Addressing inclusion,innovation,and sustainability challenges through the lens of economic geography:Introducing the hierarchical regional innovation system

The world is facing dramatic challenges related to environmental sustainability at an accelerating pace.In this context,the field of economic geography(EG)has been playing an important role in understanding both the socioeconomic and technological dimensions of these challenges,as it deals with a variety of complementary notions and perspectives.Departing from this lens,our aim is to explore a conceptual framework that can help us to understand environmental changes relating to multi-dimensional territorial development,notably in eco-nomic contexts where inequality is high,and stratification based on hierarchies regulate social and economic life.Based on the territory concept,we propose the original notion of a hierarchical regional innovation system(HRIS)that emphasises the pervasive role of hierarchies(powers)in regional innovation systems and illustrate its value with evidence and case studies from extant literature on sustainability transitions.The HRIS can help us understand and promote development paths considering the contribution of inclusive eco-innovations(another original conceptual amalgam).Through some empirical cases from other studies in low-carbon transitions,we show the application of the HRIS(and inclusive eco-innovation)framework.In conclusion,we provide incen-tives to explore new regional innovation systems,alongside the HRIS,adapted to different regions worldwide and centred on the inclusiveness of people and places.

Coupling coordinated development among digital economy,regional innovation,and talent employment:A case study in the Hangzhou Metropolitan Circle,China

Coordinative development across various systems,particularly the economic,social,cultural,and human resources subsystems,is a key aspect of urban sustainability and has a direct impact on the quality of urbanization.The Hangzhou Metropolitan Circle,comprising Hangzhou City,Huzhou City,Jiaxing City,and Shaoxing City,was the first metropolitan circle approved by the National Development and Reform Commission(NDRC)as a demonstration of economic transformation in China.To evaluate the coupling coordination degree of the four cities and analyze the coordinative development in three systems(including digital economy,regional innovation,and talent employment),we collected panel data during 2015–2022 from these four cities.The development level of the three systems was evaluated by the standard deviation method and comprehensive development index.The results are as follows:(1)the level of coupling coordinated development of the three systems in the Hangzhou Metropolitan Circle was relatively low;(2)the coupling coordination degree of the four cities in the Hangzhou Metropolitan Circle showed significant regional differences,among which Hangzhou City was in the leading position,and Huzhou,Jiaxing,and Shaoxing cities made steady but slow progress in the coupling development of the three systems;and(3)the development of digital economy and talent employment needs to be strengthened.This study contributes to the coordinative development of Hangzhou Metropolitan Circle by innovatively focusing on the coupling coordination relationship among digital economy,regional innovation,and talent employment,which also meets the industrial layout of Hangzhou Metropolitan Circle.In this way,the optimal allocation and sustainable development of digital economy,regional innovation,and talent employment in the Hangzhou Metropolitan Circle can be achieved.

Regional green innovation system mode and its implication:Acase study in eastern China coastal areas

Developing circular economy is the inevitable choice to realize regional sustainable development.And innovation is the fundamental driving force for regional sustainable development.Therefore,the combination of circular economy and regional innovation systems is of great value in the study of regional circular innovation systems.Based on the concepts and basic characteristics of the regional circular innovation system,the author takes Beijing,Shanghai,and Jiangsu as examples,which are the circular economy pilot provinces in developed region of eastern coastal China.With outstanding circular economy and innovation achievements,Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area,Shanghai Caohejing Hi-Tech Park,and Suzhou Industrial Park(the National Eco-Industrial Demonstration Park),served to summarize the characteristics,formation mechanism and inspiration of the circular innovation system model in capital economic-technological development zones(characterized by innovation in the recycling of water and land resources and energy,and innovation in circular service industries supplemented with"Internet+Wisdom Park"),coastal new&hi-tech industrial development zones,(featured by innovation in the recycling of water and land resources and energy,in addition,the companies’management and export processing cooperate with government)and hi-tech industrial parks(marked by open innovation and Sino-foreign governments cooperate in construction and management).This paper mainly focuses on the concepts and characteristics,formation mechanisms,evaluations,structure laws,the optimizing strategies and the cases in China to study the progress of regional green innovation system.

Does Industry-University-Research Cooperation Matter? An Analysis of Its Coupling Effect on Regional Innovation and Economic Development

The dislocation between regional innovation and economic development directly influences the economic effect of regional innovation. However, no in-depth researches have been made on how to solve this problem. Using data from Henan Province, China,employing geographical detector technology, this paper focuses on testing whether the industry-university-research cooperation can contribute to coordinating the relation between regional innovation and economic development. It is shown that: 1) the industry-universityresearch cooperation in Henan Province is increasing gradually, and the network presents a core-edge structure, and the coupling degree between regional innovation and economic development is spatially unbalanced, which is similar to the spatial distribution of the intensity of industry-university-research cooperation;2) as an important approach to effectively connect scientific researches with market demands, the industry-university-research cooperation can help form an interactive, interconnected, coupled and coordinated virtuous relation between regional innovation and economic development. Compared with the cooperation between organizations of the same type and the separate innovation of organizations, the improvement of the industry-university-research cooperation level can better coordinate the relation between regional innovation and economic development;3) the cooperative innovation model between enterprises and universities can better promote the coupling between regional innovation and economic development, compared with many industryuniversity-research cooperation models. For underdeveloped areas lacking local knowledge base, industry-university-research cooperation should be considered as a long-term development strategy, especially using the knowledge sources of external universities and scientific research institutions to enhance innovation capability and achieve economic growth.

Empirical Research on the Competence of Intellectual Property Rights in Shenzhen Based on Regional Industrial Innovation

Based on statistical data of the regional industry and the level of intellectual property right （IPR） development, this paper adopts the ways such as regression analysis and description statistics, trying to analyze the intrinsic linkage among the regional industry innovation, regional competence and IPR competence. A conclusion was drawn that IPR competence can assuredly upgrade the industrial competence and regional competence, but the supporting from perfect institutional environment and service system of intellectual property rights （IPR） is yet needed. According to the analysis, this paper gives some suggestions on how to improve the IPR competence of Shenzhen,

Analysis of educational factor in regional innovation and the corresponding policy implications

Education is a basic factor in regional innovation system. The impact of the scale, structure and pattern of education on regional innovation Performance has long been an important matter in innovation economics. With the method of econometric analysis, it is found that regional innovation ability of China's provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) has a strong correlativity with public educational outlay and the number of people who hold a diploma higher than junior college. Meanwhile, mechanisms of education that exert impact on regional innovation ability through function such as forming human capital. diffusing knowledge and knowledge overflow are analyzed. Moreover,some policy implications for China are given.

How Will Different Types of Regional Innovation Policy and Their Mixes Affect the Innovation Performance of Enterprises: An Empirical Study Based on Shenzhen

Evaluating the functional boundary of different types of innovation policy instruments and their mixes on innovation performance of enterprises is an important but unresolved key issue.This paper,based on the systematically carding the quantization of 155 innovation policies issued by Shenzhen governmental departments from 2011 to 2019,analyzed the characteristics from different types of innovation instruments and their mixes.The results show that Shenzhen governmental has constantly enriched innovation policy instruments for encouraging enterprise innovation,but there are structural unbalances in the issued innovation policy manifested as follows:firstly supply-side policy and environmental-side policy were promulgated more than demand-side policy;secondly the specific instruments employed by Shenzhen governmental were also uneven in different type of innovation policy,like supply-side policy focused on the instruments of government procurement and R&D outsourcing,demand-side policy employed human resource training,innovation infrastructure and fiscal support most,and environmental-side policy main used target planning,intellectual property protection and financial support.This study expands and understanding empirical implementation of different reginal innovation policy instruments,and has implication for Shenzhen governmental in improving the applicability ability of policies in the enterprises innovation.

WTO与江苏区域创新网络建设

This article analyzes the challenge for Jiangsu technical innovation caused by entrance into WTO. On the basis of it, this article puts forward some suggestions about how to establish a technical innovation network in Jiangsu having distinguished features, and regards it as one of important countermeasures for improving independent technical innovation ability in Jiangsu and meeting challenge.

Research on Health Evaluation of Sustainable Regional Innovation Ecosystems Based on Improved Niche Suitability Model

While researchers have used the traditional index system–part of the niche-fitness model–to evaluate the innovation ecosystem,this index system can be seen as not being sufficiently objective,with the consequent problem that it gives equal weight to the indicators and so does not specify the important factors.To remedy this problem of insufficient objectivity,this paper seeks to improve the traditional niche-fitness model in two ways,which are based on the theory of the innovation ecosystem.First,by introducing the principal components analytic method to solve multiple mutual linear problems.Second,by constructing a new evaluation index system from the four aspects of openness,synergy,sustainability,and growth.This new evaluation index system is closer to the characteristics of the organic and evolutionary nature of the sustainable innovation ecosystem compared with the traditional index system.By using the evaluation index system,the research carries out a health assessment for the sustainable innovation ecosystems in different regions of provincial and municipal China from the two perspectives of descriptive and quantitative analyses.Through these analyses,our findings suggest that the sustainable regional innovation ecosystems in China are,on the whole,in an imbalance:there is a gradual decreasing trend from the eastern coastal areas to the central and western regions,and then the northeast regions.

Dynamic Evaluation and Analysis of Regional Innovation Capability in Eastern China from the Perspective of High-quality Development

The economy of China has turned to the stage of high-quality development. In this sense,the connotation of regional innovation capacity should reflect more aspects, such as better economic effectiveness, people-centered philosophy of development and better living conditions. This study aims at establishing the evaluation index system of regional innovation capacity under high-quality perspective.Then the dynamic evaluation method based on gray correlation degree and TOPSIS is improved. And the improved method is applied to evaluate the regional innovation capacity under high-quality development perspective. The results show that: 1) The regional innovation capacity of Jiangsu, Zhejiang,Shanghai and Guangdong under high-quality development perspective is better than other regions,while the regional innovation capacity of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei is imbalanced. Regional innovation capability of Fujian, Shandong, and Hainan from a high-quality perspective is at the middle and lower levels. 2) From the perspective of development trends, the gap of regional innovation capacity between Beijing, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Guangdong and Fujian, Hebei, Shandong is gradually narrowing.3) An in-depth analysis of the regional innovation capability of the eastern provinces and cities from the perspective of high-quality development through different dimensions shows that Beijing, Guangdong, Jiangsu perform well in all dimensions, while Fujian and Hainan need to pay more attention to innovation input and the creation of a better innovation environment to enhance innovation output and promote innovation effectiveness. At last, based on above analysis, relevant policy recommendations are proposed.

When the sum adds up:Using public procurement to avoid intersectoral cooperation barriers in lagging regions

This study examined the application of an instrument that supports intersectoral collaboration in innovation.Using the strategic action field(SAF)approach,we analyze a precommercial public procurement instrument developed in Andalusia(Spain).Drawing on qualitative and quantitative data,we shed light on the dynamics of collaboration between public and private innovation agents.We show how a change in dynamics can generate a reduction in barriers to intersectoral cooperation.This presents an opportunity to promote the transfer of knowledge and strengthen a strategic field of action,such as the agroindustry,which is the main source of income for several people in Andalusia,a European region that is developmentally lagging.

Local Governments as an Integrative Organizer:The Policy Practice of Constructing Innovation Platforms in South China

Based on an in-depth study of one city district and four new investment projects in South China,this article analyses the implementation practice of innovation policy by Chinese local governments.It is found that at the regional level,innovation policy as practice is a highly mixed-up and integrated process composed of steps from targeting emerging industries,to constructing platforms,and to developing new clusters,during which the most important policy concept of“innovation platform”is used in a distinctive way by local governments to effectively foster regional innovation-oriented development.In general,the local government intervenes heavily in or even“manages”every step of the implementation process with specific policy approach and instrument.Managing regional development as a whole process of innovation,the entrepreneurial Chinese local government indeed plays a role of meso-level organizer equivalent to the innovation project manager in business sector.These new practical approaches of regional innovation development with Chinese characteristics can inspire other emerging and catch-up economies for their policy making in five aspects.