The Spatial Spillover Effect in Hi-Tech Industries: Empirical Evidence from China

With ever-increasing economic globalization and rapid advancement of science and technology, developing high-tech industries have become an important way for many countries to achieve sustainable and environmentally friendly economic development. In this article, we aim to empirically test the critical factors, which can influence the spatial spillover of a country’s high-tech industries. Using data from the high-tech industries in China during the years of 2007–2016, we establish a space lag model and a space error model to examine the space fixed effect, the time fixed effect, and the space-time double mixed effect in spatial spillover in high-tech industries. We compare the results of these two spatial panel models with those from a general panel model and find that the spatial spillover effect within high-tech industries is rather significant. Moreover, we find that the spatial-time double mixed of the spatial lag model is the best fitting effect. Our empirical results also show that the research and development (R&D) investment and international trade can positively promote spatial spillover of high-tech industries among different regions. In terms of policy insights, our results imply that the government can establish a technology transfer platform to promote the spillover in high-tech industries. This can help achieve a sustainable and balanced development of high-tech industries.