Innovative city pilot policies, absorptive capacity, and urban total factor productivity: a difference-in-differences approach

Can innovative urban design optimize the business environment? Quasi-natural experimental evidence from China

“…The ICP policy is an important development strategy for building an innovative country in China, with significant implications for sustainable development and promoting innovation and entrepreneurship [ 14 ]. At the macro level, existing studies mainly assess whether ICP policy can promote urban innovation and ecoefficiency impacts.…”

“…At the macro level, existing studies mainly assess whether ICP policy can promote urban innovation and ecoefficiency impacts. For example, relevant study has confirmed that innovative city can significantly enhance urban innovation and improve the quality of foreign direct investment [ 14 ]. Such policies have the effects of optimizing industrial structure and driving the development of the financial industry [ 37 ].…”

“…Innovation policies have a positive effect on macroeconomic development and promote the management of microenterprises [ 14 , 42 ]. The survival and development of market players are closely related to policy factors [ 43 ].…”

“…Innovative city design focuses on science and technology, independent innovation, and innovation culture, constituting an essential foundation for a country’s innovation activities and the construction of an innovative country [ 13 ]. On the one hand, innovative city building is a change focusing on urban innovation and development, which is the application of science and technology, knowledge, culture, and other elements to drive urban development, thus improving general urban innovation [ 14 ]. In essence, the innovative city embodies the advanced concept of change, and in the application of real-life scenarios, it can prompt the city to improve the level of management services and create a social environment conducive to innovation and entrepreneurship.…”