Search

Copyright of Papers in Regional Science is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper examines the effect of spatial structure, as measured on the monocentricity–polycentricity dimension, on labour productivity at the prefectural level in China. Using pooled cross-sectional and instrumental variable techniques, we find that, all else being equal, prefectures with a more monocentric spatial structure have a higher labour productivity, robust to different specifications. Furthermore, large agglomeration economies may fuel the beneficial effects of monocentricity. We conclude that, in terms of economic performance, monocentric-oriented spatial strategy could be a better choice for Chinese prefecture-scale regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines whether human capital levels diverged across Chinese cities between 1990 and 2010. By employing a series of instruments for the initial human capital share, consistent positive feedback between current human capital levels on the subsequent growth of human capital in the 2000s is found. The findings are also robust to alternative instrumental variables. Further evidence suggests that a city's industry structure does not explain the positive feedbacks, but rather urban amenities appear to be the primary causal factor. To mitigate large provincial inequality in development, China should mitigate growing differentials in human capital by improving local urban amenities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates the impact of industrial agglomeration on firm-level productivity in Chinese manufacturing sectors. To account for spatial autocorrelation across regions, we formulate a hierarchical spatial model and use a Bayesian instrumental-variable approach. We find that agglomeration of the same industry (i.e., localization) has a productivity-boosting effect, but agglomeration of urban population (i.e., urbanization) has no such effect. In addition, the localization effect increases with the educational levels of employees and the share of intermediate inputs in gross output. These results may suggest that agglomeration externalities occur through knowledge spillovers and input sharing among firms producing similar manufactures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper employs a stochastic frontier production function to decompose total factor productivity (TFP) and examines the determinants of frontier technological progress, technical efficiency, and TFP growth across 262 prefectural and higher level cities in China for 2001–2010. The econometric analysis shows that industrial agglomeration, as a share of the national output, contributes to TFP growth through frontier technology and technical efficiency; industrial agglomeration, as a share of the local economy, enhances technical efficiency but is not conducive to technological progress. Spatial density of urban employment negatively affects the growth of technical efficiency and TFP. Overall, the differences in agglomeration economies explain more than one-half of the differences in TFP growth across China's cities. The results are stable in three sub-periods. Important policy implications are derived from the empirical findings. Smaller cities should develop an industrial base that passes a critical mass. Larger cities should continue to direct new development and relocate existing firms to planned, less congested industrial districts. Provincial and sub-provincial level cities should specialize and diversify in advanced producer services and headquarters economies, rather than manufacturing. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Agglomeration economies have been an increasingly prevalent interest in research communities of regional and urban studies. Recent evidence reports the importance of agglomeration economies closely associated with the urban network. However, limited efforts have been proposed to emphasize the spatial-functional roles of regional agglomeration and their network behaviors. With the use of geospatial big data and network analytical approaches, this paper, therefore, presents a data-driven intraregional case study in China's Greater Bay Area (GBA) to investigate the curiosities related to a regional network of sectoral agglomeration economies. By extracting industry-related points of interest (POIs), industrial activities are derived by topic modeling in representing industrial functional topics. Bipartite network projection is implemented to construct a one-mode network based on the two-mode agglomeration network. Community detection is further applied over the agglomeration networks, for uncovering groups of agglomerations that are closely connected by their industrial functions. The results confirm substantial geographic heterogeneities of agglomeration networks related to locational advantages. A robust radiation effect on the north-western hinterland is observed regarding material and mechanical production industries. It is suggested that complementary relationships in regional cooperative activities have been partially established through intensive agglomeration networks. • Spatial-functional patterns of the regional network in China's Greater Bay Area (GBA) are investigated. • Industrial functions are extracted from Points of interest (POIs) in the manufacturing sector. • A robust radiation effect on the north-western hinterland is observed in material and mechanical production industries. • Spatial-functional heterogeneities of agglomeration networks are confirmed, probably related to locational advantages. • Practical implications associated with stakeholders' concerns are discussed to enhance regional economies' integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the net effect of agglomeration on entrepreneurship depends on the trade-off between positive and negative effects, urban agglomeration can either promote or discourage entrepreneurial activity in theory. However, there is an unexpected shortage of empirical confirmations on this potential cause-and-effect relationship. Our study strives to fill this empirical gap by providing credible evidence whether agglomeration, measured by the urban density or population, increases the probability of individuals being self-employed. Based on the China Labor-Force Dynamic Survey of 2012, 2014, and 2016, we find that big cities fail to facilitate individuals to start or run their own businesses. Further analyses illustrate that the entrepreneurs in large cities can be easily tempted by a wider range of salaried opportunities and are generally exposed to high fixed costs and intense competition. In contrast, entrepreneurship in large cities is of high reward. These results serve as direct evidence of the co-existence of agglomeration diseconomies and economies. This also suggests the direction of government policy in large cities, which is to alleviate, as much as possible, the negative impact on entrepreneurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The severity of the 2007–2008 global financial crisis and the spatial heterogeneity of its impact have accelerated the study of regional economic resilience. However, few have investigated whether pre-crisis determinants impact regional economic resilience. This study explores the factors influencing regional economic resilience across 284 Chinese cities from 2003 to 2019. We use data from the National Bureau of Statistics in China and apply a multilevel logistic regression model. The results indicate the magnitude of the province effects on regional performance during the financial crisis. The results show that regional economic resilience is significantly shaped by provincial trajectories and region size. Furthermore, economic agglomeration, manufacturing, education, infrastructure, and financial development make regions less susceptible to external shocks and more resilient to financial crises. The results provide supportive evidence for governments to adopt region-based policies and thereby improve their performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compact development is proposed to preserve land resources as well as promote agglomeration economies. This paper adopts a multi-indicator system of compact cities, including population density, boundary limitation, and road density, to examine the relationship between the compact city and urban efficiency through agglomeration economies. We empirically examine the relationships between compact city indicators and comprehensive/technical efficiency measures of the cities through GMM regression with panel data of 226 prefectural and upper-level cities in China during 2001–2015. We find the answers heterogeneous for each indicator-efficiency pair for each city type. Higher population density and compact urban form are beneficial to the urban economic efficiencies of large cities, but not for the technical efficiency of small cities. Road density is conducive efficiencies for small and medium cities, but not technical efficiencies for large cities. We confer that the heterogeneity may be explained by the economic structure compositions of cities of different sizes. Based on our findings, we propose tailor-made policy suggestions regarding urban compactness and economic efficiencies for cities of different sizes. • Relationship between compactness and agglomeration economy efficiencies is explored. • A GMM with dynamic panel for 226 prefecture-level cities in China is constructed. • High density development promotes urban economic efficiencies of large cities. • Road density promotes urban economic efficiencies for small and medium cities. • Policies should be catered to the heterogeneity of compactness and agglomeration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using panel data of 30 Chinese provinces during the period from 2005 to 2015, this paper empirically examines to what extent agglomeration economies influence environmental regulatory competition. It is found that a province's environmental regulation, which is measured by the enforcement of command and control policy and market-based economic policy, is positively related to the regulation of its competitor provinces. Therefore, Chinese provinces do engage in environmental regulatory competition. It is also found that provinces with different levels of agglomeration economies respond asymmetrically to the change of their competitors' regulation. The more agglomerated a province is, the less responsive is the province's environmental regulation to its competitors' environmental regulation. In particular, the asymmetric response is only significant when provinces adopt market-based economic policy to engage in regulatory competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Municipal mergers have become a worldwide phenomenon in the past few decades, primarily advanced to exploit economies of scale. While most evaluations of municipal mergers have focused on the efficiency of local public goods provision, it is rare in the literature to explore how such mergers promote economic growth in a developing country context. This research investigates the economic consequences of a policy experiment of city-county mergers ( che xian she qu) in China during the period 2000-2004. Using comprehensive datasets at city, county and firm levels, we present evidence that the merger significantly increases local economic development, and the magnitude of the effect depends on local endowments related to agglomeration forces. The results are robust to a number of different model specifications. We further verify that improved transport infrastructure and urban agglomeration economies after merger are potential contributors to the positive merger effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior studies in finance have examined the comovement of stock returns of firms headquartered in the same location. One interpretation of the results is that local investors have a ‘local bias’ due to an information advantage on local firms. We propose that localised agglomeration economies affect the fundamentals of local firms, resulting in the local comovement of stock returns. Using data for China A-share listed firms from 1997 to 2007, we find evidence of the comovement of stock returns of Chinese firms headquartered in the same city. We find inconsistent evidence for the local bias theory. The comovement of the stock returns of firms headquartered in the same city is stronger when the agglomeration economies in the city are stronger, suggesting that localised agglomeration economies provide an alternative explanation of the comovement of stock returns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Professional Geographer is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study is the first empirical research on understanding the determinants of the concentration of cultural industries ( CIs) in cities in China. What factors of the urban environment are important for attracting the location of CIs? How is the development of CIs in a city influenced by its neighbouring cities and its early development? To answer these questions, three types of spatial panel models - the spatial lag model, the spatial error model and the spatial dynamic panel model - are employed using the urban statistics for China from 2003 to 2009. Human capital, diversified industrial structure and transportation and communication infrastructure are significant factors contributing to the development of CIs. The empirical findings reveal the presence of positive spatial spillovers among cities, which suggests that promoting CIs in one city benefits other cities. Also, the evidence suggests the presence of temporal spillovers, implying that the early concentration of CIs in a city tends to attract more CIs in that city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from China, this article finds that agglomeration economies derived from the clustering of manufacturing and foreign investment activities, combined with better access to markets, influence the location of foreign manufacturers. Foreign enterprises are attracted to cities with investment incentives, but they avoid high labour cost locations. The locational patterns also suggest country of origin effects. American, Hong Kong and Taiwanese manufacturers tend to value access to domestic markets, while Japanese investors favour port cities. Further analysis indicates the presence of origin of country effects at the sectoral level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]