Evaluating high-tech industries' technological innovation capability and spatial pattern evolution characteristics: Evidence from China

The development of high-tech industries in an open economy has become an inevitable requirement for all countries to enhance their competitive advantages and overall national strength. Technological innovation is a direct driving force for promoting high-tech industries' development. The technological innovation capability of China's high-tech industries over 2010-2019 was measured using factor analysis. Moreover, the spatial pattern and evolution characteristics of the technological innovation capability of high-tech industries were analyzed using the Moran index. The empirical results demonstrate that: (1) during the research period, the technological innovation capability of China's high-tech industries rose, but regional development was uncoordinated. Input-output and transformation guarantee capacities were the main factors influencing technological innovation. (2) Improvements in the technological innovation capability of China's high-tech industries were spread over the southeast coast to the central and southwest regions. The technological innovation capabilities of high-tech industries in different regions exhibited an evident spatial correlation. The spatial agglomeration distribution is relatively stable, mainly characterized by "Low-Low" (L-L) agglomeration. This study offers managerial enlightenment for improving the technological innovation capability of high-tech industries to accelerate industrial development to the middle and high end of the global value chain. (c) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. on behalf of Journal of Innovation & Knowledge. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)