Tacit and explicit knowledge spillover on regional economic growth: Evidence from China

Though the influences of explicit knowledge spillover on economic growth in China have been widely discussed in previous studies, the effects of tacit knowledge spillover and the relationship between tacit and explicit knowledge spillover have been less systematically investigated. This paper assesses how and to what extent tacit knowledge spillover contributes to regional economic growth in China. Moreover, the relationship between tacit and explicit knowledge spillover is also investigated in this study. Empirical results show that knowledge spillovers, both of tacit and explicit, import contribute significantly, with similar impact, to regional economic growth. The analyses also suggest the existence of tacit spillover as well as international knowledge spillover. Moreover, a positive relationship between tacit and explicit knowledge spillovers has been supported by the demonstration result.