An Empirical Analysis About The Impact Of National High-Tech Zones On Regional Growth

After the reform and opening up,the status of science and technology level in economic development has become more and more important,and the high-tech industry has gradually become the backbone of improving China’s scientific and technological strength and promoting economic growth.As a space carrier combining scientific and technological research and market production,the National high-tech Zone undertakes the important task of industrial transformation and high-quality economic development in China and is the demonstration area and pioneer in promoting innovation and economic growth in various regions of China.By the end of 2018,China had built 169 national high-tech zones,which are ahead of the national average in all economic indicators and have made outstanding contributions to the national economy and local economic development.As a system arrangement for the development of high-tech industry,it is of great significance to study whether national high-tech zones promote regional economic growth,and what are the mechanism and influencing factors of regional economic growth.Guided by the theory of agglomeration economy and combined with the policy background and current situation of the development of national high-tech zones,this paper conducts qualitative and quantitative research on the economic driving effect of national high-tech zones.In the empirical analysis part,based on the panel data of 281prefecture-level cities in China from 2003 to 2018,the market potential is adopted as the indicator of the economic driving effect,and the dual difference method is used to estimate the driving effect of national high-tech zones on the regional economy.In the mechanism analysis part,the function mechanism of high-tech zones is considered from two perspectives of fixed asset investment concentration and innovation capacity improvement,to verify whether high-tech zones form an innovation-driven development strategy,and to analyze whether transportation and network infrastructure affect the effect of high-tech zones.Finally,the heterogeneity is analyzed from the aspects of urban development level,establishment time,and location of high-tech zones.The research conclusions of this paper are as follows: First,national high-tech zones can promote local economic growth,have a driving effect on the regional economy,and also have a significant positive impact on the market potential of surrounding areas,and the driving effect shows a trend of attenuation with the increase of geographical distance;Second,the establishment of national high-tech zones has driven regional economic development by attracting fixed asset investment and enhancing innovation capacity.Third,transportation infrastructure can enhance the promotion effect of high-tech zones on the local economy but has no significant impact on surrounding areas.Network infrastructure has no significant effect on the local economy but can strengthen the promotion effect of high-tech zones on surrounding areas.Fourth,national high-tech zones can play a leading role in driving regional economy in cities with different development levels.However,the cities with high administrative level and economic level show a trend of decreasing marginal returns,and play a more obvious role in the cities with relatively low development level.In addition,the high-tech zones established in different periods play a similar role and effect.Finally,this paper summarizes the driving effect of national high-tech zones on the regional economy and discusses some policy suggestions.