Has the Construction of National High-Tech Zones Promoted Regional Economic Growth?—Empirical Research from Prefecture-Level Cities in China

Abstract

As a “special economic zone” and “policy test field” in the region, the national high-tech zone is an important strategy for the country to promote the development of high-tech industries and regional economy, but its effect needs to be verified. This paper uses panel data of 281 prefecture-level cities in China from 1994 to 2019, and uses the differences-in-differences method to study the impact of high-tech zones on regional economic development. On this basis, the heterogeneity effects of different types of high-tech zones on regional economic growth are explored. The empirical research results show that the national high-tech zone promotes regional economic growth, and this conclusion still holds after conducting multiple robustness tests. Further research found that the promotion of national high-tech zones to economic development showed the law of “diminishing marginal effect”: Compared with higher-level cities, lower-level cities gained faster development from the construction of national high-tech zones. Compared with the developed regions in the east, the underdeveloped regions in the west have achieved faster development from the construction of the national high-tech zone. In addition, this paper finds that growth-type high-tech zones have a greater marginal contribution to regional economic growth than mature high-tech zones; multi-zone high-tech zones have a greater marginal contribution to regional economic growth than single-zone high-tech zones. The research of this paper shows that the national high-tech zones as “policy test fields” and “special economic zones” can not only drive economic development, but also help narrow the economic development gap between regions through their rational distribution. This provides important inspiration for the future layout of the national high-tech zone and the establishment of other related policies.