Research on Technological Innovation Efficiency of National

High-tech Zone in Liaoning Province based on DEA Method

Jianbo Li

1,*

and Yue Yin

2,†

Dalian Polytechnic University, Shandong, Weifang, China

Dalian Polytechnic University, Anhui, Hefei, China

Keywords: National High-Tech Zone, Technological Innovation, Three-Stage DEA, Economic Growth.

Abstract: The national "14th five year plan" and the long-term goal of 2035 emphasize the implementation of innovation

driven strategy, and engineering technology innovation is an important part. The National High-tech Zone

has become an important carrier for Liaoning Province to implement innovation driven development strategy.

Through the Three-stage DEA method and SFA regression of input and output indicators, it is found that,

increasing the investment of R&D fund, the cultivation of R&D talents and the construction of R&D platform

have an important impact on improving the efficiency of engineering and technological innovation, which has

played an important role in improving the innovation ability of high-tech zones and promoting the economic

development of Liaoning Province.

1 INTRODUCTION

China's national high-tech industrial development

zone (hereinafter referred to as high-tech zone) has

made important contributions to economic and social

development and the construction of national

innovation system. Up to now, Liaoning Province has

established 8 high-tech zones. In recent years, these

high-tech zones have developed rapidly in all aspects,

which has played a very important role in supporting

economic growth, promoting industrial upgrading

and transformation, promoting scientific and

technological innovation and developing strategic

emerging industries. At the same time, some

problems are increasingly emerging, such as the need

to strengthen independent innovation capacity,

insufficient R& D investment, low innovation

efficiency, and uneven development between regions.

Guangdong, Jiangsu and Shandong ranked the top

three in the list of 31 provinces and cities GDP 2020.

Comparing the national high-tech zones of Liaoning

Province with Guangdong, Jiangsu and Shandong is

conducive to solving the problem and promoting the

further development of the high-tech zones in

Liaoning Province, thus further enhancing the

regional technological innovation ability of Liaoning

Province and laying the driving force for economic

growth.

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

The theory of innovation, first put forward by

economist Schumpeter in 1912, has become a hot

topic around the world. Eugene M· Roger and Judy

K · Larson are the earliest scholars in foreign

countries to carry out empirical evaluation of high-

tech zones. Qualitative analysis and research reveal

the conditions for the formation of " condensed

economic effect" in Silicon Valley (Malecki 2008).

Lofsten and Lindelof point out that technological

innovation is indispensable to the development of

science and technology parks (Lofsten 2012).

TIAN

LI Y analysis shows that foreign cooperation and

technology spillover can promote the cultivation of

innovative ecological efficiency in high-tech zones

(TIAN 2017). In comparison, the domestic research

started late, but the development trend is good. Sun

Qian and Wang Xia et al respectively established the

evaluation index system for evaluating the innovation

ability of national high-tech zones from three

modules and using factor analysis method (Sun 2018,

Wang 2019). By Yang Jie et al and Yuan Hang et al,

the SOM network topology model and the double

difference method are used to analyze the innovation

comprehensive efficiency of China's national high-

tech zones (Yang 2020, Yuan 2018). Tian Zhilong et

al, Xiong Bo et al, Zhang Jixin et al comprehensively

330

Li, J. and Yin, Y.

Research on Technological Innovation Efﬁciency of National High-tech Zone in Liaoning Province based on DEA Method.

DOI: 10.5220/0011176900003440

In Proceedings of the International Conference on Big Data Economy and Digital Management (BDEDM 2022), pages 330-334

ISBN: 978-989-758-593-7

evaluated the innovation efficiency and innovation

ecological efficiency of China's information

technology enterprises and the carrier of high-tech

zones, respectively (Tian 2019, Xiong 2019, Zhang

2019). Zheng Xuhui et al and Xiong Ran et al found

the influence of trade on the innovation ecological

efficiency of high-tech zones through the analysis of

two-stage DEA and dynamic super-efficiency SBM

model, respectively (Zheng 2018, Xiong 2019). As a

result, the three-stage DEA model will further

promote the economic development of Liaoning

Province.

3 MEASUREMENT AND

ANALYSIS OF

TECHNOLOGICAL

INNOVATION EFFICIENCY IN

NATIONAL HIGH-TECH ZONE

OF LIAONING PROVINCE

3.1 Efficiency Measurement of

Technological Innovation in

National High-tech Zone in Four

Provinces

3.1.1 Efficiency Measures

The innovation of high-tech zone is a dynamic and

complex system with multi-factor input and multi-

output, which involves many inputs of human,

material and financial resources in the whole process.

The input index selects the full-time equivalent of

R&D personnel, the number of enterprises, the

internal expenditure of R&D funds, the funds for

scientific and technological activities, the assets at the

end of the year, the product sales income, the

technical income, the patent authorization, the export

earning foreign exchange and the total industrial

output value as the output index.

Environmental variables are variables that are

outside the observation sample and are not controlled

by the sample, but have an impact on the

technological innovation efficiency of the sample.

When carrying out SFA modeling, the attributes and

development characteristics of technological

innovation in high-tech zones are taken into account,

the macroeconomic environment is measured by the

per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of the

region, the degree of opening to the outside world is

measured by the total amount of foreign direct

investment, the level of scientific education in the

region is measured by the number of college students

in ordinary colleges and universities, and the level of

local policy support for technological innovation is

expressed by the expenditure of finance on science

and technology.

3.1.2 Phase I: DEA Model before

Adjustment

Table 1: The First Stage Measurement of Technological

Innovation Efficiency in High-tech Zone.

[1] High-

tech Zones

[2]

Name of Index

Integrated

efficiency

Pure

technical

efficiency

Scale

efficiency

Shenyang 0.315 0.392 0.805

Dalian 0.401 0.426 0.942

Nanjing 0.596 1 0.596

Suzhou 1 1 1

Guangzhou 0.45 1 0.45

Shenzhen 0.445 1 0.445

Jinan 0.459 1 0.459

Qingdao 0.469 0.675 0.695

As shown in Table 1, considering the influence of

environmental factors and random factors, the

average comprehensive technological innovation

efficiency of Liaoning High-tech Zone in

2018 is 0.65,

the average pure technical efficiency is 0.79, and the

scale efficiency is 0.83. From the point of view of

pure technical efficiency, Liaoning High-tech Zone is

lower than the other three provinces, but the scale

efficiency is generally superior to the other three

provinces except Benxi Hi-tech Zone.

It can be seen from the above table that the

provincial capital cities and cities with better

economic development are selected from the four

provinces for DEA analysis. The innovation

efficiency indicators of the two cities in Liaoning

Province are lower than those of the other three

provinces, indicating that there is room to improve

the overall innovation ability of Liaoning Province.

The reason is that the economic development of

Jiangsu, Guangdong and Shandong is good, and the

investment in the related elements of technological

innovation is much, which leads to the improvement

of pure technical efficiency, but it can also reflect that

the utilization rate of the elements is not enough, so

the scale efficiency is low.

3.1.3 Phase II: SFA Regression Analysis

Regression found that the LR values of the five inputs

were greater than the critical value, which indicated

Research on Technological Innovation Efﬁciency of National High-tech Zone in Liaoning Province based on DEA Method

331

that it was suitable for random frontier analysis. The

regression coefficient of the relaxation variables of

the per capita GDP to all input elements is positive,

which indicates that the per capita GDP has a

stimulating effect on input redundancy. It can explain

that the high-tech zones in some well-developed

cities in China, such as Nanjing, Guangzhou, Jinan

and Qingdao, have strong economic strength, rich

innovation resources and large support and

investment in the high-tech zones, but because they

are not properly allocated, the comprehensive

efficiency of innovation technology is not high. Both

the regression coefficient of regional openness to the

number of enterprises in the high-tech zone and the

relaxation variable of the internal expenditure of

R&D funds are negative, which indicates that the

more foreign capital is used in the region, the less the

number of enterprises and capital investment in the

high-tech zone. For example, the higher the opening

degree of Suzhou and Shenzhen, the stronger the

ability of the region to absorb foreign science and

technology, and the faster the development of science

and technology, thus reducing the number of

enterprises in high-tech zones and the investment of

state financial funds. With the improvement of

science education level, the higher the quality of

graduates, which stimulates the redundancy of

enterprises in high-tech zones. The government's

financial expenditure on technology innovation will

reduce the manpower and capital investment of high-

tech zones. The government's financial expenditure

on technology innovation will reduce the manpower

and capital investment of high-tech zones. For

Anshan, Jinzhou, Benxi, Fuxin national high-tech

zones in the development stage, the government

needs more support.

3.1.4 Phase III: Adjusted DEA Model

Table 2: The Third Stage Measurement of Technological

Innovation Efficiency in High-tech Zone.

High-tech

Zones

Name of Index

Integrated

efficiency

Pure

technical

efficienc

Scale

efficiency

Shen

0.999 1 0.999

Dalian 1 1 1

Nan

1 1 1

Suzhou 1 1 1

Guangzhou 1 1 1

Shenzhen 1 1 1

Jinan 1 1 1

Qingdao 1 1 1

The comprehensive efficiency of most high-tech

zones is 1, located on the front of production, but

compared with the other three provincial capital high-

tech zones, the scale compensation of Shenyang

National High-tech Zone is decreasing, so it is

necessary to make more rational use of human and

capital factors in the park, to improve the scale

efficiency of high-tech zones by increasing

government support, expanding the level of

utilization of foreign capital, improving the quality of

workers and speeding up the progress of science and

technology, and to pay close attention to the

utilization efficiency of resources while increasing

the input factors of technological innovation.

3.2 Findings

3.2.1 In Comparison with Provincial

Capitals

Shenyang, Nanjing, Guangzhou and Jinan are the

provincial capitals of their respective provinces.

From the above table, we can see that the scale

efficiency of Shenyang Hi-tech Zone is better than

that of the other three cities. From the second stage

SFA regression table, we can see that the

macroeconomic environment promotes the

redundancy of input elements. On the other hand, the

pure technical efficiency of Shenyang High-tech

Zone is lower than that of the other three urban high-

tech zones, for the following reasons:

Nanjing Hi-tech Zone focuses on cultivating

innovative leading enterprises and promotes the

development of overall technological innovation

through the policies of enterprise R&D organization

performance, high recognition and storage reward,

industrial technological innovation alliance, R&D fee

of small and medium-sized scientific and

technological enterprises. Shenzhen Hi-tech Zone

allows innovative subjects that meet the conditions of

industrial access to temporarily change the existing

building use functions for innovative activities on the

premise of safe structure, good appearance, no impact

on the use of surrounding buildings, no change in the

main structure, and no increase in the volume ratio.

The layout of Jinan Hi-tech Zone is to build a number

of international scientific and technological

achievements transfer and transformation centers that

integrate technological achievements trading,

offshore incubation, high-level talent exchange, joint

tackling, enterprise investment and cooperation

between industry, education and research, so as to

create a new highland for export-oriented regional

scientific and technological innovation and

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332

achievements transformation, and to raise the level of

open innovation and development.

For example, promoting the cooperation between

enterprises and intermediary service institutions in

Liaoning High-tech Zone. On the other hand,

promoting the cooperation between enterprises and

financial institutions such as banks, and jointly carry

out services such as science and technology low

interest credit, science and technology capital pool,

science and technology loan discount, etc. Promote

enterprises and accurately select high growth

technology-based enterprises such as eagles, gazelles

and unicorns, continue to carry out listing cultivation,

implement reward and subsidy policies and provide

full-cycle services. Promote the cooperation between

enterprises and intermediaries such as securities

companies and firms, accurately screen high-growth

scientific and technological enterprises such as

chicks, gazelles and unicorns, continue to carry out

listing cultivation, implement reward and subsidy

policies and provide full-cycle services, so as to

continuously improve the innovation ability of

national High-tech Zone in Liaoning Province.

3.2.2 In Comparison with Cities with Better

Economic Development

Suzhou, Dalian, Shenzhen and Qingdao occupy an

important position in the economic development of

their respective provinces. It can be found that the

comprehensive efficiency of Dalian Hi-tech Zone is

lower than that of the other three cities, mainly due to

the low efficiency of pure technology. Specifically:

Suzhou Independent Innovation Square

Development Co. Ltd held 2019 science and

technology service industry innovation and

development exchange. By increasing the investment

in science and technology activities, the exchange of

science and technology service institutions, new

R&D institutions, science and technology enterprises

and technology brokers has been promoted, thus

enhancing the technological innovation and

development ability of Suzhou Hi-tech Zone. In

2019, the Shenzhen Science and Technology

Innovation Commission, together with the Municipal

Finance Bureau, revised the "Measures for the

Management of Science and Technology Research

and Development Funds in Shenzhen ", such as

raising the separate amount of equipment,

instruments and software purchase fees. In 2019,

Huang Hai led the "National Marine Aquatic

Germplasm Resources Bank" to be selected as the

National Science and Technology Resources sharing

Service platform. This is another national scientific

research and innovation platform added by Huang

Hai after the Ministry of Science and Technology

Marine Fisheries International Science and

Technology Cooperation Base, Mariculture

equipment and Biological breeding Technology

National Local Joint Engineering Research Center

(Qingdao) and so on. Dalian east of Huang Hai, west

of Bohai Sea, can learn from the development of

Qingdao high-tech zone to use the advantages of

characteristic industries to promote the innovation of

science and technology efficiency.

Increasing the precise support for scientific and

technological enterprises and high-tech enterprises in

the National High-tech Zone of Liaoning Province,

promote transformation and industrialization of high-

tech achievements, further improve the financial

environment through preferential tax policies,

strengthen investment attraction, and pay more

attention to research and development investment.

Through tax policies, increasing support for

advantageous industries in Liaoning Province, further

use advantageous industries to drive economic

transformation and upgrading, besides, using

innovation to drive the revitalization of old industrial

bases, develop emerging scientific and technological

innovation industries, and speed up the process of

transformation of old and new kinetic energy. To

strengthen the government's R&D investment, we

should also pay attention to improving the

sustainability of innovation investment and

strengthening regional coordination and linkage,

which is conducive to the realization of innovation

driven development.

4 CONCLUSIONS

By using the DEA model, the external environmental

factors of different regions are eliminated, and the

sample data of the 19 yearbook are collected, so as to

compare and analyze the gap between the 8 national

high-tech zones in Liaoning Province and the

advanced high-tech zones in Jiangsu, Guangdong and

Shandong in terms of technological innovation

efficiency. Empirical results show that: (1) after

considering environmental factors, there are

generally problems of redundant investment,

insufficient product research and development and

sales; (2) the technological innovation efficiency of 8

state-level high-tech zones in Liaoning Province is

generally low, and the DEA of the first stage is not

effective except Yingkou and Liaoyang high-tech

zones, which reflects that the overall innovation

ability of the national high-tech zones in Liaoning

Research on Technological Innovation Efﬁciency of National High-tech Zone in Liaoning Province based on DEA Method

333

Province is quite weak after the standard is advanced;

(3) the overall innovation ability of the advanced

high-tech zones in Jiangsu, Guangdong and

Shandong is close to the of innovation and

effectiveness, while the innovation ability of 8

national high-tech zones in Liaoning Province is far

from the effective frontier. It is possible to establish

or introduce R&D institutions with strong influence

through multiple channels, encourage enterprises to

combine R&D, strengthen cooperation with well-

known colleges and universities inside and outside

the province, and speed up the gathering of a group

of highly qualified talents to enhance the ability of

technological innovation. At the same time, it is

necessary to clarify its own advantages, and then

according to the action mechanism and influence path

of relevant innovation elements, implement the

differentiated innovation ability promotion strategy,

promote the transformation of scientific and

technological achievements and stimulate economic

growth.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank my tutor, Mr. Li Jianbo, for his

help and guidance in the process of writing my paper.

In the process of writing the paper, the tutor gave me

patient guidance and inspiration. Put forward a lot of

constructive advice, gave great help and

encouragement.

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