How Does Government Attention Enhance Regional Innovation Performance From the Perspective of Innovation-driven Productivity?

The concept of innovation-driven productivity is a crucial factor in fostering high-quality economic development, grounded in economic theories and practices from the past several decades. This study utilizes machine learning to develop an innovation-driven productivity dictionary and conducts text analysis on 390 government work reports from 30 provinces spanning 2011 to 2023. This analysis constructs an indicator of government attention to innovation-driven productivity at the governmental level. The findings indicate that attention to innovation-driven productivity significantly enhances regional innovation performance, a conclusion that remains robust across various tests. Mechanistically, government attention to innovation-driven productivity promotes the development of productive services and increases enterprise innovation investment, thereby boosting regional innovation performance. According to heterogeneity research, western regions see a far greater impact from government attention on fostering innovative performance than do central and eastern regions. In terms of manufacturing levels, regions with lower manufacturing levels experience a greater positive impact from government attention than those with higher manufacturing levels. Regarding the degree of policy intervention, the effects during periods of high intervention are significantly stronger than those observed during periods of low intervention. This study offers useful suggestions for how governments can successfully use innovation-driven productivity to promote regional innovation development in addition to broadening the theoretical framework of the relationship between governmental actions and regional innovation performance. JEL classification: O00 O38 C23 C60