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Review of Finance Vol. 26 No. 3 2022

Do Place-Based Policies Promote Local Innovation and Entrepreneurship?*

Xuan Tian1; Jiajie Xu2

1 PBC School of Finance, Tsinghua University · 2 Carroll School of Management, Boston College

open access

Abstract

This paper explores how a prominent place-based policy in China, the national high-tech zones, affects local innovation output and entrepreneurial activities. Making use of staggered establishments of national high-tech zones in various Chinese cities, we find that the establishment of national high-tech zones has positive effects on local innovation output and entrepreneurial activities. A number of additional tests suggest that the effects appear causal. Access to finance, reductions in administrative burdens, and talent cultivation are three plausible underlying economic channels. Our paper sheds new light on the evaluation of the effectiveness of China’s place-based policies.

DOI
10.1093/rof/rfab029
Volume
26
Issue
3
Pages
595-635
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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