大国创新道路的经济学解析

The Economic Explanation for the Innovation Paths of Large Countries

中国在创造经济繁荣的同时,怎样创造经济学的繁荣?我们应该通过总结中国经济发展的规律,将实践经验上升为系统的经济学说。本文讲述了中国创新道路的故事,并试图提出一个逻辑自洽的理论分析框架,运用经济学原理进行合理的解释,包括用市场规模解释大国创新优势的形成,用后发追赶解释模仿创新优势的选择,用经济转型解释自主创新优势的培育。为了构建大国创新道路的经济学话语体系,需要总结中国经济史的经验,对接世界经济史的经验,并利用经济思想史的智慧。

Since the 1980s, China has introduced advanced technology and equipment abroad on a large scale, which has helped it move from imitation to innovation and prompted its rapid and persistent economic growth. This paper analyzes China＇s innovation path from both an economic viewpoint and a perspective offered by the conclusions on innovation experience drawn from a late-developing large country. It aims to provide a deep understanding of the theoretical logic and historical necessity of China＇s innovation path, to construct a discourse system with Chinese characteristics, and to offer information about China＇s experience and decisions as a reference for other late-developing large countries by developing an innovation path policy framework for large countries. This paper discusses China＇s innovation path as a large country from the perspective of economics. First, it outlines China＇s innovation path before using a self-consistent logic analysis framework to interpret this path in terms of economic theory, which includes the formation of a large country＇s innovation strength due to its market size, the selection of imitation and innovation strength due to its late development, and the cultivation of independent innovation strength due to its economic transition. In addition to summarizing China＇s innovation path, this paper puts forward some policies and suggestions to promote the transformation and upgrade of China＇s economy by shifting from imitation innovation to independent innovation. The author reviews the classical discourse on technology innovation of Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, and Xi Jinping, focusing on the important contributions of Xi Jinping to Chinese technology innovation theory, and summarizes the results of the research conducted by domestic and foreign economists on Chinese technology innovation theory. This paper uses statistical analysis to describe the classic features of large countries＇ innovation paths; comparative analysis to clarify the characteristics of technological innovation in large countries, which are different from those in small ones; and theoretic analysis to decompose China＇s innovation path in development economic theory. The main data resources used are extracted from the International Statistical Yearbook, China Statistical Yearbook, China Statistical Yearbook on Science and Technology etc. This paper concludes that the strength of China＇s market size results in innovation strength, that the technology gap produces imitation strength, and that economic transition breeds independent innovation strength. China reasonably makes use of its scale advantage as a large country and catch-up advantage as a late-developing country, and currently promotes its economic transition and upgrade by cultivating its independent innovation strength. Regarding policies, the findings suggest that （1） the scale advantage and high technological demand scale of large countries speed up the pace of technology innovation; （2） the timely promotion of innovation style transition helps to realize the upgrade from imitation to innovation when a country＇s technical level reaches that of developed countries; （3） mastering core technology in key industries is necessary to enter the highest level of the international industrial value chain and enhance international competitiveness. This paper is innovative, as it provides a theoretical framework to analyze technology innovation in large and late- developed countries, which are two logical points internally coordinated and informed by the concepts of ＂from market size to catch-up to economic transition＂ and ＂ from large countries＇ advantage to backwardness advantage to independent innovation＂. At the same time, it gives a brief summary of this framework, namely innovation demand that combines the market demand and a country＇s demand, innovation style that combines imitation and innovation, and the operating mechanism that combines market regulation and government control. Future research may analyze and summarize each key industry＇s technology innovation experience under these frameworks.