Research on green innovation effect of industrial agglomeration from perspective of environmental regulation: Evidence in China

Innovation has been valued as a main driving force of social development, and the need for environmental protection has further raised green innovation development. Previous studies have confirmed that industrial agglomeration has an innovation spillover effect, and furthermore it varies with different agglomeration modes. However, the addition of environmental regulation could exert effects on the innovation spillover of industrial agglomeration. Based on Chinese provincial panel data from 2003 to 2017, this paper tested the effect of different agglomeration modes on green technology innovation (green process innovation and green product innovation) under environmental regulation. Research found that: when industrial agglomeration promotes green technology innovation, environmental regulation will inhibit agglomeration innovation; when industrial agglomeration hinders green technology innovation, environmental planning will promote agglomeration innovation. The regional difference of cluster development are obvious in China, and the effect of agglomeration innovation in different regions is also different. In the implementation of environmental regulation for each region, it is necessary to combine the current situation of cluster development to effectively promote green technology innovation. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study found that environmental regulation has different effects on green technology innovation under different agglomeration modes, with environmental regulation inhibiting industrial agglomeration innovation in some cases and promoting agglomeration innovation in others. Regional differences in cluster development in China are distinct, and the effects of agglomeration innovation differ between regions.