MECHANISMS AND EFFECTS OF HIGH-LEVEL SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION PLATFORMS IN DRIVING HIGH-QUALITY URBAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM PREFECTURE-LEVEL CITIES IN CHINA

Abstract

Against the backdrop of innovation-driven development and the cultivation of new quality productive forces, high-level science and technology innovation platforms have emerged as core hubs and strategic pivots within regional innovation systems. Treating the establishment of these platforms as a quasi-natural experiment, this study constructs a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) model based on panel data from 282 prefecture-level cities in China between 2012 and 2024 to systematically examine their impact on urban high-quality economic development and the underlying mechanisms. The findings are as follows: (1) High-level science and technology innovation platforms significantly promote local high-quality economic growth, a conclusion that remains robust after a series of checks, including the parallel trends test; (2) Mechanism analysis indicates that these platforms primarily drive high-quality economic growth by enhancing technological innovation, facilitating industrial structure upgrading, promoting the agglomeration of high-end factors, and strengthening regional collaborative innovation; (3) Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the impact of platform construction is more pronounced in non-resource-based cities, inland cities, and cities that are not old industrial bases. This paper elucidates the intrinsic mechanisms through which high-level science and technology innovation platforms foster high-quality economic development at the city level, providing empirical evidence for optimizing the layout of national strategic scientific and technological forces and enhancing the efficacy of regional innovation systems.