Effect of Economic and Technological Development Zones on Green Innovation

Green innovation is an effective way of solving the dilemma of the economy–environment trade-off. As an important innovation policy in China, national economic and technological development zones (NETDZs) play a significant role in promoting innovation, but empirical studies on their impact on innovation, especially green innovation, are scarce. In this study, the authors used highly disaggregated micro-level data such as patent data, industrial firm data, and customs data to examine the impact of NETDZs on green innovation. The results showed that: (1) NETDZs significantly promote green innovation, as measured by both patent quantity and patent quality; (2) the binding environmental indicators in China's five-year plan enhance the promotional effect of NETDZs on green innovation; (3) learning by importing, including through foreign direct investment and importing capital goods, is an important mechanism for the nexus between NETDZs and green innovation; and (4) compared with non-state-owned enterprises (non-SOEs), SOEs are relatively passive in terms of engaging in learning by importing.