Innovation-Driven Policy and the Upgrading of Cities'Export Sophistication:Evidence from Innovative City Pilot in China
Regarding innovation as primary driving force is the core strategy for China to promote the high-quality development of foreign trade during the 14th Five-Year Plan.Based on the quasi-natural experiment from innovative city pilot in China,this paper uses a difference-in-difference model to investigate the impact of innovation-driven policy on cities'export sophistication.It finds that innovation-driven policy represented by innovative city pilot projects significantly improves cities'export sophistication and the dynamic effect increases over time.Heterogeneity analysis reveals that innovation-driven policy has a more pronounced effect on export sophistication for central region cities,cities with stricter intellectual property right,and processing trade.The analysis of product dynamic adjustment finds that innovation-driven policy increases the relative share of highly sophisticated products that are consistently exported and accelerates the exit of lowly sophisticated export products,while has little effect on the entry of new highly sophisticated products.Channel tests show that technological innovation is the way through which innovation-driven policy improves export sophistication.However,the adjustment of regional industrial structure does not play a channel role.Therefore,more cities should be guided to enter the ranks of innovative city construction,fully leveraging the supportive role of innovation-driven policy in the high-quality development of China's export trade.
万方数据
