The impacts of high-speed rail on the transformation of resource-based cities in China: A market segmentation perspective

Abstract

Numerous resource-based cities (RBC) in China are facing tremendous pressure on industrial transformation, while the large-scale construction and operation of high-speed rail (HSR) may alleviate the resource dependence of RBC by weakening regional market segmentation. On this basis, a quasi-natural experiment is conducted in 282 prefecture-level cities in China from 2003 to 2018 to verify the theoretical hypothesis. We get the following results: (1) the opening of high-speed rail has reduced the employment ratio of mining industries in resource-based cities by 2.0%, and the dependence on natural resources by 27.74%. (2) The opening of high-speed rail mainly promotes the transformation of resource-based cities from the mining industry to the tertiary industry, inducing employment ratio in the tertiary industry rises by 2.8%. (3) The heterogeneity tests suggest the central region and mature resource-based cities are the most susceptible, followed by the eastern region and declining resource-based cities. (4) Further mechanism tests hint that promoting individual employment and attracting foreign investment are the potential ways for the industrial transformation. Moreover, the opening of high-speed rail can reduce environmental pollution and energy consumption in resource-based cities. This work sheds light on the new strategy of resource-based cities' industrial transformation and enriches the research on high-speed rail and industrial transformation.