Digital Economy, Entrepreneurship and Collaborative Innovation: An Evidence from China

Abstract

The influence mechanism of digital economy on collaborative innovation still needs further exploration in terms of theoretical and empirical evidence. Based on the panel data of 30 provincial-level administrative regions in China from 2013-2019, this paper uses the entropy value method to measure the digital economy index and the level of collaborative innovation. Then we conduct a more in-depth discussion on the temporal and spatial evolution characteristics and influence relationship of the digital economy and collaborative innovation from the perspective of entrepreneurship. The results show that, firstly, the digital economy has a significant positive impact on the level of collaborative innovation, and entrepreneurship, specifically entrepreneurial entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial innovation, plays a partly mediating role in this process. Secondly, by using the Spatial Durbin model, we found that the digital economy has a significant siphon effect on the level of collaborative innovation in neighboring provinces. Finally, there is a significant double threshold effect of entrepreneurship on the impact of digital economy on collaborative innovation, and the positive impact of digital economy is characterized by a non-linear incremental marginal effect. The findings of this paper provide a new way of thinking to reveal the inner mechanism of the digital economy's influence on collaborative innovation.