The factors driving industrial integration: A fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis

The integration of modern service and advanced manufacturing industries represents deep industrial reform and profound change in quality concepts, mechanisms, and practices. Integrating these two industries is important for achieving high-quality development and is an area of interest for policymakers and academia. This study analyzes the data of 11 regions in 2021 in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area using the fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis method from the configuration perspective. This study explores the effects of multiple factors, such as economic efficiency, technological innovation, and the policy environment, on improving the coupling coordination level of the modern service and advanced manufacturing industries, and analyzes the path selection of industrial integration development. Overall, economic efficiency, technological innovation, and policy environment factors are not necessary conditions for the integration development of the modern service and advanced manufacturing industries. The multiple impacts of economic efficiency, technological innovation, and policy environment form a multi-restructuring path that drives the integration of the two industries. Owing to the economic development level and resource endowment of different regions, the path dictating the degree of integration between the two industries varies by region. From a holistic perspective, all regions should strive to coordinate the multiple conditions of economic efficiency, technological innovation, and policy environment to break through objective constraints such as the government's conditions and external environment based on their own organizational conditions and resource endowments. Additionally, all regions should strengthen exchanges, cooperation, and integration mechanisms and implement complementary development and distinctive development in core cities in the Greater Bay Area. The results clarify the factors affecting industrial convergence in the Greater Bay Area, enriching existing research methods and laying a foundation for a decision-making theory of industrial integration development.