Abstract
Economic efficiency is the key issue of sustainable development in urban agglomerations. To date, more attention has been paid to the estimates of productivity gains from urban agglomerations. Differing from the previous studies, this paper focuses on the influencing factors and mechanisms of the economic efficiency of urban agglomerations, and check the effects of three different externalities (industrial specialization, industrial diversity and industrial competition) on the economic efficiency of urban agglomerations. The selected samples are multiple urban agglomerations, and the economic efficiency of urban agglomerations includes single factor productivity and total factor productivity. China’s top 10 urban agglomerations are selected as the case study and their differences in economic efficiency are portrayed comparatively. Firstly, a theoretical analysis framework for three different externalities effect mechanisms on the economic efficiency of urban agglomerations is incorporated. Secondly, economic efficiency measurement index system composes of labor productivity, capital productivity, land productivity and total factor productivity, and the impact of various factors on the economic efficiency of urban agglomerations is tested. The results confirm some phenomena (MAR externality, Jacobs externality and Porter externality) discussed or mentioned in the literature and some new findings regarding the urban agglomerations, derive policy implications for improving economic efficiency and enhancing the sustainability of urban agglomerations, and suggest some potentials for improving the limitations of the research.
Highlights
In the process of trade liberalization and economic globalization, urban agglomerations are increasingly becoming the center of modern economic growth and a new regional unit for the country to participate in global competition and international division
From the influencing factors on labor productivity, the industrial specialization variable statistical result is significant, and the coefficient is positive. This indicates that MAR externality exits, and the industrial specialization is conducive to the improvement of labor productivity of urban agglomerations
The industrial competition variable statistical result is significant, and the coefficient is positive. This indicates that Porter externality exits, and the industrial competition is conducive to the improvement of labor productivity of urban agglomerations
Summary
In the process of trade liberalization and economic globalization, urban agglomerations are increasingly becoming the center of modern economic growth and a new regional unit for the country to participate in global competition and international division. In today’s economic globalization, “the world is not flat”, half of the world’s production activities are concentrated in 1.5% of the land area. More than 50% of the world population is urban. With the annual increase of urban population by 1 million people its percentage will reach 67.2% by 2050 [2,3,4]. Urban concentration has been the subject of much attention in relation to economic development. About the urbanization process that occurs with development [5]. The urban agglomeration process is not generally defined in the literature, its core features are universally agreed on. Urban agglomeration is an ensemble of many relatively independent cities, the sum of all interurban relationships of those cities [6,7,8,9]
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