Impact of market accessibility on the inter-regional collaborative innovation of enterprises

doi:10.19571/j.cnki.1000-2995.2025.02.014

Abstract

Abstract: Collaborative innovation is an important approach for firms to enhance their innovative capabilities and share innovation risks. It is also a crucial intrinsic driving force for China′s economic transformation, upgrading and achieving high-quality development. This study utilized the panel data of Chinese industrial enterprises from 2000 to 2013, and constructed the market accessibility index constructed from China′s highway transportation network to examine its influence on firms′ inter-regional collaborative innovation and its underlying mechanisms through Heckman′s two-step test, instrumental variable test and moderating effect test. The research findings revealed that the improvement of market accessibility significantly promotes firms′ inter-regional collaborative innovation from the perspectives of extensive margins, intensive margins, and inter-regional cooperation intensity. The robustness tests and endogeneity tests supported the conclusions. The mechanism tests demonstrated that the enhancement of market accessibility promotes firms′ inter-regional collaborative innovation by reducing transaction costs and enhancing knowledge matching. The heterogeneity analysis further indicated that the enhancement of market accessibility more significantly facilitates inter-regional collaborative innovation for firms located in peripheral cities, state-owned enterprises, and those operating in more competitive market environments. This study will provide new insights and empirical evidence for the necessity and urgency of building a "transportation powerhouse".

Key words: market accessibility, inter-regional collaborative innovation, transaction cost, knowledge complementarity

Jiang Weijie, Shan Yike. Impact of market accessibility on the inter-regional collaborative innovation of enterprises[J]. Science Research Management, 2025, 46(2): 139-148.

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