Impact of local government attention on basic research

Robust basic research is fundamental to building an innovative nation and establishing global leadership in science and technology. Local governments serve as key “locomotives” in promoting regional basic research. However, their administrative actions are closely tied to their specific areas of focus and attention. This study uses data from 30 provinces and regions in China from 2011 to 2022 to empirically examine the impact of local government attention on basic research from both input and output perspectives, applying text analysis techniques. The results reveal a significant positive correlation between local government attention and basic research. Furthermore, both the market environment and the level of information maturity positively moderate this relationship. These findings remain robust after narrowing the time window, using alternative methods to measure explanatory variables, and conducting endogeneity tests. Accordingly, local governments should continue to emphasize basic research while enhancing the market environment and improving regional levels of information maturity.