The Impact Of High-speed Rail On Urban Innovation Capability

The report of the 19 th CPC National Congress further emphasized the importance of innovation for economic development,and the improvement of innovation capacity is an increasingly important goal in urban development strategy.Perfect transportation infrastructure is conducive to the development of innovative capacity.As a new type of transportation,high-speed rail has the characteristics of fast,convenient and punctual,which greatly reduces the travel time and makes the space-time compression effect more obvious.Under the background of rapid development of high-speed rail and increasingly important innovation,the study of the impact of high-speed rail on urban innovation capacity in China can provide suggestions and references for China’s high-speed railway planning and the construction of innovative cities,which has important practical significance.At present,there are many domestic and foreign studies on the relationship between high-speed rail and urban innovation capabilities,most of which regard innovation as a single individual.These studies did not pay attention to the internal process of innovation and the connection between various indicators.These studies are lack of pertinence.Based on the above reasons,This paper innovation divides innovation into two stages,it includes innovation output stage and innovation achievements transformation stage.This article separately studies the impact and difference of high-speed rail on the innovation capabilities of the two sub-stages,and explores its internal reasons.In terms of theoretical research,this paper deeply explores the influence mechanism of high-speed rail on urban innovation ability,and elaborates from three dimensions of the flow of population,goods and information.In empirical research,this paper uses 283 cities’ data from 2008-2018(excluding exists serious lack of data and administrative area changes to the larger cities),through a two-stage DEA model to measure the overall efficiency of innovation efficiency and two sub-stages’ innovation efficiency,then use the bidirectional fixed effects model,empirically the influence of high-way rail for urban innovation ability.The results show that :(1)High-speed rail has a significant promoting effect on the improvement of the overall innovation ability of the city,and also has a significant promoting effect on the two sub-stages of output and transformation of innovation achievements,and the impact of high-speed rail on the sub-stage of innovation achievements transformation is higher.(2)The connection of high-speed rail has a significant time dynamic effect on urban innovation.With the extension of time,the promoting effect of high-speed rail on urban innovation also tends to expand.This is because with the passage of time,the flow of high-quality talents becomes more frequent,and the knowledge spillover effect brought by the flow of innovation elements becomes more and more significant through the "learning effect" and "imitation effect".(3)The relationship between high-speed rail and urban innovation capacity is affected by many factors,including the degree of marketization of the city.Specifically,in cities with high and medium product marketization degree,as well as cities with medium and low factor marketization degree,high-speed rail can significantly improve the innovation ability of cities.However,for cities with low product marketization degree and high factor marketization degree,high-speed rail has no significant impact on urban innovation ability.Based on the empirical research results,this paper puts forward the corresponding policy recommendations :(1)cities should strengthen the planning and construction of high-speed railway,and bring high-speed railway into China’s innovative national development strategy.(2)The impact of high-speed rail on urban innovation has a time dynamic effect,so it is necessary to take a longer term consideration in the planning of high-speed railway.(3)In the planning of high-speed railway construction,the marketization degree of cities should be taken into consideration.For cities with high or medium product marketization degree and cities with medium or low factor marketization degree,the construction of high-speed railway should be given priority.In addition,cities that have opened high-speed railway should continue to strengthen the marketization construction,improve the protection system of patent and other intellectual property rights,and create a good environment for innovation,so as to further strengthen the role of high-speed railway in enhancing urban innovation ability.