Why Is Collaborative Agglomeration of Innovation so Important for Improving Regional Innovation Capabilities? A Perspective Based on Collaborative Agglomeration of Industry-University-Research Institution

Abstract

Exploring the impact of collaborative agglomeration of industry-university-research institution innovation on regional innovation capabilities is of great significance for promoting China's high-quality economic development. This paper introduces the level of innovation collaborative agglomeration into the C-H production density model to theoretically explain the mechanism of the influence of innovation collaborative agglomeration on regional innovation capacity. On this basis, using the 2011–2017 Chinese subprovincial panel data to measure the level of regional innovation collaborative agglomeration and establishing a spatial model, the impact of innovation collaborative agglomeration on regional innovation capacity is empirically examined in two stages: knowledge innovation and outcome transformation. The study finds that the innovation collaborative agglomeration and the regional innovation capacity present a typical inverted U-shape relationship, while the human capital and the regional innovation capacity present an inverted N-shape relationship in the stage of knowledge innovation. There is a U-shaped relationship between the innovation collaborative agglomeration and the regional innovation capacity in the outcome transformation stage, while the impact of human capital on regional innovation capacity is not obvious. This result is still robust after replacing the core explanatory variables and the spatial weight matrix. In terms of three regions, the innovation collaborative agglomeration and the human capital in the middle and eastern regions have a stronger impact on regional innovation capacity than in the western region. The findings of this paper provide policy insights for the innovation collaborative agglomeration of industry, university, and research institution to promote regional innovation capacity.