Exploring the spatial pattern of renewable energy technology innovation: evidence from China

Considering the obvious regional differences in China, research on the drivers for renewable energy technology innovation (RETI) needs to fully consider the spatial factors. Based on the expanded function of knowledge production, which includes the human capital, institutional quality, and industrial scale, and using panel data from 29 provinces during 2006-2017, this study examines the factors promoting RETI by employing spatial regression methods. The results show that RETI presents moderate spatial agglomeration and spatial heterogeneity. Human capital, enterprise R&D intensity, and research institution R&D intensity have a significant driving effect on the local RETI, and the university R&D intensity, institutional quality, and industrial scale have no significant contribution. Human capital is the most important factor driving the local RETI, and enterprise R&D intensity has the strongest spatial spillover effect on the RETI of the surrounding provinces. In addition, the R&D intensity of enterprises and research institutions can enhance the local RETI and also significantly promote RETI in surrounding provinces through the spatial spillover effect. In contrast, human capital has played a significant driving role in the local RETI, whereas its spatial spillover effect on the surrounding provinces is not obvious. Therefore, the direct and spatial spillover effects of enterprise R&D intensity and research institution R&D intensity should be fully considered in policy making. In addition, effective policies should be formulated to break the block division of human capital investment and to promote the optimized allocation of talented people in order to better promote RETI in China.