高等教育集聚对区域创新效率的溢出效应研究

Research on the Spillover Effect of Higher Education Agglomeration on the Regional Innovation Efficiency

创新是引领国家发展的第一动力。高等教育培养的高素质人力资本是实现国家技术创新的关键载体,而高等教育集聚能够增强人力资本的知识要素与技术要素,进而赋能区域创新。在对高等教育集聚推动区域创新效率理论探讨的基础上,基于我国31个省份2003—2020年的面板数据,采用动态空间杜宾模型实证考察高等教育集聚对区域创新效率的空间溢出效应及其衰减边界。研究结果表明:第一,各省份高等教育集聚和区域创新效率具有显著的空间相关性,呈现高-高集聚和低-低集聚空间分布态势。第二,高等教育集聚不仅对本地区创新效率有促进作用,而且对相邻省域的区域创新效率产生明显的溢出效应。具体而言,高等教育集聚通过知识溢出效应、人力资本效应和社会网络效应促进本地区以及相邻地区的创新效率提升。此外,本省份创新效率的提升也会对相邻省份的创新产生促进作用,各省份当期创新效率越高则下一期的创新效率越有可能提高。第三,高等教育集聚的溢出效应存在空间衰减特征。具体表现为:700千米以内高等教育集聚存在正向溢出效应,700~1 400千米存在负向空间抑制效应,1 400千米后不再存在空间外溢效应,溢出效应存在空间异质性。第四,在控制变量中,经济发展水平、产业结构升级和政府干预程度对区域创新效率均有显著的促进作用,对外开放程度对区域创新效率有负向抑制作用。因此,应多以高水平院校为中心进行聚集,充分发挥高等教育集聚产生的溢出效应,通过社会网络的外部性优势,努力突破高等教育集聚的地理距离限制,进而实现省域协同创新发展。

Innovation is the primary driving force behind a nation’s development.The high-quality human capital nurtured through higher education serves as the crucial vehicle for realizing advancements in the country’s innovative technologies.The clustering of higher education not only empowers human capital with knowledge but also significantly contributes to enhancing the vibrancy of regional innovation through advanced technologies.Based on the theoretical exploration of the efficiency of regional innovation driven by the clustering of higher education and the panel data from 31 provinces in China from 2003 to 2020,the spatial spillover effects and decay boundaries of higher education clustering on regional innovation efficiency were examined empirically by using dynamic spatial Durbin Model.The research results indicate that firstly there is a significant spatial correlation between higher education agglomeration and regional innovation efficiency in various provinces,showing high-high and low-low agglomeration spatial distribution;secondly,higher education agglomeration not only promotes regional innovation efficiency in the local,but also has a significant spillover effect on regional innovation efficiency in neighboring provinces;specifically,higher education agglomeration promotes innovation efficiency in the region,as well as in neighboring regions,through knowledge spillover effects,human capital effects,and social network effects;in addition,innovation efficiency improvement in the province facilitates innovation efficiency in neighboring provinces,and the stronger the innovation efficiency is in the current period,the more likely it will improve in the next period;thirdly,the spillover effect of higher education agglomeration has a spatial attenuation;specifically,there is a positive spillover effect within 700 km,a negative spatial inhibition effect from 700 to 1,400 km,and no spatial spillover after 1,400 km;additionally,such spillover effect has spatial heterogeneity;fourthly,among the control variables,economic development,industrial structure upgrading,and government interventions all have significant promoting effects on regional innovation efficiency,while the scale of external openness has a negative inhibiting effect.Therefore,it is necessary to focus on gathering high-level institutions,fully leverage the spillover effects generated by the aggregation of higher education,and strive to overcome the geographical distance limitations of higher education aggregation through the external advantages of social networks,thereby achieving coordinated innovation and development within the province.