Industrial Agglomeration Research Articles

Synergistic industrial agglomeration, new quality productive forces and high-quality development of the manufacturing industry

This study analysed the impact of the mechanism of the synergistic agglomeration of manufacturing and modern service industries on the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry using the entropy value method, coupling coordination degree, and E-G index. We utilised panel data of 30 provinces and cities in China from 2012 to 2022. The study found that synergistic agglomeration significantly promotes the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry, in which ‘new quality productive forces’ play a key intermediary effect, while the innovation ecosystem has direct and indirect moderating effects on the relationship between the two. Simultaneously, industrial synergistic agglomeration, development of new productivity, construction of innovation ecosystems, and high-quality development of the manufacturing industry in all provinces and cities showed a steady increase; however, there were significant differences between regions. Based on the findings of the study, policy recommendations are suggested to further promote the synergistic development of the manufacturing industry and modern service industry. At the policy level, the government should strengthen the guidance and support of industrial synergistic agglomeration and formulate differentiated policies to promote industrial synergistic agglomeration; simultaneously, it should pay attention to the cultivation of new productivity and the construction of innovation ecosystems, optimise the allocation of innovation resources, and stimulate the vitality of innovation. At the industrial level, manufacturing enterprises should actively cooperate with modern service enterprises to achieve resource sharing and technological complementation; modern service industries should improve service quality and efficiency to meet the needs of manufacturing transformation and upgrading; and close cooperation between the industry, academia, and research institutes should be established to promote technological innovation and industrial upgradation.

ANALISIS PENGARUH AGLOMERASI INDUSTRI, JUMLAH PENDUDUK TERHADAP TINGKAT DISPARITAS PENDAPATAN ANTAR KABUPATEN/KOTA DI PROVINSI JAWA TENGAH TAHUN 2016-2020

This study aims to determine the level of inequality between regencies/cities in Central Java Province, and the influence of industrial agglomeration, population on income disparities in Central Java Province. The data used in this study is secondary data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) 2016-2020. The analytical method used is descriptive and regression. Regression analysis using panel data. Economic disparities are calculated by the Williamson Index. The effect of industrial agglomeration and population on income disparity was analyzed using linear regression fixed effect model. The Williamson index value for all districts/cities shows economic inequality that occurs in low criteria, except for Brebes district with moderate criteria. Industrial agglomeration variables and population have a simultaneous effect on income disparities in Central Java Province. Keywords: Economic Disparity, Industrial Agglomeration, Population

Research on the Development, Influencing Factors and Influencing Effects of Industrial Agglomeration in China

Since the rapid development of Chinese society and economy, industrial agglomeration has become an important trend of structural change. In order to help enterprises see the advantages and disadvantages of industrial agglomeration, it is very important to study the causes and effects of industrial agglomeration. Therefore, this paper organizes and proposes the reasons for the agglomeration of the four major industries as well as its positive and negative effects. The research results show that political factors, environmental factors, enterprise advantages and culture, talents and consumption level are the main causes of industrial agglomeration. Moreover, the positive benefits of industrial agglomeration are the sharing of infrastructure, resources and markets and the acceleration of knowledge dissemination and technology exchange. The negative impacts are that they increase the economic risk of the agglomeration area and lead to duplication of construction and waste of resources. For these reasons, the Chinese government should weigh the positive and negative benefits of promoting industrial agglomeration. This paper proposes to explore the causes and effects of industrial agglomeration from a macroscopic perspective, which improves the lack of macroscopic analysis in this field.

The coupling coordination relationship between sports industry agglomeration and economic resilience in the Yangtze River Delta region.

With a rapidly growing sports industry worldwide, one may argue that sports industry agglomeration can play a crucial role in the economy of the sports industry. In particularly, the coupling linkage between sports industry agglomeration and economic resilience can be leveraged to promote both economic quality and efficiency. Based on data on three provinces and one city in the Yangtze River Delta region during the 2011-2020 period, this study uses the entropy-weighted TOPSIS method, coupling coordination degree model, and relative development models to explore the coupling coordination relationship between sports industry agglomeration and economic resilience in this region. The results show that: (1) Sports industry agglomeration shows an overall increasing albeit fluctuating trend with inter-provincial differences. (2) Economic resilience has steadily increased, while the economic resilience kernel density curve generally shows a "dual peaks" trend. (3) The coupling coordination between sports industry agglomeration and economic resilience remains in a fluctuating, albeit coordinated state. These findings are relevant for the integration and high-quality development of the sports industry in the Yangtze River Delta region.

Revitalizing the Economy: The Impact of Free Trade Areas on the Logistics Industry Agglomeration in Post-COVID China

This study examines the impact of free trade areas on China's logistics industry and its economy in the post-COVID era. The paper primarily focuses on key regions, utilizing the Location Quotient (LQ) method to analyze relevant trends. Notably, Hainan demonstrates substantial growth in the logistics sector, whereas Shanghai and Guangdong exhibit increased output despite declining LQ values, indicative of a shift towards services and innovation. Furthermore, logistics agglomeration promotes cross-industry collaboration, efficient value-added services, job creation, and career mobility, all of which address the economic challenges faced by China. This study emphasizes the crucial role played by free trade areas, such as Hainan, in stimulating logistics agglomeration and driving economic recovery, trade expansion, and employment opportunities in the post-pandemic landscape, thereby offering valuable insights for future growth.

Research on Manufacturing Industry and Key Core Technology Breakthroughs

This project mainly studies how China's manufacturing industry can effectively coordinate with government, industry, academia, and research in the context of the traditional global trade system, in order to achieve breakthroughs in key core technologies and modernization of the supply chain. Focusing on the collaborative efficiency of manufacturing enterprises among multiple entities including government, industry, and enterprises, as well as the impact of various capabilities such as industrial agglomeration, capital investment, and institutional construction on key core technology breakthroughs. Secondly, further analyze the current innovation situation in China, taking into account the impact of the innovation environment on achieving innovation breakthroughs in the manufacturing and related industries. Furthermore, based on the relevant cases of key core technology innovation breakthroughs achieved by excellent enterprises in China and existing experience and theories, analyze and summarize new ideas. Finally, summarize the relationship between government, industry, academia, research, and enterprises in achieving key core breakthrough capabilities, as well as the mechanism of synergistic effects among various entities, and propose relevant suggestions based on the results.

Research on Social Participation Willingness and Path Optimization of Characteristic Towns from the Perspective of Rural Revitalization

In the context of promoting new urbanization and supply-side structural reform in China, the establishment of characteristic towns has become an important starting point for local governments to implement the "rural revitalization strategy" and accelerate industrial agglomeration, so it is necessary to conduct systematic analysis and research on characteristic towns. As one of the 27 cities in the central area of the Yangtze River Delta, Wuhu has enjoyed the reputation of "Jiangdong Famous Town" and "Wuchu Resort" since ancient times. Based on the research of previous literature, this paper summarizes the development process of cultural and creative towns in China, focusing on the current situation of the public's cognition of Yingang Town, the willingness to participate in the construction of Yingang characteristic town, and the fit and satisfaction between the actual situation and expectations after participating in the characteristic town, which is of great significance for the construction of Yingang Yichuang characteristic town.

Fiscal decentralization, leader localization, and reduction of pollution and carbon emissions —empirical evidence from China's fiscal “province-managing-county” reform

The fiscal system plays an important role in the government's environmental governance efforts. There is currently no consensus on how fiscal structure adjustments impact pollution and carbon reduction. This paper uses China's fiscal “province-managing-county” reform (FPMCR) implemented in 2004 as a quasi-natural experiment, utilizing panel data from 1670 counties in China from 2000 to 2020 to investigate the impact of fiscal decentralization on reduction pollution and carbon emissions (RPCE), as well as its underlying mechanisms. The results show that (1) from 2000 to 2020, China's RPCE shows an overall trend of fluctuating increase, with its value turning positive after 2013. China's RPCE exhibits a spatial pattern characterized by “lower in the north, higher in the south; higher in the east, lower in the west”. (2) After implementing FPMCR, the RPCE levels in reformed counties decreased by −1.44%, showing that reformed county-level governments prioritize economic development over environmental protection. (3) The mechanism analysis found that after implementing FPMCR, reformed counties experienced a 9.16% increase in nighttime light intensity (NLI), and a 3.99% and 4.34% increase in the number of large-scale industrial enterprises (NLIE) and industrial agglomeration (IA), respectively. This suggests that FPMCR leads to radical urbanization and rapid industrialization in counties, which is detrimental to the improvement of RPCE levels. (4) The spatial heterogeneity analysis found that FPMCR's impact coefficient on RPCE levels in the eastern regions is −1.96%, while in the western regions it is −1.16%. This indicates that reformed counties in the eastern regions are more likely to invest expanded fiscal resources in economic development projects, leading to a decrease in RPCE levels. (5) The temporal heterogeneity analysis found that after the promulgation of the “Three-Year Action Plan to Win the Blue Sky Defense Battle” in 2018, the adverse impact of FPMCR on RPCE is completely reversed, leading to a 1.76% increase in RPCE levels. (6) Further analysis reveals that localizing leaders can slow down the promotion of county-level urbanization and industrialization by the FPMCR, benefiting the improvement of RPCE levels. In other words, “the outsider monk will not recite scriptures as well as a local one”. This study has clarified the causal relationship and underlying mechanisms between fiscal decentralization and environmental governance, providing reliable theoretical support for optimizing grassroots fiscal systems and reducing environmental pollution in other transitional economies. It enriches the field of environmental economics related to fiscal decentralization.

The impact of regional sports industry aggregation on residents’ health level in China

Health is the basis for human survival and development and is an important symbol to evaluate a country's economic growth and social progress. This article measures the degree of sports industry agglomeration in different regions of China and uses the Moran index to verify the existence of global autocorrelation in sports agglomeration. Next, the spatial Durbin model was used to verify the spatial spillover effect of sports industry agglomeration on the health level of residents, and the following conclusions were obtained.Firstly, there is spatial autocorrelation and heterogeneity in the clustering level of China's sports industry. The spatial distribution is extremely uneven, and different regions have formed relatively stable spatial patterns. Secondly, the degree of aggregation of the sports industry can reduce the number of per capita visits and have a positive spatial spillover effect on the health of residents. Not only can it promote the health level of residents in the province, but it also has spatial spillover effects on surrounding areas.Finally, based on the research results, the following conclusions are proposed in this article. Policy recommendations include increasing investment in sports talent cultivation, accelerating the construction of sports center cities, and increasing residents' attention to sports to improve residents' health.

Impact of Low-Carbon City Pilot Policies on Regional Green Total Factor Productivity: A Study

Based on data from 246 prefecture-level cities in China spanning the years 2006 to 2019, this paper employs a multi-temporal double-difference model to empirically examine the effects of low-carbon pilot policies implemented since 2010 on green total factor productivity. Furthermore, the paper conducts a mechanism analysis and heterogeneity analysis to explore the policys impact mechanisms and effects on different regions. The study reveals that low-carbon pilot policies have enhanced Chinas green total factor productivity. Results from the mechanism analysis indicate that these policies increase green total factor productivity by promoting the agglomeration of productive service industries and the innovation of green technologies, with the mechanism test for manufacturing industry agglomeration showing non-significant effects. Heterogeneity analysis results suggest that the impact of low-carbon pilot policies on the improvement of green total factor productivity is significant in Chinas eastern and western regions as well as in non-resource-based cities.

The location choice of Chinese investment in the United States: Industrial agglomeration, ethnic networks and firm heterogeneity

The location choice of Chinese investment in the United States: Industrial agglomeration, ethnic networks and firm heterogeneity

Understanding the Spatiotemporal Dynamics and Influencing Factors of the Rice–Crayfish Field in Jianghan Plain, China

The rice–crayfish co-culture system, a representative of Agri-aqua food systems, has emerged worldwide as an effective strategy for enhancing agricultural land use efficiency and boosting sustainability, particularly in China and Southeast Asia. Despite its widespread adoption in China’s Jianghan Plain, the exact spatiotemporal dynamics and factors influencing this practice in this region are yet to be clarified. Therefore, understanding the spatiotemporal dynamics and influencing factors of the rice–crayfish fields (RCFs) is crucial for promoting the rice–crayfish co-culture system, and optimizing land use policies. In this study, we identified the spatial distribution of RCF using Sentinel-2 images and land use spatiotemporal data to analyze its spatiotemporal dynamics during the period of 2016–2020. Additionally, we used the Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression model to explore the key factors influencing RCF’s spatiotemporal changes. Our findings reveal that (1). the RCF area in Jianghan Plain expanded from 1216.04 km2 to 2429.76 km2 between 2016 and 2020, marking a 99.81% increase. (2). RCF in Jianghan Plain evolved toward a more contiguous and clustered spatial pattern, suggesting a clear industrial agglomeration in this area. (3). The expansion of the RCFs was majorly influenced by its landscape and local agricultural conditions. Significantly, the Aggregation and Landscape Shape Indexes positively impacted this expansion, whereas proximity to rural areas and towns had a negative impact. This study provides a solid foundation for promoting the rice–crayfish co-culture system and sustainably developing related industries. To ensure the sustainable development of rice–crayfish co-culture industries in Jianghan Plain, we recommend that local governments optimize the spatial layout of rural settlements, improve transportation infrastructure, and enhance regional agricultural water sources and irrigation system construction, all in line with the national strategy of rural revitalization and village planning. Additionally, promoting the concentration and contiguity of RCF through land consolidation can achieve efficient development of these industries.

Research on Handan City’s Urban Competitiveness and Industrial Economic Agglomeration Under the “532” Industrial Layout

With the continuous development and expansion of the global economy, urban competitiveness has become an important indicator of a city’s overall development potential, affecting its ability to attract talent, investment and enterprises. The purpose of this paper is to examine the urban competitiveness and industrial agglomeration of Handan, China. Handan is characterized by stable economic growth, a well-developed transport infrastructure and a base of higher education institutions, but industrial agglomeration is not as pronounced as might be expected given its size and economic status. Handan needs a mix of traditional manufacturing and services with high-tech or cutting-edge industries and needs to transform itself into a more diversified and technology-driven city.

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.

The Impact of the Rural Digital Economy on Agricultural Green Development and Its Mechanism: Empirical Evidence from China

Agricultural green development represents an environmentally friendly and resource-efficient agricultural model, and it is a key way to achieve sustainable agricultural development. With the rapid rise of the digital economy, its influence is gradually spreading from urban to rural areas, and it has played a significant and far-reaching role in promoting the green transformation of agriculture. This paper employs the entropy weight method to measure the level of digital economy and agricultural green development in rural areas in 30 provincial administrative regions in China from 2012 to 2021 and analyzes the relationship between the two and the mechanisms behind it. The research results show that (1) the rural digital economy significantly promotes agricultural green development. (2) With the enhancement of agricultural green development, the impact of the rural digital economy on it initially increases and then declines. (3) The rural digital economy fosters agricultural green development by advancing agricultural technology, easing credit constraints, and promoting agricultural industry agglomeration. (4) Environmental regulation intensifies the positive influence of the rural digital economy on agricultural green development. This research significantly enhances our understanding of the mechanism by which the rural digital economy facilitates agricultural green development. It offers empirical evidence and recommendations for the government to formulate and implement effective policies to advance agricultural green transformation in the context of digital economy trends.

Carbon emissions changes of animal husbandry in China: Trends, attributions, and solutions: A spatial shift-share analysis

China is a major livestock producer confronting the dual challenges of rising demand for animal-based food consumption and decreasing carbon emissions. To effectively address these issues, it is crucial to understand the trends of carbon emissions from animal husbandry and the competitive advantages of carbon emission reduction in different regions. This study uses panel data from 31 provinces from 2004 to 2020 to investigate the contributing factors to carbon emissions and explore ways to reduce carbon intensity in animal husbandry. The analysis employs spatial shift-share analysis and the spatial Durbin model. Our findings indicate that life-cycle carbon emissions associated with animal husbandry in China decreased from 572.411 Mt CO2eq to 520.413 Mt CO2eq over time, with an average annual decline of 0.568 %. The annual contribution of output value and internal industry-mix adjustment to carbon emission growth is 22.639 MT CO2eq and 6.226 MT CO2eq, respectively. On the other hand, the annual contribution of carbon efficiency improvement to carbon emission reduction is much higher, at 36.316 MT CO2eq. However, there is significant regional heterogeneity in the spatial decomposition of the carbon efficiency change component. The Northeastern region, Northwest and along the Great Wall demonstrate neighborhood advantages in enhancing carbon efficiency. In contrast, the South China and Southwest regions rely more on local carbon efficiency advantages to reduce the carbon intensity of animal husbandry. Furthermore, the carbon intensity in local and neighboring areas can be reduced through environmental regulations and industrial agglomeration. While technical progress significantly negatively impacts carbon intensity in neighboring regions, it does not contribute to reducing the carbon intensity of local animal husbandry. The findings provide valuable insights for local governments, aiding them in recognizing the pros and cons of carbon reduction in animal husbandry and strengthening regional cooperation in emission reduction management.

The impact of China railway express on foreign direct investment inflows in Chinese central and western cities

Capital needs transportation channels. Following successful communication and cooperation with Central Asian and European states, the China railway express (CRE) has been built by central and western cities. This new international freight service will greatly enhance the transport conditions in the central and western cities. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct an in-depth analysis of the impact of CRE operations on foreign direct investment (FDI) flows in the central and western regions. For analyses, a panel data of 152 Chinese cities from 2008 to 2020 is used and staggered difference in differences (DID) model is applied as a quasi-natural experiment. The results demonstrated that the operation of the CRE had a positive and significant impact on FDI inflows in the central and western cities, particularly in western cities, large cities, and non-resource based cities in China. Mechanism analysis shows that CRE operations can enhance the ability to attract foreign investment in the central and western regions through the promotion of industrial agglomeration and the expansion of market size. Therefore, the government should actively optimize the layout of CRE transportation routes and establish an inter-regional coordinating mechanism for freight sources, thus allowing the radiating effect of CRE central cities to reach out to peripheral cities.

Transportation infrastructure upgrading and green development efficiency: Empirical analysis with double machine learning method

In order to deal with the environmental problems such as pollution emissions and climate change, sustainable development in the field of transportation has gradually become a hot topic to all sectors of society. In addition, promoting the green and low-carbon transformation of China's transportation is also an important issue in the new era. Thus, it is particularly important to correctly identify the green effect of high-speed rail. However, the traditional causal reasoning model faces several challenges such as ‘dimensional curse’ and multicollinearity. Based on the panel data of 283 prefecture-level cities in China from 2003 to 2019, this study uses the double machine learning model to explore the impact of transportation infrastructure upgrading on the efficiency of urban green development in China. The research shows that the upgrading of transportation infrastructure can effectively improve the efficiency of urban green development by 4%. Service industry agglomeration and green innovation are verified as two mediating channels. Moreover, the synthetic difference in difference model is employed to evaluate the regional impact of high-speed rail, and finds that the regional impact of transportation policies often exceeds the impact of individual cities. We further apply the conclusions of this paper to the research at the micro enterprise level. Goodman-Bacon decomposition and a variety of robustness tests confirm the validity of our conclusions. The study's comprehensive empirical analysis not only validates the positive effects of transportation upgrades on green development, but also offers novel insights into the underlying mechanisms and policy implications of transportation upgrading.

The impact of broadband China and low-carbon pilot on China's urban carbon emissions

In the context of global environmental governance, a reduction in carbon emissions (CE) is critical for sustainable development. This article delves into the correlation between China's dual pilot policy (DPP), comprising the broadband China city pilot (BCCP) and low-carbon city pilot (LCCP), and CE using panel data for 281 Chinese cities from 2003 to 2020 and a staggered difference-in-differences approach. Our results demonstrate that the DPP contributes to reducing CE. In this regard, we find that DPP exerts a more significant negative effect on CE when the LCCP precedes the BCCP, compared to the BCCP preceding the LCCP. Heterogeneity analysis shows that urban location and resource utilization patterns influence DPP's impact on CE reduction. Moreover, green technology innovation and industrial agglomeration account for the relationship between DPP and CE. The DPP additionally exhibits positive economic performance, benefiting urban sustainability. Taken together, these findings reveal how the DPP negatively affects CE, providing key evidence for regional green economy advancement.

Evaluating economic efficiency of the national high-tech industrial development districts in the Yangtze River Delta by stochastic frontier analysis

The High-tech Industrial Development Districts (HIDDs) are technological engines for the regional economy in China. The Chinese government implemented the Torch Initiative to accelerate industrial agglomeration and innovation development by administratively upgrading the local HIDDs into a national list since 1989. The policy intervention emphasizes the labor and capital inputs on science and technology. The study adopts the Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) to understand the economic efficiency of the enlisted national HIDDs in the Yangtze River Delta. The results suggest that the average efficiency trends of the all-in-total sales, product sales and commodity sales are decreasing while that of technology sales is increasing from 2007 to 2019. In the total sales efficiency evaluation, most early-enrolled HIDDs are in the high-efficiency group whereas the newcomers are in the low-efficiency group. The Nantong HIDD has the highest efficiency, followed by Wuxi, Taizhou, Suzhou, Nanjing, Shanghai ZJ, Xiaoshan, Ningbo, Suzhou IP and Jiangyin HIDDs. Huainan, Huaian, Tongling, Shanghai ZZ, Lianyungang and Suqian HIDDs rank very low in the total sales evaluation. Besides, Hangzhou, Nantong and Ningbo HIDDs rank first in the technology, product and commodity sales efficiency evaluation correspondingly. In addition, the increase of S&T labor inputs would decrease the efficiency of the product, commodity and total sales while the increase of the S&T capital inputs is as expected a facilitator to the efficiency of product, commodity and total sales. This study contributes to the discussion on the role of political intervention in technological innovation by breaking down the economic efficiency into three major parts, the efficiency of technology, product and commodity sales. The findings could help policymakers strike a balance between the human and capital inputs in regional innovation capability.