Influence of dialect diversity on level of urban innovation—Empirical evidence based on 276 cities in China

Jiahui Luo and Zhixiong Tan

Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 2024, vol. 208, issue C

Abstract: Diversity is influential and integral in innovation and economic growth. Despite the extensive research on the relationship between diversity and innovation, little attention has been paid to dialect diversity. The paper fills the research gap by investigating the impact and mechanism of dialect diversity on urban innovation in China. Also, this paper confirms the potential role of language as a non-institutional factor in urban innovation. Based on data from 276 prefecture-level cities in China, we find that dialect diversity impedes urban innovation. Moreover, in mechanism, it is not the communication barriers, but rather the identity from dialectal diversity that reduces regional trust to constrain urban innovation. Finally, we find that the negative impact of dialect diversity on urban innovation is continuous and more pronounced in eastern and southern cities. The conclusions not only enrich the theoretical research on innovation but also provide insights on how to promote language diversity governance and urban innovation for China and other countries.

Keywords: Diversity; Dialect diversity; Urban innovation; Identity; Regional trust (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:208:y:2024:i:c:s0040162524004657

DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2024.123667

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