This paper mainly assesses the influence of entrepreneurship over regional economic growth (REG) and the investment in research and development (R&D), and puts forward countermeasures to promote the REG. The fixed effects model for panel data analysis was adopted to evaluate how entrepreneurship directly affects REG and indirectly affects REG via R&D investment. The results show that the entrepreneurial and innovative spirits of entrepreneurs promote economic growth; the promoting effect of entrepreneurial spirit is greater than that of innovative spirit; R&D investment mediates the influence of entrepreneurship over economic growth; the three major economic regions of China, namely, East, Central, and West China, have different laws in the influence of entrepreneurial spirit and innovative spirit on economic growth and R&D investment, owing to the variation in resources endowment and entrepreneurship allocation. The research results help policy-makers formulate regional economic development strategies in the light of entrepreneurship configuration and R&D investment.
The Relationships between Research and Development (R&D) Investment and Regional Economic Growth