Understanding the Impact of Spatial Externalities on Two-Stage R&D Efficiency: Empirical Evidence from 285 Chinese Prefecture-Level Cities

Xionghe Qin, Dong Zhang and Debin Du ()
Additional contact information
Xionghe Qin: Hefei University of Technology
Dong Zhang: Hefei University of Technology
Debin Du: East China Normal University

Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 2025, vol. 16, issue 2, No 85, 8308-8342

Abstract: Abstract This study applies a spatial Durbin model to empirically investigate the impacts of local agglomeration, regional adjacency, and inter-regional network externalities on research and development (R&D) efficiency employing datasets of 285 Chinese prefecture-level cities covering the period of 2004 to 2020. This highlights the importance of understanding the different types of spatial externalities from a two-stage R&D perspective. The sequential stages of R&D process were identified as knowledge creation and technology transfer with each stage displaying significant spatial heterogeneity in the prefecture-level cities that were assessed. Inter-regional network externalities were shown to be more advantageous for knowledge creation efficiency, whereas local agglomeration externalities exerted a stronger positive influence on technology transfer efficiency. Furthermore, regional adjacency externalities were shown to significantly enhance R&D efficiency, particularly in relation to technology transfer rather than knowledge creation. The findings demonstrate that the significance of local agglomeration, regional adjacency, and inter-regional network externalities varies significantly throughout distinct R&D stages.

Keywords: R&D efficiency; Spatial externalities; Spatial Durbin model; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13132-024-01844-w Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:jknowl:v:16:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s13132-024-01844-w

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/13132

DOI: 10.1007/s13132-024-01844-w

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of the Knowledge Economy is currently edited by Elias G. Carayannis

More articles in Journal of the Knowledge Economy from Springer, Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET)
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().