Abstract: Maintaining a certain innovation speed is conducive to building an innovative country in China, and the innovation speed will affect the income gap among residents in multiple ways. Based on vector autoregressive model, panel regression model, and panel threshold regression model, this paper comprehensively studies the relationship among them. The results show that: (1) The speed of innovation, affected by various factors, has both linear and non-linear effects on the income gap. (2) The speed of innovation is generally conducive to narrowing the income gap. (3) When the innovation speed is low, increasing the speed is not conducive to narrowing the income gap. (4) When the income gap is moderate, increasing the speed of innovation will widen the income gap. Finally, some policy suggestions are put forward to optimize the industrial and spatial pattern and adjust the innovation speed accordingly.

Key words: innovation speed, income gap, threshold regression, common prosperity