Empirical analysis on regional economic growth from the perspectives of entrepreneurship and investment in research and development

Abstract

This paper mainly assesses the influence of entrepreneurship over regional economic growth (REG) and the investment in research and development (R&D), and puts forward countermeasures to promote the REG. The fixed effects model for panel data analysis was adopted to evaluate how entrepreneurship directly affects REG and indirectly affects REG via R&D investment. The results show that the entrepreneurial and innovative spirits of entrepreneurs promote economic growth; the promoting effect of entrepreneurial spirit is greater than that of innovative spirit; R&D investment mediates the influence of entrepreneurship over economic growth; the three major economic regions of China, namely, East, Central, and West China, have different laws in the influence of entrepreneurial spirit and innovative spirit on economic growth and R&D investment, owing to the variation in resources endowment and entrepreneurship allocation. The research results help policymakers formulate regional economic development strategies in the light of entrepreneurship configuration and R&D investment.