High-quality Economic Development Research Articles

China’s pilot free trade zone and high-quality economic development: the mediation effect of data real integration and the regulating effect of technological innovation

China’s pilot free trade zone and high-quality economic development: the mediation effect of data real integration and the regulating effect of technological innovation

Determinants and spatial spillover effects of inbound tourism in Chinese cities

Purpose By using a wide range of macro and micro factors, this paper aims to provide a new assessment of the recent literature on inbound tourism demand models. Design/methodology/approach This study examines the determinants and spatial effects of inbound tourism using Hausman–Taylor and spatial econometric models. Findings Several important factors were identified, including local economic growth, openness to the outside world, regional size, geographic distance, foreign direct investment, level of innovation and average annual temperature. In addition, the study found strong cross-city competition effects on tourism resource endowment and hotel infrastructure. Originality/value Inbound tourism is a crucial link in achieving high-quality economic development. However, previous studies have mainly focused on the analysis of single influencing factors, ignoring the spatial spillover effects of factors.

Impact of digital economy on urban land green use efficiency: Evidence from Chinese cities

Abstract Improving urban land green use efficiency (ULGUE) is essential for achieving the sustainable use of land resources and the high-quality economic development of cities. The digital economy has overcome spatial and locational constraints, blurred the boundaries between industries, and created a collaborative and open economic model, inevitably affecting urban land utilization. However, whether the digital economy will affect ULGUE and how such an effect would take place are still unclear. This study evaluates the digital economy and ULGUE of Chinese cities from 2011 to 2019 and systematically analyzes both the direct and indirect impact mechanisms through which the digital economy affects ULGUE. The results show that the digital economy can significantly enhance ULGUE, and these results prove to be reliable, as shown by various endogeneity treatments and robustness tests. The digital economy enhances ULGUE by optimizing the industrial structure (structural effect), increasing green technology innovation (technical effect), and agglomerating digital talent (scale effect). Moreover, land finance dependency plays an adverse moderating role in the relationship between the digital economy and ULGUE. Further heterogeneity analysis shows that the promoting effect of the digital economy on ULGUE takes full effect in the eastern cities, larger cities, and cities with high levels of digital economy development and land marketization. This paper presents recommendations for supporting the balanced and integrated development of the digital economy across regions and provides differentiated development strategies to enhance ULGUE in the context of digitization.

Research on the driving effect of marine economy on the high-quality development of regional economy – Evidence from China’s coastal areas

Exploring the driving effect of the marine economy on high-quality economic development can help improve the quality of national economic development and optimize the direction of marine economic development. Based on the data of China’s coastal areas from 2006 to 2019, this study adopts the entropy weight-TOPSIS method to comprehensively evaluate the level of marine economy and the high-quality economic development in coastal areas. Further, we use random forest regression and partial dependence plots to reveal the driving effect of the marine economy on the advancement of high-quality economic growth in China’s coastal areas. The results show that the driving effect of the marine economy on the high-quality development of coastal areas is affected by the moderating effect of the economic elements, and regions should choose their development paths according to the location of their elements in the optimal interval. Our research results can provide a scientific foundation for the formulation of differentiated economic high-quality development policies in China’s coastal areas.

Scale or effectiveness? The nonlinear impact of talent agglomeration on high-quality economic development in China

Talent agglomeration serves as a vital pathway for achieving high-quality economic development. This paper, based on provincial panel data from China spanning 2011–2020, first analyses the impact of talent agglomeration on high-quality economic development from two dimensions: the talent agglomeration scale and effectiveness. Second, with innovation activity as a threshold variable, this paper explores the nonlinear impact of the talent agglomeration scale and effectiveness on economic efficiency improvement and economic structure optimization. This study finds that (1) the main driving force for high-quality economic development within the sample period comes from the talent agglomeration scale, while the promoting role of talent agglomeration effectiveness has not yet passed significant tests. (2) Under different levels of innovation activity, the talent agglomeration scale has a diminishing marginal utility impact on economic efficiency improvement and economic structure optimization; talent agglomeration effectiveness also has different nonlinear effects on economic efficiency improvement and economic structure optimization.

Corporate ESG and total factor productivity: Will the fulfillment of social responsibility sacrifice productivity?

With the increasing prominence of climate and energy issues, enterprises, as the micro-subjects of economic activities, need to pay attention to environmental responsibility to promote sustainable and high-quality economic development. However, one of the crucial controversies is whether enterprises will sacrifice efficiency to fulfill their environmental responsibilities. To try our best to answer the controversy, this paper explores the impact of ESG on total factor productivity and its mechanism. The research conclusion shows that Chinese enterprises fulfilling ESG responsibilities can improve staff efficiency, reduce financing costs, ease financing constraints, and increase innovation investment, thus effectively improving total factor productivity. Compared to non-state-owned enterprises, this effect is more significant in state-owned enterprises. In addition, the promotion of ESG construction on the total factor productivity of enterprises also presents specific acceleration characteristics. This shows that in the socialist market economy environment, there is an obvious "social responsibility dividend" in the implementation of the ESG concept by Chinese enterprises, which is helpful to enhance their long-term value and realize a win-win of social value and commercial value. The conclusions of this study help deal correctly with the relationship between business value and social value of enterprises and provide inspiration for promoting healthy and sustainable economic development.

A GIS-based Study of The Impact of HSR Network Distribution on Firms' Total Factor Productivity: Evidence from Listed Manufacturing Firms in China

With the rapid development of the economy, enterprises are increasingly pursuing efficient division of labor and communication, and in order to achieve high-quality economic growth and sustainable development, high speed rail (HSR) has been born. Therefore, the study of the impact of HSR accessibility on the total factor productivity (TFP) of enterprises has become a hot topic of research in today's academia. In this paper, firstly, based on GIS network analysis, the routes and stations after opening are matched with the locations of enterprises to describe the spatial correlation between HSR and the locations of enterprises as well as the distribution of HSR among enterprises; secondly, a multi-period difference-in-difference model (DID) is utilized to study the impact of HSR opening on TFP of enterprises on the basis of the data of China's listed manufacturing enterprises in the period of 2000-2017; and The PSM-DID model to test the robustness of the empirical results; finally, the path of the impact of HSR on the TFP is explored. The empirical results are as follows: (1) The distribution of HSR and the location of listed enterprises are highly correlated in terms of geographic distribution information; (2) HSR has a significant impact on the TFP, and the impact effect is different in different periods; (3) HSR mainly affects the TFP of enterprises by using the innovative behavior of enterprises and industrial agglomeration as the mediating variables.

How does technological innovation affect the fiscal decentralization of local governments? Evidence from China

Technological innovation is a pivotal driver of high-quality economic development, and China's distinctive fiscal decentralization model stands out as a crucial institutional factor behind the country's economic growth miracle. Despite its significant academic and practical implications, there is a noticeable scarcity of literature on examining government fiscal decentralization through the lens of technological innovation. This paper addresses fundamental research questions regarding the relationship between technological innovation and fiscal decentralization. Leveraging balanced panel data from 30 provinces in China spanning 2005 to 2020, our findings indicate that technological innovation positively impacts the fiscal decentralization of local governments. Specifically, for each standard deviation increase in technological innovation, there is a corresponding 0.1508 standard deviation in fiscal decentralization. The mechanism driving this relationship lies in technological innovation's ability to enhance enterprise profit levels, increasing tax and non-tax revenues for local governments. Importantly, when non-tax revenue at the central government level surpasses tax revenue, the resulting augmentation in local government revenue contributes to an elevated level of fiscal decentralization. In conclusion, this paper offers valuable insights into the government's endeavors to promote scientific and technological innovation while enhancing local fiscal decentralization. These insights contribute to an improved quality of economic development.

Exploring Spatial-Temporal Coupling and Its Driving Factors of Green and Low-Carbon Urban Land Use Efficiency and High-Quality Economic Development in China

Green and low-carbon use of urban land (GLUUL) and high-quality economic development (HED) are two closely linked and mutually reinforcing systems, and their coordinated development is of great theoretical and practical significance to the realization of green and sustainable urban development. Based on theoretical analysis, this paper used data from 2005 to 2020 to measure GLUUL efficiency and HED level and their coupling coordination degree (CCD) successively of 282 cities in China, and then analyzed in-depth the main factors affecting CCD and its spatial–temporal heterogeneity using the GTWR model. This study found that (1) GLUUL efficiency and HED levels are increasing with different trends, and the development is unbalanced. High-value cities in the two systems show a staggered distribution pattern. (2) The CCD of the two was dominated by primary and intermediate coordination types, and the overall became increasingly coordinated, with the “intermediate coordination—advanced development” type having the highest representation. (3) There is a gradual convergence of CCD spatial differences, showing an overall spatial distribution pattern that is “high in the northwest and southeast, low in the central area”. (4) The influence degree and direction of different factors on CCD are distinguishing. The positive impact of industrial structure upgrading (Isu) is obviously greater than other factors, which has the strongest effect on the industrial corridor along the Yangtze River and the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region. The findings can offer insightful recommendations for promoting sustainable development in China and similar developing countries and regions.

Evaluation of the coordinated development level in the coastal eco-environmental complex system: A case study of Jiaozhou Bay, China

Given the exponential population growth and remarkable socio-economic advancements, coastal areas face increasingly complex challenges in eco-environmental management due to anthropogenic pressures. With the current emphasis on high-quality economic development, there is an urgent need to establish and evaluate a comprehensive indicator system to ensure the sustainable development of the coastal eco-environment and to meet evolving management demands. Research on the coordinated development level of coastal eco-environmental complex system, based on the concept of land-sea coordination, plays a pivotal role in promoting the resolution of eco-environmental issues in coastal areas, achieving sustainable socio-economic development in these regions. In this study, we construct an indicator system for the eco-environmental complex system in Jiaozhou Bay (JZB) coastal zone, China, comprising six sub-systems and thirty indicators. The comprehensive development level and coupling coordination degree model (CCDM) are employed in this study to analyze the indicator system in 1980–2020, aiming to elucidate the processes involved in the improvements in this complex system. The findings indicate: (i) the system's comprehensive development level evaluation and coupling coordination degree (CCD) exhibit a two-stage pattern: a declining trend in 1980–2005, followed by a rising trend in 2005–2020. (ii) despite improvements, the comprehensive development level and the CCD of the system in 2020 still hold potential for further enhancement compared to 1980; and (iii) policymaking and changes in anthropogenic pressures in coastal areas are the primary factors influencing the performance of the system. In the future, policymaking can reduce anthropogenic pressures on the coastal eco-environment, improve the comprehensive development level and CCD of the complex system, and encourage a commitment to sustainable development.

The Impact of Digital Economy on the Coordinated Development of Urban and Rural Areas in the Context of Common Prosperity

Chinese modernization is the modernization of common prosperity for all people, and only by achieving common prosperity can the all-round development of people be implemented. The difficulty and focus of common prosperity lies in promoting the coordinated development of urban and rural areas. In recent years, the digital path has been a new direction for the coordinated development of urban and rural areas, and the digital economy has empowered rural revitalization to become a new driving force for the high-quality development of agriculture and rural areas, gradually reducing the difference between urban and rural development. Therefore, on the basis of the principle analysis of the digital economy and the coordinated development of urban and rural areas, this paper emphasizes that the new development stage should actively promote the in-depth reform of the digital economy, pay attention to preventing and resolving potential risks while expanding the scale, and further give full play to the positive role of the digital economy in promoting the coordinated development of urban and rural areas, so as to empower high-quality economic development.

Impact of New Energy Industry Agglomeration on Green Innovation Efficiency—Based on the Regulative Effect of Green Finance

With the implementation of China’s innovation-driven high-quality economic development strategy, green and innovation are already the key factors of economic development. Therefore, developing green industry and improving regional green innovation have attracted wide attention and are of great significance to the sustainable development of China’s economy. Therefore, starting from China’s provincial panel from 2012 to 2021, this paper first uses the super-efficiency relaxation data envelopment analysis model (Super-SBM) to estimate green innovation efficiency (GI) and then uses the location entropy to measure the regional agglomeration level of the new energy industry (agg). Then, the generalized estimation of moments (GMM) model is used to explore the impact of agg on GI and verify the regulatory mechanism of green finance (GF). The results are as follows: (1) agg presents a distribution of “the highest in the eastern region, followed by the central region, and the lowest in the western region”, (2) agg can facilitate the improvement of GI, and in accordance with the threshold model, moderate GF will further amplify this effect. Therefore, the state and government should further promote the green finance policy, guide new energy enterprises to gather and contribute to the sustainable development of China’s economy.

Mixed-ownership reform and factor misallocation: Evidence from China.

An enterprise's ownership structure is crucial for factor allocation efficiency. We used Chinese firm-level data to investigate whether changes in state-owned enterprise ownership structure contribute to resource misallocation, leading to high-quality economic development. We found a U-shaped relationship between non-state shareholding and state-owned enterprises' resource allocation efficiency. An optimal range exists for non-state shareholding. When the shareholding of non-state shareholders reaches 10%-20%, the efficiency of resource allocation is at its highest. Additional research has revealed that mixed shareholding has varying impacts on resource allocation, displaying substantial heterogeneity. These insights offer valuable guidance for future mixed-ownership reforms and serve as a practical reference for economic reforms in other nations, particularly developing countries.

The coupling and coordination of digital economy and manufacturing transformation and upgrading for industry 5.0 in Hebei Province

In the context of the widespread application of digital technologies such as the Internet, big data, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing, digital transformation in the manufacturing sector has become an important engine to promote high-quality economic development in Hebei Province. This paper aims to objectively analyze the current situation of industrial integration between the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei digital economy and the manufacturing industry, and conduct level measurement, so as to promote the in-depth integration and development of the digital economy and manufacturing industry in Hebei Province, so that the manufacturing enterprises in Hebei Province can rebuild their competitive advantages in the future development, finally realize digital transformation, and promote the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry in Hebei Province. Therefore, it is very important to carry out empirical research on the integrated development of digital economy and manufacturing industry in Hebei Province. First of all, this paper constructs the index evaluation system of digital economy and manufacturing industry respectively, takes the relevant data of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in recent five years as data samples, uses entropy weight-TOPSIS method to measure the level of digital economy development and manufacturing industry transformation, and uses the coupling coordination degree model to measure the level of industrial integration of the two. The final results show that: (1) The development level of digital economy in Hebei Province fluctuates greatly, and there is still a certain gap with Beijing and Tianjin, but the future development potential of digital economy is huge. (2) The transformation level of manufacturing industry in Hebei Province shows a trend of fluctuation and rise on the whole, and the development trend is good, and the gap between Hebei Province and developed regions is gradually narrowing. (3) The integration of digital economy and manufacturing industry in Hebei Province has a good development trend, but there is still a certain gap with Beijing and Tianjin, and there are problems of inadequate, unstable and unbalanced industrial integration. Finally, based on the research conclusions, suggestions are put forward to promote the coordinated development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, improve the level of digital economy and manufacturing integration of industrial convergence development, raise the level of digital infrastructure construction, and raise the level of science and technology innovation. This paper reveals the mechanism of digital economy affecting the high-quality development of manufacturing industry, studies the whole process of digitalization, information technology and intelligence integration into the development of manufacturing industry, and fully releases the positive effect of digital economy driving the high-quality development of manufacturing industry, which has important theoretical and practical significance for promoting the high-quality development of manufacturing industry and formulating relevant industrial policies.

Intelligentization helps the green and energy-saving transformation of power industry-evidence from substation engineering in China

The coordinated development of intelligence and greening is an intrinsic demand for high-quality economic and social development. Intelligentization and greening are the leading directions of sustainable development of the power industry. This paper directs of sustainable development of the power industry. This paper empirically analyzes the effect and mechanism of intelligence on the green environmental friendliness of electric power substations by using a panel fixed-effects model and instrumental variable regression, using substation engineering data from China southern power grid during 2013–2022. It is found that the level of intelligence significantly promotes the green performance of substation projects, and this conclusion still holds after a series of robustness tests. Intelligence can reduce material waste and pollutant emissions by improving the engineering environmental monitoring capability and the refinement of engineering resource control, thus improving the environmental friendliness of the project. The research in this paper helps to promote the integrated development of intelligent and green power engineering, to better achieve economic and green goals.

Research on Energy Conservation and Emission-Reduction Effects of Green Finance: Evidence from China

The energy-saving and low-carbon development model is one of the important symbols of high-quality economic development. This article attempts to study the environmental effects of green finance from both theoretical and empirical perspectives, that is, to test whether green finance policies contribute to achieving energy conservation and emission reduction. This article is based on provincial panel data from 2007 to 2020 in China and constructs a dynamic spatial Durbin model to examine the impact of green finance on environmental pollution and energy intensity. The results indicate that (1) green finance can achieve a dual effect of energy conservation and emission reduction simultaneously and has a significant promoting effect on energy conservation and emission reduction in neighboring regions. This conclusion is still valid after conducting robustness tests. (2) The energy-saving and emission-reduction effects of green finance exhibit significant regional heterogeneity, indicating that the performance of green finance is more outstanding in the eastern region with a higher level of economic development. (3) Mechanism testing has found that green finance can achieve energy-saving and emission-reduction effects through four channels: environmental regulation, credit allocation, enterprise profits, and enterprise innovation. Therefore, in order to further promote high-quality economic development, we need to build a comprehensive and multi-level green finance system, enrich the green finance policy toolbox, and smooth the transmission channels of green finance to promote green and stable economic development.

The Synergistic Research of Ecological Environmental Benefits and High-Quality Economic Development: Empirical Evidence from Henan Province, China

The Synergistic Research of Ecological Environmental Benefits and High-Quality Economic Development: Empirical Evidence from Henan Province, China

Dynamics between energy intensity and carbon emissions: What does the clustering effect of labor and capital play?

Energy depletion and environmental degradation have emerged as pressing concerns in the era of China's high-quality green economic development. We present an integrated framework that incorporate energy consumption intensity, industrial clustering, and carbon emissions into the STIRPAT framework. Our study examines 30 Chinese provinces from 2006 to 2017. Unlike previous analyses, our study measures industrial clustering from two dimensions: labor and capital clustering. Specifically, the benchmark results confirm that a 1% increase in energy consumption intensity will, on average, raise regional carbon emission intensity by 0.03389%. Moderating analysis shows that labor and capital clustering significantly lower carbon emission intensity by reducing energy consumption. These findings have been consolidated after performing a panel vector autoregressive model. Interestingly, the promoting effect of energy consumption intensity on carbon emission intensity tends to be tightened when labor clustering surpasses a threshold. In contrast, the corresponding effects substantially weaken after capital clustering exceeds a threshold. In all, these findings provide new evidence to understand the energy-emission nexus from an industrial clustering perspective.

Transfer payments and carbon reduction in China: The effect of the national comprehensive demonstration city of energy saving and emission reduction fiscal policy

To address climate change and achieve high-quality economic development, China began implementing the Comprehensive Demonstration City of Energy Saving and Emission Reduction Fiscal Policy (ESERFP) in 2011. This policy relies on special transfer payments to increase the integration of various energy conservation and emission reduction fiscal policies, thereby accelerating institutional and mechanism innovation, actively promoting economic structure adjustment and development mode transformation, and achieving energy conservation and emission reduction goals in various regions. This study uses a multi-period difference-in-difference (DID) model to estimate the ESERFP's CO2 emission reduction effect and paths. The findings demonstrate the following: (1) The ESERFP has lessened the CO2 emission intensity of the demonstration city and effectively played a role in reducing CO2 emissions. (2) Mechanism analysis demonstrates that the ESERFP has significantly improved the green travel level of residents in pilot cities and can also reduce cities' total energy consumption. Therefore, the ESERFP can effectively suppress CO2 emissions by improving transportation systems and optimizing energy consumption structures. (3) Further analysis shows that the ESERFP can reduce the CO2 emission scale of the demonstration cities and effectively promote the increase of actual per capita gross domestic product in pilot cities, bringing economic dividends and thus achieving a “win-win” situation of environmental protection and economic growth. (4) Heterogeneity analysis demonstrates that the CO2 emission reduction effect is more significant in non-old industrial-based cities, non-resource-based cities, and urban agglomerations. This study not only evaluates the CO2 reduction effect of the demonstration city but also provides reference significance for the improvement of subsequent environmental regulations. In addition, clarifying the implementation effect of the ESERFP can help alleviate ecological and environmental problems in the process of urban economic development in China and achieve the sustainable development goal of green transformation.

Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of Economic Density and Vegetation Cover in the Yellow River Basin: Unraveling Interconnections

Vegetation, serving as the primary constituent of terrestrial ecosystems, plays a crucial role in regulating energy flow and material cycles and providing vital resources for human socio-economic activities. This study analyzes the spatio-temporal patterns of economic density and vegetation coverage in the Yellow River Basin (YRB) based on forest resource inventory and socio-economic data from 448 counties in 2008, 2013, and 2018. A three-tiered criterion layer is constructed using economic density as the core explanatory variable, encompassing social development factors, land use factors, and natural factors. A two-way fixed effects model is then utilized to analyze the impact of economic density on vegetation coverage. Results reveal that: (1) Spatially, economic density demonstrates a “low in the west and high in the east” pattern, with an overall upward trend in the YRB. Conversely, vegetation cover exhibits a “high in the west and low in the east” pattern, displaying a downward trend. (2) Over the 2008–2018 period, a significant negative correlation between economic density and vegetation cover is observed in each county of the YRB, with vegetation cover decreasing by 1.108% for every 1 unit increase in economic density. Notably, the upstream areas of the YRB experience a significant increase in vegetation coverage, while the middle and lower reaches witness a decrease. (3) Considering control variables, the proportion of the primary industry, urbanization rate, forest protection level, and cultivated land area exert a significant influence on vegetation coverage across the entire basin. Policymakers should formulate relevant policies to achieve sustainable development in the YRB, as discussed in the proposed countermeasures. This study delineates a practical pathway for high-quality economic development and high-level ecological protection in the YRB, offering a valuable reference for analogous research in other regions.