Chen Jialing, Wang Jiancheng
Institute of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Development Studies, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
The Center for Studies of Hong Kong, Macao and Pearl River Delta, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Heliyon. 2023 Jan 4;9(1):e12692. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e12692. eCollection 2023 Jan.
Previous studies have associated broadband with innovation, but most of them have focused on broadband access or broadband penetration rate rather than broadband speed. However, with the increase in the global broadband penetration rate, network speed is becoming a more important aspect of broadband development. Using a fixed effect model based on panel data from 274 cities in China from 2016 to 2018, we explore the impact of broadband speed on innovation and further validate the relationship by instrumental variable estimation and a series of robustness tests. The main findings are as follows: First, broadband speed significantly promotes patenting, and this effect is greater than the increase in broadband penetration rate. Second, the impact of broadband speed on promoting innovation is more substantial in cities with higher Internet penetration, GDP per capita, science and technology investment, and foreign direct investment. Third, broadband speed could promote innovation by facilitating patenting cooperation among firms. Fourth, we find no evidence of a diminishing marginal effect of broadband speed in this setting. This study has significant practical implications for emerging countries to encourage innovation by increasing broadband speed.
以往的研究将宽带与创新联系起来，但其中大多数研究关注的是宽带接入或宽带普及率，而非宽带速度。然而，随着全球宽带普及率的提高，网络速度正成为宽带发展中一个更为重要的方面。利用基于2016年至2018年中国274个城市面板数据的固定效应模型，我们探究了宽带速度对创新的影响，并通过工具变量估计和一系列稳健性检验进一步验证了这种关系。主要研究结果如下：第一，宽带速度显著促进专利申请，且这种效应大于宽带普及率的提高。第二，在互联网普及率、人均GDP、科技投资和外国直接投资较高的城市，宽带速度对促进创新的影响更为显著。第三，宽带速度可以通过促进企业间的专利合作来推动创新。第四，在这种情况下，我们没有发现宽带速度边际效应递减的证据。本研究对于新兴国家通过提高宽带速度来鼓励创新具有重要的实际意义。
