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The Effects of New Urbanization Pilot City Policies on Urban Innovation: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Shengsheng Li

    (School of Business, Fuyang Normal University, Fuyang 236037, China)

  • Yuanyuan Wang

    (School of Economics and Management, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300222, China)

  • Hasan Dincer

    (School of Business, Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul 34810, Turkey)

  • Serhat Yuksel

    (School of Business, Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul 34810, Turkey)

  • Dongyao Yu

    (School of Economics, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing 100048, China)

Abstract

The new urbanization city pilot policy is China’s most recent policy on urban urbanization. This paper uses new urbanization pilot policies as a quasi-natural experiment to empirically test the impact of new urbanization pilot policies on urban innovation through the difference-in-differences (DID) method using panel data from 199 cities in China from 2011 to 2019. The results show that: (1) The new urbanization city pilot policy has significantly enhanced urban innovation. (2) The theoretical mechanism test shows that the pilot policy of new urbanization promotes urban innovation through the level of human capital. (3) The results of the heterogeneity analysis show that the new urbanization pilot policies have obvious city-level heterogeneity and regional heterogeneity on the improvement of urban innovation levels. The impact effect of new urbanization pilot policies is higher in first-tier and second-tier cities than in fourth-tier and fifth-tier cities; the effect of new urbanization pilot policies is higher in western regions than in eastern and middle regions.

Suggested Citation

  • Shengsheng Li & Yuanyuan Wang & Hasan Dincer & Serhat Yuksel & Dongyao Yu, 2023. "The Effects of New Urbanization Pilot City Policies on Urban Innovation: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-15, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:14:p:11352-:d:1199183
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Xin Wen & Xueqin Cao & Longqing Wang & Jiaxin Wen & Zhibo Yu, 2025. "New Urbanization and Low-Carbon Energy Transition in China: Coupling Coordination, Spatial–Temporal Differentiation, and Spatial Effects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-28, April.
    3. Zhijun Li & Yuanyuan Shi & Michal Wojewodzki & Yigang Wei & Meiyu Guo, 2024. "The Impact of New-Type Urbanization Policy on Urban Green Total Factor Productivity: New Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-21, June.

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