Abstract
As a new model of urban development, it is important to scientifically analyze the impact of smart cities on the quality of foreign direct investment (FDI). This article constructs a difference in differences’ model to test the impact of foreign direct investment quality in smart city construction based on panel data of 226 prefecture-level cities from 2006–2017. Study shows the following. (1) The construction of smart cities has significantly improved the quality of FDI utilized in pilot cities. (2) Heterogeneity analysis shows that smart city construction significantly contributes to the quality of FDI in the western city subsample and a subsample of cities with low natural resource dependence. After a series of robustness tests and placebo tests, the above conclusions still hold. The results of the study suggest that China should further promote the construction of smart cities to optimize the quality of foreign direct investment and promote high-quality economic growth. The findings of the study also provide theoretical and practical references for the construction of smart cities in China and other countries around the world.
Highlights
In 2008, the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) puts forward the concept of smart city, China’s smart city development in the concept of the introduction period; at this time, local enterprises are in the fumbling stage. e market is dominated by international software system integrator
If the coefficient of smartt−n is not significant and the coefficient of smartt+n is significant, it indicates that the treatment group has a parallel trend with the control group and the driving effect of the smart city pilot work is obvious. e results of the parallel trend test are shown in Figure 3. e coefficient of smartt−nwas not significant before the smart city pilot was launched, and the coefficient was only significantly positive after the smart city pilot was launched, which indicates that the model passed the parallel trend test and the policy effect of the smart city pilot has a certain degree of persistence
Exploring columns (3) and (4) reveals that the estimated coefficients of smartct are 0.249 and 0.178, respectively, which indicate that compared to nonpilot cities, the average size of foreign-invested enterprises and the foreign investment performance index of smart cities are on average 0.249 units and 0.178 units higher, respectively. erefore, this indicates that the smart city pilot has helped to improve the quality of FDI and played the expected promotional role
Summary
In 2008, the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) puts forward the concept of smart city, China’s smart city development in the concept of the introduction period; at this time, local enterprises are in the fumbling stage. e market is dominated by international software system integrator. In 2008, the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) puts forward the concept of smart city, China’s smart city development in the concept of the introduction period; at this time, local enterprises are in the fumbling stage. In 2012, with the increasing level of urbanization in China, the Ministry of Housing and Construction issued the “Interim Measures on National Smart City Pilot,” and the construction of smart cities in China started to get on track driven by the development of information technology. In 2016, as China's 5G, big data, artificial intelligence (AI), and other technology levels become increasingly mature, China's smart city construction towards digital and intelligent development enters a new stage of development. As of early April 2020, the number of three batches of smart city pilot lists announced by the Ministry of Housing and Construction in China has reached 290. The signed projects cover a number of fields such as artificial intelligence, integrated
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
