities, and the geographic region of which has crossed the provincial border. The spatial dependence of innovation activities gives rise to the feedback among the provinces, and the acknowledge spillover of adjacent province have material influence on a specific province.

Key words: regional innovation, exploratory spatial data analysis, confirmatory spatial data analysis, hot spot, spatial panel Dubin mode, acknowledge spillover, China