https://orcid.org/0009-0008-9101-5094
Abstract
China has a vast territory, with an abundance of natural resources. Industrial investment of provinces promulgating and implementing state policies and measures on the basis of the various regions and industries are slowly widening the gap, which leads to significant differences in the level of industrial development. The imbalance between development at both provincial and municipal levels has become more prominent. The state has formulated a policy of coordinated development of the regional economy. There are differences between regions and industries in the demand for technological innovation of high-tech industry. This article is from the regional perspective, industry perspective and the perspective of the two. This paper, through the research of technology innovation and output data of China’s 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, finds the delivery rate is an independent variable of the average number of employees, R&D funds, R&D internal expenditure, external spending, new product sales income, the absorption of funding expenditure, technical transformation of funds for fixed assets, and gross profit as a technological low-carbon innovation efficiency measure. Using factor analysis, multiple regression methods and SPSS software, from the perspective of two regions and industries, enables empirical analysis of the influencing factors of this variable.
1. INTRODUCTION
In the process of China’s economic transformation, it is opportune to seek the driving force behind the sustainable development of the country’s economy. The past miracle of economic growth has indeed brought earth shaking changes to China, but the incentive structure that drives the rapid economic growth has also brought with it a heavy price. The country has realized that the existing economic growth model is unsustainable and must seek new economic growth impetus to ensure the sustainability of economic growth [1]. Therefore, China’s economic growth must move from the resource dependent development mode and move towards the innovation driven and transformation development mode.
In recent years, international competition has become more and more intense, and the cost of production has increased, meaning the traditional competitive advantage of Chinese enterprises has gradually weakened. Therefore, it is necessary for Chinese enterprises to transfer the competitive advantage and the driving force of sustainable development to innovation. Traditionally, enterprises rely on preferential conditions and low labor costs to maintain their competitive advantages. However, with the gradual disappearance of these conditions, enterprises must rely more on scientific and technological innovation and institutional innovation to adapt to market demand, and the products they produce should also be transferred from the material object to the value of the object [2]. This also means that Chinese enterprises will gradually break away from the traditional physical production stage and enter the stage of realizing value creation through innovation. In the process of realizing value creation through innovation, enterprises will enter a highly uncertain environment. Especially in the early stage, enterprises must learn how to realize commercial transformation of innovative products and how to develop new products that meet market demand [3]. For Chinese enterprises that have long relied on imitation for product production, it is a great challenge to independently develop new technologies and products. However, in order to realize the transformation and upgrading of China’s economy, enterprises have to accept this challenge and strive to overcome all difficulties and obstacles in the process.
Innovation is an investment project with a long investment cycle, high cost and high risk. Nevertheless, successful innovation can create new market opportunities, break the existing market pattern, and establish a new market order [4]. Therefore, it is one of the important measures to realize the innovation driven transformation of China’s economic growth model to vigorously promote the entrepreneurial innovation spirit and effectively encourage enterprises to implement innovation. However, in the critical period when the economy enters the new normal, China’s economic transformation still brings many risks and challenges to innovation. Therefore, in an economy with a lack of formal institutions, seeking effective ways to promote enterprise innovation is not only of great theoretical significance, but also of great practical significance for the successful transformation of China’s economy at this stage [5].
With the strong guidance of state and local governments, the quantity and quality of China’s high-tech products have been continuously improved, and the interaction between industry, university and research has been continuous. The high-tech industry has become the fastest growing industry in the national economy, forming a regional industrial belt in the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta and the Bohai Sea Rim. China’s high-tech industry is a technology intensive industry. Through technological innovation, the number of patent applications continues to increase, and the number of patents granted is also rising. This is enough to show that China’s high-tech industry has good market development potential, and is playing an increasingly important role in China’s technological innovation.
China has a vast territory. There are differences in the natural environment, policies and regulations, and industrial development in different regions. There are great differences in the input of high-tech industries in different regions and industries in China, and the industrial development in different regions is also different. The overall high development trend of China’s high-tech industry is mainly driven by the eastern region. Especially since the 1990s, there have been great differences in the development level of regional economies. Balancing the development capacity of regional economies and achieving coordinated development has become a national strategy. Over the years, the Chinese government has introduced many policies and measures around the goal of coordinated and balanced development of regional economies, such as revitalizing the old industrial base in Northeast China and the large-scale development of the western region. However, the phenomenon of unbalanced regional economic development has many reasons, especially China’s large land area and large regional differences in natural endowment and environmental resources. It is difficult to fundamentally improve the gap between regions in the short term.
In 2016, China’s economy entered the new normal, and the economic growth mode was upgraded from the previous factor driven to innovation driven. The Chinese government has also clearly put forward the strategic outline of innovation driven development. As its main driving force, technological innovation plays a significant role in realizing the sustainable and healthy development of China’s economy. At present, there is an extremely unbalanced situation among regions, industries and even the same industry in the same region. There are also obvious differences in the efficiency of technological innovation. The development of high-tech industries in China’s regions and industries is the main factor related to the country’s economic growth. Therefore, we should study the technological low-carbon innovation efficiency of high-tech industries from the perspective of regions and industries, and find out the factors that affect their shortcomings and differences through regional analysis, industry analysis and comparative analysis, so as to further improve the relevant research results of technological innovation, accurately analyze the development status of technological innovation of high-tech industries, find out their shortcomings, improve their technological innovation ability, and speed up the development of technological innovation between regions The coordinated development between industries has certain theoretical significance and practical value.
According to the differences between industries and regions and the need for technological innovation, so far there has been no subdivision of China’s high-tech industries [6]. This paper not only analyzes the low-carbon innovation efficiency of China’s high-tech industries as a whole, but also makes in-depth analysis and comparison based on the development status of various regions and industries. It uses SPSS software, through factor analysis and multiple regression analysis, to calculate the technological low-carbon innovation efficiency data of various regions, industries and the whole high-tech industry. Finally, taking the technological low-carbon innovation efficiency value of various regions and industries of China’s high-tech industry as the dependent variable, this paper empirically analyzes the factors that affect these dependent variables, and gives corresponding countermeasures and suggestions based on the development status of China’s high-tech industry and the national development program.
The high-tech industry covers a wide range of areas, is closely related to other related industries, and pays more attention to the upgrading of technology. All these make it very different from traditional industry. These differences also determine that when formulating relevant policies, the high-tech industry itself should be taken into consideration, so as to be flexible and mechanical, and better promote the development of the industry. Most of the high-tech industries are technology intensive industries, and low-carbon innovation efficiency and technology innovation ability are the key to them. The research on these key factors mainly focuses on the evaluation of low-carbon innovation efficiency and technology innovation ability. Around the scope of these studies, there are many research methods that can be adopted, but the main methods are according to which parameters are considered, it can be divided into the random frontier analysis method with parameters and the data envelopment analysis method without parameters [7].
Market failure theory and international competition theory are the explorations and attempts made by Chinese scholars in policy, which have made certain contributions to the development of the high-tech industry [8]. Zhou Qun studied the factors influencing technological innovation by constructing a structural equation model and multiple linear regression model. When selecting indicators, he divided the influencing factors into internal and external factors. Internal factors are designed from the two aspects of innovation input and benefit realization, and external factors are considered from the two aspects of social environment and market environment [9]. Through the model analysis, the conclusion is drawn that both internal and external factors have a great impact on the efficiency of technological innovation of enterprises, and the human factor is one of the most important internal factors. Yu Yongze considered the influence of institutional factors when studying the influencing factors of the technological low-carbon innovation efficiency of China’s high-tech industries. In the empirical analysis, he used Fu Xiaoxia and Wu Lixue to study the variables of the contribution of institutional changes to China’s economic growth, that is, he selected the proportion of non–state-owned enterprises in the total industrial output value of each region, the proportion of actually utilized foreign capital, foreign trade dependence and the share of the non–state-owned economy in the fixed assets investment of the whole society are four indicators, and the principal component analysis method was selected to synthesize a total indicator as the proxy variable to measure the institutional status and changes of a region [10]. Although institutional factors play an important role, the use of this comprehensive indicator as a substitute variable is not convincing enough and lacks certain economic theory support. Zhu Youwei and Xu Kangning also use their own methods to calculate the technological low-carbon innovation efficiency of high-tech industries according to previous experience. They use the stochastic frontier production function to calculate the R&D efficiency of China’s high-tech industries [11], and empirically analyze the impact of enterprise scale, market and property right structure on the R&D efficiency of China’s high-tech industries, The research results show that the R&D efficiency of China’s high-tech industries is generally low, but on the whole, it still shows an upward trend, and the efficiency difference between different industries is narrowing step by step. The science of technological innovation [12] proposes that technological innovation has a great impact on the transformation and upgrading of the industrial structure, and points out that there is a correlation between technological innovation and evolution of the industrial structure. Technological innovation promotes the evolution of industrial structure, thus promoting the sustainable development of the economy. This also shows that technological innovation indirectly promotes economic growth. His research conclusion is consistent with the three factors that affect economic growth proposed by the American economist Kuznets in the process of studying economic growth: knowledge factor, production factor and industrial structure factor. Fu Jiaji attaches great importance to the combination of the three factors mentioned above, especially pointing out that the industrial structure factors have a great impact on economic growth. He believes that the industrial structure transformation of economically underdeveloped countries is slower than that of economically developed countries, and the traditional industrial structure affects most of the labor force. This traditional organization mode and production technology prevents economic progress, and also affects the contribution of technological innovation to economic growth.
2. RELATED WORK
The study of modern innovation theory began with Schumpeter, an Austrian-American economist, and has a history of nearly 100 years. At the beginning of the 20th century, the global cyclical economic crisis and the outbreak of World War I caused a great crisis to the survival and development of many countries. Many thinkers understand, think or criticize the process of economic development from different angles and levels. In a series of works such as economic development theory and capitalism, socialism and democracy, Schumpeter believes that the so-called innovation is to ‘establish a new production function’, that is, introduce a new combination of production factors and production conditions into the production system, with the purpose of obtaining potential profits [13]. The former is represented by Mansfield, Kaman, Soro, etc. the school adheres to the tradition of Schumpeter’s innovation theory, emphasizes the core role of technological innovation and technological progress in economic development, considers entrepreneurs as the main body to promote innovation, focuses on the study of the influence of organizational behavior, market structure and other factors on technological innovation, and puts forward technological innovation diffusion, entrepreneur innovation and innovation cycle models such as measuring the contribution rate of technological progress to economic growth [14]; the latter is represented by Freeman, Nelson and North. This school believes that technological innovation is not only the contribution of entrepreneurs, but also the isolated behavior of enterprises. It also benefits from institutional innovation [15]. The success or failure of innovation ultimately depends on the ability of a country to adjust its socio-economic paradigm to meet the requirements and possibilities of the technological economic paradigm. Since the 1990s, with the emergence of a large number of emerging technologies such as information and communication technology and Internet technology, the increasing diversification of customer needs and the increasing concern for social equity and sustainable development [16], the connotation and boundary of innovation has been constantly expanded, with user innovation, destructive innovation, open innovation, business model innovation, service innovation, mass innovation, frugal innovation and low-cost innovation. The research on market driven innovation such as green innovation has developed rapidly, and innovation research has become the focus of the theoretical, economic and industrial circles [17].
Under the situation that the world economy is still complex and sluggish, countries can improve the level of social productivity and achieve stable economic growth. They can no longer rely on the traditional development mode of scale expansion, resource consumption and being export-oriented. They require modern science and technology as the support to speed up the implementation of the strategy of innovation driven development, so as to promote economic endogenous growth and improve the efficiency and economic quality of that growth [18]. Accelerating the transformation of economic development and improving the ability of original innovation, integrated innovation and introduction, digestion, absorption and re-innovation are its footholds. To implement innovation driven development intends to solve the key points, subjects and objectives of scientific and technological innovation, create an environment, focus on the changes of international cutting-edge technologies, and make breakthroughs in key core technologies. Innovation driven development requires that enterprises should be the main body, and the independent innovation ability should be enhanced in four aspects: technological decision making, scientific research organization, R&D investment and achievement transformation. At the same time, the government should actively create favorable conditions [19], rely on innovation to drive development, guide enterprises to independently select new technologies and processes suitable for their own processing and manufacturing links, and independently determine the timing, mode and achievement transformation for entering the cutting-edge technology field. Relying on major core technologies to realize self innovation and complete the value realization and return of scientific and technological innovation elements is the only way to combine collaborative innovation of industry, university and research with independent research and development [20].
China’s economic development has entered a new stage. The key to accelerating the implementation of the innovation driven development strategy is to put the improvement of technological innovation efficiency in a more prominent position. The purpose is to improve the quality of economic development, optimize the structure, improve the efficiency, and achieve higher industrial growth. Industrial upgrading based on scientific and technological progress is given priority to avoid scale expansion and extension development [21]. We will further accelerate the implementation of the innovation driven development strategy, give more play to the decisive role of the market in resource allocation, and the government will play a guiding and encouraging role, eliminate the ideological and institutional obstacles that affect innovation, create an environment to cultivate innovation vitality and potential, comprehensively improve the efficiency of innovation, strengthen the links with the economy and related industries, integrate industry, university and research, increase the radiation of scientific and technological innovation, and ultimately promote the improvement of productivity, thus realizing a strong country in science and technology [22].
The innovation driven development strategy is a major development strategy implemented by the state after the technological transformation has entered a new stage. Its main objective is to obtain a series of major scientific and technological innovation achievements, so as to improve the quality of economic development, optimize the industrial structure, improve development efficiency, and enhance industrial growth. Innovation driven development is composed of technological R&D and innovation activities of various types of enterprises. Through the implementation of the strategy, the efficiency and benefits of labor, information, knowledge, technology, management and capital can be greatly improved, and the transformation rate of scientific and technological achievements can be improved, so that R&D activities can adapt to the needs of economic development, thus improving the return rate of scientific and technological innovation activities [23].
The implementation of an innovation driven development strategy is to realize the transformation of development power from factor driven to innovation driven, and give full play to the core leading role of scientific and technological innovation in economic and social development [24]. The implementation of the innovation driven development strategy requires all subjects to realize the transformation of their behavior. The current difficulty is how to form an institutional arrangement for innovation driven development, become the real behavior of all subjects, and make innovation become the common vision and action of the whole society. In short, the whole society should carry out innovation reform around the transformation to innovation driven development power, and give play to the role of scientific and technological innovation [25].
From the perspective of the constituent elements and operational characteristics of innovation driven development, the technological low-carbon innovation efficiency accurately and completely describes each step of scientific and technological innovation activities that have been subdivided. Each piece of information is composed of its technological progress content, economic expenditure, output level, enterprise benefits, market expectation, continuous innovation, etc., and reflects the human capital investment mode, R&D objects and objectives, R&D personnel, professional division of labor, innovation form and oligopoly market structure. The continuous improvement of technological low-carbon innovation efficiency is an important guarantee for the continuous promotion of the innovation driven development strategy [26].
China’s implementation of the innovation driven development strategy, and the efficiency and output capacity of technological innovation needs to be improved urgently. At this stage, all industries in the country are still, in general, at the bottom of the global value chain. It is common that there are few core patent technologies in all industries, more than half of the invention patents are still from abroad, and they are thin in the field of high-precision processing and major technical equipment [27].
A large amount of industrial technology and equipment in China needs supporting technology and equipment with a high degree of technical support, long industrial chain and strong function integration capability. A large number of core technologies still rely on foreign countries, and a large share of sales profits has been monopolized by foreign multinational companies. Due to the directional role of technological low-carbon innovation efficiency, the industry is increasingly subdivided into multiple industries, and the systematicness and synergy of innovation driven development are difficult to reflect. The isolated operation of the industry restricts the rapid improvement of technological low-carbon innovation efficiency, and the results and benefits of innovation driven development are not obvious. High-tech enterprises are small in scale and have limited ability to resist risks. Market competitiveness also needs to be further improved [28]. In addition, the combination of a large number of industrial technology and equipment with artificial intelligence and time series will also be very important in the future [29–33].
3. EMPIRICAL RESEARCH DESIGN
3.1. Empirical analysis method
With the gradual development and improvement of science and technology, SPSS has been upgraded many times, and different versions have been formed. However, the kernel of the statistical software has not changed, mainly reflected in three levels:
(1) Defining data: the data we collected can be quickly and accurately identified by the computer through definition. This is mainly because we have determined the form of variables for these data in advance, so that the data has new and practical significance. The operation steps are: define the variable, filter the type of the variable (whether it is character type or numeric type), input data, and set the missing value.
(2) Transform data: correct the converted data file obtained in the previous step, and then carry out data transformation, such as the standardized operation to eliminate the influence of extreme values of some variables and inconsistent units.
(3) Statistical analysis: select appropriate statistical commands according to the characteristics of the data files sorted out in the previous step, conduct data analysis and make statistical charts, and then conduct more in-depth and detailed research and analysis according to the results of these analyses and charts, so as to obtain a more comprehensive and systematic analysis report. SPSS carries out the analysis of data statistics, obtains relevant results and graphs, and then conducts further research according to these results and graphs. We can see the problems existing in the enterprise’s technological innovation and its hidden information and laws. By using these information and laws, we can better arrange production and management work, and reasonably formulate the next strategic decision of the enterprise.
Linear regression is an analysis method of data statistics. It is to determine the relationship between multiple variables and conduct regression analysis on the quantitative relationship reflected in variables through mathematical statistics. Analyze the relationship characteristics between variables from a large number of data, select which are independent variables and which are dependent variables, and then conduct a different analysis. According to the different relationship of variables, it can be divided into linear regression analysis and nonlinear regression analysis. Linear regression analysis is a kind of regression analysis that uses linear regression equations to establish a model. It is based on the relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable shown in the equation, and is analyzed by determining the least square function. This function expresses a linear combination relationship and is composed of the model parameters of the coefficients obtained in the correlation equation. Linear regression analysis can be divided into simple regression analysis and multiple regression analysis according to one or more independent variables.
In this model, |$Y$| is represented by |${x}_1,{x}_2,{x}_3,\dots, {x}_n$|, there are |$n+1$| unknown parameters |${b}_0,\ {b}_1,\ {b}_2\dots{b}_n.$| In the model, |${b}_j$| is the function of J and |${x}_j$| is the effect of changing one unit on the dependent variable.
3.2. Construction of index system
China has made some progress in research on the efficiency of technological innovation. In the establishment of the corresponding index system, theoretical research and discussion need to be continued. This paper attempts to establish the index system of technological low-carbon innovation efficiency. In this process, reference is made to the previous research results. As a research case, it is also hoped to find an index system and research direction for the improvement of technological low-carbon innovation efficiency, as shown in Table 1.
Index system
| First-level indicators | Second-level indicators | Third-level indicators |
|---|---|---|
| Investment in technological innovation | Manpower input | Average number of employees |
| Financial input | R&D internal expenditure of funds | |
| R&D external expenditure of funds | ||
| Imported technology Expenditure | ||
| Digestion and absorption expenditure | ||
| Technical transformation expenditure | ||
| Application rate of fixed assets | ||
| Technological innovation output | Output of scientific and technological activities | Sales revenue of new products |
| First-level indicators | Second-level indicators | Third-level indicators |
|---|---|---|
| Investment in technological innovation | Manpower input | Average number of employees |
| Financial input | R&D internal expenditure of funds | |
| R&D external expenditure of funds | ||
| Imported technology Expenditure | ||
| Digestion and absorption expenditure | ||
| Technical transformation expenditure | ||
| Application rate of fixed assets | ||
| Technological innovation output | Output of scientific and technological activities | Sales revenue of new products |
Index system
| First-level indicators | Second-level indicators | Third-level indicators |
|---|---|---|
| Investment in technological innovation | Manpower input | Average number of employees |
| Financial input | R&D internal expenditure of funds | |
| R&D external expenditure of funds | ||
| Imported technology Expenditure | ||
| Digestion and absorption expenditure | ||
| Technical transformation expenditure | ||
| Application rate of fixed assets | ||
| Technological innovation output | Output of scientific and technological activities | Sales revenue of new products |
| First-level indicators | Second-level indicators | Third-level indicators |
|---|---|---|
| Investment in technological innovation | Manpower input | Average number of employees |
| Financial input | R&D internal expenditure of funds | |
| R&D external expenditure of funds | ||
| Imported technology Expenditure | ||
| Digestion and absorption expenditure | ||
| Technical transformation expenditure | ||
| Application rate of fixed assets | ||
| Technological innovation output | Output of scientific and technological activities | Sales revenue of new products |
Various classifications and data of high-tech industries can be obtained from the statistical data in the statistical yearbook of China’s high-tech industries. The information is detailed and the definition of the industrial scope is scientific and clear. In this analysis, the relevant data in the 2015 edition of the statistical yearbook is used, which ensures that the data results are more authoritative in comparative analysis from a professional perspective. The following factors are mainly considered in the determination of technological innovation indicators: these indicators have certain objectives and independent characteristics, can highly summarize the characteristics of technological innovation, and finally can comprehensively reflect all indicators. This paper takes these factors into account when selecting the indicators of national technological innovation input and output, and determines the total profit of each industry and region as the evaluation index of low-carbon innovation efficiency. The investment in technological innovation is mainly composed of both human resources and financial resources. The efficiency of technological innovation cannot be separated from the reserve of human resources. On the whole, the efficiency of innovation is directly affected by the human capital stock engaged in scientific research activities, so the number of people engaged in scientific research activities should be determined as the input of human resources. The specific manpower input includes personnel engaged in technological innovation activities. In terms of financial input, we mainly consider the input of funds, including the expenditure of introducing technology, the expenditure of digestion and absorption, the expenditure of technological transformation, and the delivery and utilization rate of fixed assets. These indicators reflect the scale of financial input, while the internal expenditure of R&D funds and the external expenditure of R&D funds reflect the intensity of financial input. The selection of output indicators is mainly based on the transformation of scientific and technological innovation achievements, and the sales income of high-tech products is determined as the indicator of technological innovation output.
4. ANALYSIS ON THE INFLUENCING FACTORS OF LOW-CARBON INNOVATION EFFICIENCY
4.1. Analysis of influencing factors from the regional perspective
Figure 1 presents the analysis on the influencing factors of low-carbon innovation efficiency. From the regional perspective, on the whole, there is a strong positive correlation between the sales income of new products, the expenditure on digestion and absorption, the expenditure on technological transformation and the total profit of the region. From the output elasticity of the three factors of new product sales revenue, digestion and absorption expenditure and technical transformation expenditure, the total profit will increase by 0.596 percentage points for every 1% increase in new product sales revenue; for every 1% increase in expenditure on digestion and absorption, the total profit will increase by 0.205 percentage points; for every 1% increase in expenditure on technological transformation, the total profit increased by 0.388 percentage points.
The analysis on the influencing factors of low-carbon innovation efficiency.
It can be seen from the elasticity coefficient of each factor that the sales income of new products has the largest promotion effect on the technological low-carbon innovation efficiency of high-tech industries, the promotion effect of technological transformation expenditure is the second, and the promotion effect of digestion and absorption expenditure is the smallest. This shows that the technological low-carbon innovation efficiency of high-tech industries is mainly driven by technological innovation output, and then driven by the scale of financial input.
The average number of employees has no significant effect on the efficiency of technological innovation, because the technological innovation output of each region is mainly driven by capital. The internal expenditure of R&D funds and the external expenditure elements of R&D funds have no significant impact on the efficiency of technological innovation, because the R&D funds in various regions, whether internal or external, are mainly used in the experimental development stage of technological innovation activities, while the expenditure in the experimental development stage makes little contribution to the efficiency of technological innovation. The main reason why the expenditure factors of the introduced technology have no significant impact on the efficiency of technological innovation is that the technological capacity of each region is increasingly strong. The factors of the delivery and utilization rate of fixed assets have no significant impact on the efficiency of technological innovation, because the input of fixed assets in each region exceeds its own digestion capacity or the new equipment is not applicable due to the lack of correct and powerful guidance.
4.2. Analysis of influencing factors from the perspective of industry
From the perspective of industry, through the results of factor analysis and regression analysis, we can clearly see that the average number of employees, the external expenditure of R&D funds and the expenditure of digestion and absorption funds are positively related to the total profit of the industry. The coefficients of each element in the regression equation are 0.762, 0.468 and 0.353, respectively, while the coefficient of the average number of employees is significantly higher than that of the external expenditure of R&D funds and the expenditure of digestion and absorption funds. This shows that the average number of employees has the greatest impact on the efficiency of technological innovation. Therefore, continuing to increase the input of high-knowledge and high-tech personnel is conducive to the development of high-tech industries.
The employees of high-tech industry are the talent reserves in the process of technological innovation. They have a professional knowledge background and excellent professional skills, and play a vital role in technological innovation. As the key element of technological innovation input, ensuring the input of professional employees is the primary condition for the realization of technological innovation progress. It reflects the human resources invested in scientific and technological innovation in various regions. Human resources and technological innovation capacity are positively related. There are many personnel factors in the technological innovation of high-tech industries. This paper chooses the average number of employees as the index to measure the low-carbon innovation efficiency. Among the other elements of innovation investment in high-tech industries, the external expenditure of R&D funds is another basic element. This part of expenditure is transferred to other partners in the innovation process and is generated in the process of jointly carrying out innovation activities with the entrusting unit or cooperative unit. In the process of independent technological innovation, high-tech enterprises need to constantly communicate with external units, which is conducive to the generation and transformation of innovation achievements, and these activities need a portion of the support expenses. Among the above three factors, the one that has little impact on the efficiency of technological innovation of high-tech industries is the expenditure on digestion and absorption. It refers to the process in which enterprises rely on their own technology stock to digest and absorb the introduced technology through mastering, applying and realizing secondary innovation. From this indicator, it can be seen that in the process of technology digestion and absorption, the enterprise can tell the degree to which the introduced technology is actually transformed into productivity. Good digestion and absorption by enterprises will also have a positive impact on the efficiency of technological innovation.
4.3. Comparative analysis between regions and industries
From a regional perspective, its total profit is affected by three factors: sales revenue of new products, expenditure on digestion and absorption, and expenditure on technological transformation. From the perspective of industry, its total profit is affected by the average number of employees, the external expenditure of R&D funds and the expenditure of digestion and absorption funds.
(1) In the analysis from both angles, the expenditure element of digesting and absorbing funds is positively correlated with the total profit, which indicates that this element has a certain degree of influence on the total profit in all walks of life and in the whole country. All regions and industries attach great importance to the utilization of the introduced technology. The state gives strong support to this part of the work of regions and industries, and encourages the introduced technology to be fully digested, absorbed and transformed into its own technology. The large amount of policy support given by the state, regions and industries enables the digestion and absorption of expenditure to promote the technological innovation of all regions and industries.
(2) The sales revenue of new products and the expenditure of technological transformation are positively correlated with the total profit of the region, but these two factors have no significant influence among industries. All regions attach great importance to their own economic development. There is no doubt that the sales of new products in all regions will inevitably bring profits, which will promote the development of the regional economy. The attention of all regions to the sale of new products has caused the sales revenue of new products to make a greater contribution to a region’s total profit. The state’s macro policies support enterprises in various regions to introduce new technology. In addition, the governments of various regions increase investment in technological transformation in order to enable enterprises to make full use of the introduced technology, so as to produce new products and drive the economic development of the whole region.
(3) The average number of employees and the external expenditure of R&D funds are positively related to the total profit of the industry, but these two factors have no significant influence in different regions. In the competitive market, the industry attaches importance to technological innovation, especially independent research and development, which requires industry to introduce high-tech knowledge and high-tech talents to promote the development of technological innovation in high-tech industries. In addition to the investment in talents, it also needs a large amount of financial support. Increasing the external expenditure of R&D funds promotes the further development of the high-tech industry.
4.4. Promotion strategy of technological innovation in high-tech industry
From the above research results, it can be seen that the technological innovation of various regions and industries in China’s high-tech sector is different, and the factors affecting their low-carbon innovation efficiency are also different. In order to narrow the differences between regions and industries and improve the low-carbon innovation efficiency of high-tech industries in regions and industries, the following countermeasures and suggestions are proposed:
(1) For regions and industries, it is necessary to increase the input of digestion and absorption funds. At present, the introduction of new technologies still accounts for a large proportion in high-tech enterprises. If enterprises want to avoid resource waste and make full use of the introduced technologies, they must increase the expenditure on digestion and absorption of funds. The state has begun to increase investment in this area, and regions and industries have begun to attach great importance to the investment on digestion and absorption of funds on a large scale.
(2) The region should not only increase the introduction of high-knowledge and high-tech talents, but also introduce high-end industries into the region. In the regions, the average number of employees has no significant impact on the efficiency of technological innovation. There is a certain gap in the quality of personnel, and the lack of high-knowledge and high-tech personnel is the main reason. However, all technological innovation activities need to be implemented through the role of people, so it is required to increase the input of high-knowledge and high-tech talents. The industries formed in the East, the middle and the West are different. For each region, it is necessary to introduce high-end industries into the region in a timely manner, enhance the innovation ability of the region, and introduce high-quality, high-end R&D teams. When introducing high-end industries into the region, the state needs to give preferential policies, and the government strongly supports a series of behaviors conducive to the development of technological innovation in the region.
(3) The industry must pay attention to the sales of new products and intensify technical transformation. The fundamental purpose of technological innovation is to develop new products. At this stage, the sales of new products in the industry is guided by the government, and market flexibility is not high. If we want to improve the efficiency of technological innovation, the sales of new products cannot be guided by the government alone, and the industry itself needs to pay attention to the sales of new products. Whether it is independently developed technology or imported technology, in order to make the technology meet the market demand in a competitive environment, it is necessary to increase the investment in technological transformation funds. Increasing this part of investment will certainly bring about the improvement of technological innovation efficiency.
Due to the unreasonable allocation of resources, there is still room for improvement in the use of people, property and materials. It is necessary to further strengthen the positioning of the market as the place for the realization of innovation achievements, further improve the market system, ensure the smooth and orderly development of technological innovation activities, so that the innovation achievements can obtain better economic benefits, and in turn continue to promote the progress of scientific and technological innovation activities and form a virtuous circle.
5. CONCLUSION
Through empirical analysis, this paper makes a comprehensive evaluation of the technological low-carbon innovation efficiency of China’s high-tech industry from the three perspectives of the whole country, various regions and various industries. On the basis of the evaluation results, combined with the reality of unbalanced regional economic development in China, this paper finds out several important factors that affect the technological low-carbon innovation efficiency of China’s high-tech industry, and quantitatively analyzes various factors that affect technological innovation. From a regional perspective, the technological innovation of high-tech industries is mainly driven by the output of technological innovation, followed by the scale of financial investment. From an industry perspective, the technological innovation of high-tech industry is mainly related to the scale of human investment, and second to the amount of financial investment. Therefore, in order to improve the low-carbon innovation efficiency of China’s high-tech industry, on the whole, it is necessary to increase financial investment, introduce high-quality, high-end talents, pay attention to the sales of new products, and strengthen technological transformation.
There are many factors that affect the innovation efficiency of high-tech industries, such as the proportion of highly educated personnel in the scientific and technological fields, the proportion of financial investment in the sales of new products, and so on. It is hoped that in future research, we can expand our horizons, increase various research indicators, and further study the impact of other indicators on innovation efficiency.
Credit author statement
Qingqing Yang (Conceptualization [Equal], Data curation [Equal], Formal analysis [Equal], Funding acquisition [Equal], Investigation [Equal], Methodology [Equal], Resources [Equal], Software [Equal], Validation [Equal], Visualization [Equal], Writing—original draft [Equal], Writing—review & editing [Equal]) and Idris Elbakri (Formal analysis [Equal], Project administration [Equal], Supervision [Equal], Writing—original draft [Equal], Writing—review & editing [Equal])
Data availability
The dataset can be accessed upon request.
Conflict of interest statement
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the Innovation Capability Support Program of Shaanxi Province of China (2022KRM029). Find a Funder: Social Science Foundation of Shaanxi Province of China (2019D022). Scientific Research Program Funded by Shaanxi Provincial Education Department of China (18JK0602).
