Impact of Innovation Factors on Circular Economy Development: On Spatial Econometric Analysis of Chinese Povincial Panel Data

Innovation-driven development and circular economy development have become the focus of the society's attention. Based on the data of 30 provinces in China, and through analyzing the mechanism of innovation-driven circular economy development, we investigates the influence of four innovation factors on circular economy development by using the spatial econometric model. The results show that there is a significant spatial spillover effect on the circular economy development in China's provinces, and the high development level of circular economy in a certain region promotes the development of circular economy in adjacent provinces. From the perspective of the direct influence of innovation factors on the economic development, provinces' own knowledge and technology innovation, the integration of resources and technologies, the product and industry innovation, and the cultural and policy innovation capacity play an important role in promoting the circular economic development in the region. From the perspective of the indirect influence, enhancement of surrounding provinces’ knowledge and technology innovation, culture and policy innovation, and the improvement of the product and industry innovation capability can help promote the development level of circular economy in our provinces, while the spatial spillovers of resource and technology integration are insignificant due to the existence of competitive effects among provinces. Finally, according to the results of the research, some countermeasures are put forward to further promote the coordinated development of circular economy in the province.