Abstract

China’s technology levels have grown rapidly in the first decade of the 21st century. This study examines the economic and social influences on technology utilization and availability in China’s 31 administrative units. An exploratory conceptual model is established, based on prior research and including screening for spatial clustering of like-valued residuals. The empirical research goals are (1) to statistically analyze the determinants of technology usage in China at the provincial level using the most recent technology, economic, and social data, and (2) to statistically analyze the impact of spatial autocorrelation on Chinese provincial technology levels and on regression residuals. Findings indicate the most significant determinant of China’s provincial technology levels is export commodities value, followed by published books, tertiaryand non-state-owned employment, and to a lesser extent innovation. Spatial autocorrelation isonly slightly present following the regression analysis. The implications of the study for government policies in China are examined.

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