New Quality Productive Forces: Coupling Coordination Analysis of Innovativeness and Productivity

Abstract

Against the backdrop of accelerating global scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, new quality productive forces, as an advanced form of productivity led by scientific and technological innovation, has become the core engine driving high-quality economic development and the construction of a modernized industrial system. President Xi Jinping has emphasized that the development of new quality productive forces should break away from traditional growth paths and achieve a leap in productivity capacity levels. Innovativeness and productivity, as the two core systems of new quality productive forces, are closely linked through mutual promotion and joint development. Innovativeness creates new forms of productivity through technological breakthroughs, factor restructuring, and institutional changes, while productivity provides a practical field for innovation through improving labor quality, optimizing labor objects, and iterating labor materials. The coupling coordination level between the two not only reflects the deep reconfiguration of production factors in the new era but also represents a key pathway to achieving total factor productivity advancement.

Based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2009 to 2022, this paper constructs a composite indicator system encompassing innovativeness and productivity, and employs coupling coordination models and spatial econometric methods to draw the following conclusions: 1) The coupling coordination degree of new quality productive forces across provinces in China shows an overall fluctuating upward trend, with significant regional imbalance. 2) Dagum Gini coefficient decomposition reveals that inter-regional differences contribute 63% to the variation in coupling coordination degree of new quality productive forces, constituting the primary source of disparity. 3) The coupling coordination degree of new quality productive forces exhibits positive spatial agglomeration characteristics and is significantly influenced by government intervention, urbanization, financial development, and population density.

Compared with existing literature, this paper achieves breakthroughs in two aspects: First, it constructs an assessment framework for new quality productive forces with clear theoretical boundaries, overcoming the limitations of conceptual hybridization of existing studies by deconstructing the two major systems of innovativeness and productivity. Second, beyond exploring the relationship between innovativeness and productivity, this paper further analyzes their coupling coordination mechanism and comprehensively examines their spatiotemporal evolution, regional differences, and spatial correlation, providing new perspectives and empirical evidence for policy formulation.

This study offers important insights for improving the new quality productive forces system under the new development paradigm. First, focus on enhancing local innovativeness and productivity levels. For innovativeness, emphasis should be placed on supporting key technological breakthroughs and disruptive innovations, especially in frontier fields, to cultivate new economic growth points. For productivity, strengthening skills training, encouraging enterprise innovation, and improving production efficiency and quality are essential. Second, break down regional market segmentation and narrow development gaps. Through deepening market system reforms, reducing trade barriers, and promoting the free flow of resources, technology, and talent. Fiscal transfer payments, tax incentives, and other policies to stimulate the development momentum in less-developed regions and promote sustainable economic development. Third, optimize the spatial layout of new quality productive forces and improve regional spillover mechanisms. A comprehensive analysis of resource endowments and industrial foundations is necessary to clarify regional positioning and form a new pattern of complementary advantages and collaborative development. Regional cooperation should be strengthened to promote efficient resource allocation and spillover mechanisms, facilitating the rapid diffusion and broad application of new quality productive forces.