National New Zone and Urban Green Technology Innovation:Research on the Mediating Effect of Industrial Agglomeration
As a latecomer and modern developing country,China's serious situation of pollution emission and ecologi-cal destruction has not changed fundamentally,and economic growth has gradually approached the limits of resource con-straints and environmental load.Green technology innovation serves as a crucial support in promoting high-quality develop-ment and achieving the objective of constructing abeautiful China,while the establishment of national new zone is a crucial engine to achieve urban green innovative development.Therefore,the key to optimizing and upgrading the economic struc-ture and achieving a transformation in the mode of economic growth under the New Normal lies in promoting green indus-trial development and technological innovation in national new zone.National new zone,a place-based policy implemented for specific areas in China,can significantly enhance regional economic growth,drive high-quality development of the re-gional economy,improve labor productivity and total factor growth rate,enhance local marginal product of labor and overall societal marginal product of labor,as well as promote regional innovation capacity and green development.Conducting sys-tematic research on the impact and mechanism of national new zones on the enhancement of green technological innovation levels in their respective cities,as well as time dynamics,location heterogeneity,and spatial spillover effects could provide valuable insights for promoting urban green innovation and improving the evaluation of green technological innovation effects in China's national new zones.From the theoretical level,the relationship between national new zone,industrial agglomeration(including producer ser-vices agglomeration,manufacturing agglomeration,and their collaborative agglomeration),and urban green technology inno-vation is explored,and the corresponding research hypotheses are proposed.Based on this foundation,utilizing the panel data of 276 prefecture-level cities in China spanning from 2003 to 2019,the difference-in-differences propensity score matching method(PSM-DID)isused to systematically assess the impact of national new zones on the level of green technol-ogy innovation in their respective cities.Additionally,examining the mediating effects of producer services agglomeration,manufacturing agglomeration,and their collaborative agglomeration.Furthermore,conducting further analysis on the dura-tion,differences in location,and spatial spillover effects regarding the improvement effect of national new zones on the level of green technology innovation in their respective cities.The empirical results indicate that,firstly,national new zones significantly enhance the level of green technology in-novation in their respective cities,and this enhancement effect can be sustained for a period of six years.Consequently,na-tional new zones have emerged as pivotal growth pole for regional green innovation development.Secondly,national new zones elevate the level of urban green technology innovation by fostering the agglomeration of producer services and re-straining the agglomeration of manufacturing,however,which do not improve the level of urban green technology innova-tion through promoting collaborative agglomeration between these two sectors.Hence,it is imperative to focus on coordi-nated development between manufacturing and producer services in the development of national new areas.Thirdly,na-tional new zones exert the most pronounced impact on enhancing green technology innovation level in central region,fol-lowed by eastern region with weaker effects observed in western region.Therefore,attention should be given to regional development disparities when using the place-based policy of national new zone to propel regional green innovation develop-ment.Fourthly,national new zones exhibit significant spatial spillover effects as which significantly enhances the level of green technology innovation in surrounding cities located within 150-200 km radius,while there is no significant siphon ef-fect on the improvement of green technology innovation level in the cities situated within 150 km radius.Thus,to a certain extent,national new zone can facilitate regional green coordinated development.According to the research conclusions,the following policy recommendations are proposed.Firstly,it is necessary to continue to promote the construction of national new zone,actively prepare and apply for the establishment of the new na-tional new zone.Additionally,it is crucial to develop distinctive innovative development paths to avoid the pitfall of homoge-neous development among national new zones.Secondly,it should prioritize the supports for the central and western regions in their applications for establishing new national new zones.This will be conducive to fully leveraging the policy advan-tages of green innovative development within national new zones,thereby promoting coordinated progress in high-quality economic growth and ecological civilization construction across the central and western regions.Thirdly,it is crucial to fur-ther enhance the impact of industrial agglomeration and expand the scale of producer services agglomeration in national new zone for industrial development.Additionally,continuous efforts should be made to enhance the supportive role of the producer services in manufacturing,establish and refine mechanisms for industrial transfer and acceptance.Emphasis should be placed on delineating collaborative development zones,establishing platforms for cooperation and sharing,as well as expanding industrial linkages and technology exchange.
national new zonegreen technology innovationindustrial agglomerationPSM-DID model