Effect of Economic and Technological Development Zones on Green Innovation

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