新型基础设施建设是否促进了绿色技术创新的“量质齐升”--来自国家智慧城市试点的证据

Does the construction of new infrastructure promote the‘quantity’and‘quality’of green technological innovation--evidence from the national smart city pilot

新型基础设施建设和绿色技术创新是城市高质量发展的实现路径和重要推力,剖析并识别二者之间的内在联系,对于中国实现经济绿色转型和创新型国家建设具有重要意义。首先根据“国际专利分类绿色清单”整理了城市层面的绿色专利申请数量,以此作为衡量绿色技术创新的基础指标,然后分析了智慧城市建设影响绿色技术创新的理论机制,最后将中国智慧城市试点视为新型基础设施建设的一项准自然实验,利用双重差分模型和2003—2018年的城市面板数据,从“量”和“质”两个维度,实证检验了智慧城市建设对绿色技术创新的政策效应、作用机制以及技术领域异质性。结果表明:①智慧城市建设显著促进了绿色技术创新的“量质齐升”,该结论在经过替换被解释变量、剔除弱内生性样本和PSM-DID等稳健性检验后仍成立,且这种激励效应呈现出逐年递增的特征。②智慧城市建设通过信息支撑效应、规模集聚效应和资金配置效应促进绿色技术创新“量”和“质”的提升,但人力配置效应的作用渠道并未畅通。③智慧城市建设对替代能源生产类、交通类、能源节约类、废弃物管理类和行政监管与设计类的绿色技术创新“量”与“质”具有显著的激励作用,但并未显著促进农林类和核能类的绿色技术创新。据此认为:未来应牢筑绿色可持续发展的底线,以智慧和绿色相结合的理念释放新型基础设施的创新红利;以提质增效为核心目标,强化新型基础设施推动绿色技术创新的政策抓手;统筹兼顾传统与新型基础设施建设,加快形成多领域间协同互补的绿色创新格局。

New infrastructure construction and green technological innovation are the implementation method and primary driver of urban high-quality development.Analyzing and identifying the internal relationship between them is of great significance for China to achieve green economic transformation and accelerate the construction of an innovative country.Based on the IPC Green Inventory,this paper sorted out the number of green patent applications at the city level to measure green technological innovation.Then,we analyzed the theoretical mechanism of how smart city construction influenced green technological innovation.Finally,this paper took China􀆳s smart city pilot as a quasi-natural experiment of‘new infrastructure construction’,employed the difference-in-differences model and the panel data from 2003-2018 to test the policy effect on green technological innovation from the dimensions of‘quantity’and‘quality’,and further examined the mechanism and technical field heterogeneity.The results indicated that:①The construction of smart city significantly promoted the‘quantity’and‘quality’of green technological innovation,and the result was robust after replacing the independent variables,eliminating endogenous samples and using the PSM-DID method.Moreover,the promotion effect demonstrated gradual intensification over time.②The‘quantity’and‘quality’of green technological innovation could be stimulated by information support effect,scale agglomeration effect and fund allocation effect.However,the mechanism of human resource allocation effect did not exist.③According to the results of the heterogeneity test,the construction of smart cities had a significant incentive ef-fect on green technological innovation of the specific categories,including alternative energy production,transportation,energy conservation,waste management,administrative regulatory or design aspects.However,it did not significantly promote the green technological innovation of agriculture/forestry and nuclear power generation.Accordingly,this paper believes that:The government should firmly insist the bottom line of sustainable development,and create the innovative dividend of new infrastructure in the future accord-ing to the idea of being smart and green.The construction of smart cities should take improving quality and efficiency as the core goal,and optimize policy measures of new infrastructure to promote green technological innovation.Also,the government should give overall consideration of both traditional and new infrastructure construction to accelerate the formation of a green innovation pattern with synergy and complementarity among multiple fields.