https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7283-7462
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ABSTRACT
This study explores the extent to which changes in transport infrastructure counterbalance pre-existing geographical friction and foster innovation collaboration, using the Chinese high-speed rail (HSR) construction as a quasi-natural experiment. Using a comprehensive dataset of city-pair co-patents from 2005 to 2018, we show that HSR connections significantly increase intercity co-patents, patent quality and collaborative partnerships, and such effects are strongest for city-pairs within 250 km and decrease for longer distances. Moreover, the HSR effect is stronger for cities in similar institutional settings, indicating a negative moderating effect of institutional distance. Various robustness methods are used to confirm the validity of our findings.
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in Mendeley Data at http://doi.org/10.17632/rngz5kyb22.2.
DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1. URI collaborations include university–university (UU), university–research institutes (UR), university–industry (UI) and research institute–industry (RI). Any co-patents involving universities or research institutes are categorized as URI collaborations.
2. We use a binary dummy variable indicating whether a city is connected to the HSR network for two reasons. First, easier interpretation: using binary variables we can interpret the results as treatment effect. A continuous variable such as volume or number of trains can be difficult to interpret. Second, the HSR effect is unlikely to be linear in relation to the volume or numbers of trains.