收入差距会促进创新吗？--价格效应抑或规模效应

Does Income Inequality Increase Innovation?Price Effect or Market Size Effect

收入差距如何影响创新是中国经济新常态下实施创新战略,加快产业升级所面临的重大问题。本文选取中国279个地级市2008-2012年间的面板数据,考虑创新的循环累积效应和溢出效应,构建空间动态面板模型,考察收入差距对创新的影响。结果发现:收入差距对创新的影响呈现倒U形,当收入差距较小时,增加收入差距会促进创新,表现出价格效应;但当其扩大到一定程度时,增加收入差距则会减少创新,表现出规模效应。进一步分析发现在东部地区、大城市和人均GDP较高的地区,收入差距对创新的促进作用被削弱甚至抵消,这表明在经济发达地区,价格效应减弱,而规模效应增加,降低收入差距能有助于创新。因此,实施中西部地区开放战略和逐步提高城镇化水平是实现缩小收入差距与实施创新驱动战略的关键。

How income inequality affects China's innovation, which is a major problem in China's New Normal facing with implementing innovation strategy and speeding up industrial upgrading. This research chooses the panel data of China's 279 cities from 2008 to 2012, considering cyclic accumulation effect and spillover effect, building a spatial dynamic panel model to study the impact of income inequality on innovation. The results show that the influence of income inequality on innovation presents an inverted U-shape, when the income gap is small, increasing the income gap will promote innovation and showing the price effect; but when it is expanded to a certain degree, increasing the income gap will reduce innovation and showing the market size effect. Further analysis demonstrates that the helps of income inequality on innovation are weakened, even offset, in the east, large cities and the region of high Per capita GDP, which suggests that the price effect is weakened and the market size effect increase, and reducing income gap can contribute to innovation. Therefore, gradually improving the urbanization can improve the regional economic development, which is essential for reducing income inequality and improving innovation.