Unbalanced Regional Development Research Articles

Study on the Spatial Characteristics and Coordinated Development Countermeasures of Yancheng Regional Economy

Unbalanced regional development is a factor of economic law, but the large regional gap not only affects the development of national economy and society, but also affects the fairness and stability. The spatial characteristics and differences of Yancheng regional economy include: first, the absolute value of economy is high in the south and low in the north, and the relative value is "W" shape from south to north; Second, the relative economic difference is narrowing, and the absolute difference is expanding; Third, the central city has a low primacy, and the integration of industry and city is insufficient. The countermeasures to promote the coordinated development of Yancheng regional economy include: First, Qiaotou Bao, the gateway of Huaihe River in the north, with Binhai Port Industrial Park as the main body, and Dongtai Marine Economic Demonstration Zone as the pioneer area of Yellow Sea Wetland World Heritage Site in the south, to build a "T-shaped" spatial development pattern with one body and two wings; Second, relying on China-Korea (Yancheng) Industrial Park, enclave economic Demonstration Zone and Suzhou-Salt Coastal cooperative development Park, improve the carrier of "1+N" regional economic coordinated development platform; Third, we should innovate mechanisms for adjusting regional land indicators and production capacity indicators, mechanisms for fiscal sharing or sharing among counties and cities, ecological compensation and incentive mechanisms, and accelerate the integration of infrastructure and public services.

Research on the Driving Mechanism and Realization Path of High-Quality Development of China's Outdoor Sports Industry under the Perspective of Chinese Modernization

Chinese modernization provides an important theoretical basis and practical guidance for the high-quality development of China's outdoor sports industry. The outdoor sports industry is not only an important part of meeting people's needs for a better life, but also an important means to promote regional economic development and achieve green and sustainable development. Through the method of literature and logical analysis, it was found that the current development of the China's outdoor sports industry still has problems such as imperfect policies and systems, incomplete industrial chains and unbalanced regional development, insufficient scientific and technological innovation capabilities and product homogeneity, weak outdoor sports cultural foundation and inadequate implementation of the green development concept. Therefore, based on the connotation and requirements of high-quality development, the dynamic mechanism of the development of the outdoor sports industry was systematically sorted out combining theory with practice, including policies, market demand, scientific and technological innovation, culture and values, ecology and other dimensions. On this basis, the path to achieve high-quality development of China's outdoor sports industry was proposed, including optimizing the policy system environment, promoting industrial structure optimization, strengthening scientific and technological innovation drive, cultivating outdoor sports culture, and practicing green development concepts. The study believes that building a scientific and reasonable dynamic mechanism and a systematic implementation path are of great significance for promoting China's outdoor sports industry to move towards high-quality development and helping to achieve Chinese modernization.

The impact of local government bonds on land-leasing behaviours and the economic consequences: evidence from the self-issuance reforms in China

ABSTRACT Under the 1995 Budget Law, land finance, rather than local government bonds (LGBs), played a critical role in bridging fiscal gaps for Chinese local governments. This paper examines the impact of the self-issuance (SI) reform of LGBs from 2011 on land leasing using county-level data from 2000 to 2019 combined with land parcel data and business registration databases of China. Findings reveal that, firstly, SI reforms initially reduce land leasing but increase it by 24.86% three years later, with a preference for commercial and residential land. Reforms also raise commercial and residential land leasing prices by 14.22% and do not compel lower prices for industrial land. Secondly, based on repayment obligations, the self-issuance and central-government-repayment (SICGR) mode alleviates fiscal pressure, favouring commercial and residential land leasing, while the self-issuance and self-repayment (SISR) pattern enhances fiscal sustainability and leads to more industrial land leasing. Thirdly, mechanism analysis suggests that SI reforms increase debt burden and decrease fiscal self-sufficiency, primarily through land tender, auction, and listing mechanisms, resulting in unbalanced regional development. This research highlights the need for sustainable development patterns under the New Budget Law of 2015, balancing fiscal revenues, the land market, and local government debts.

Spatial Analysis on Resource Utilization, Environmental Consequences and Sustainability of Rice–Crayfish Rotation System in Jianghan Plain, China

The rice–crayfish rotation system (RCR), originating in the Jianghan Plain, is developing rapidly in various regions of China and has been characterized by unbalanced regional development, which has also led to widespread concerns and discussion on its environmental impacts and sustainability. This study selects representative RCR production areas in the Jianghan Plain, including Jianli, Qianjiang, Shishou, Shayang, Gong’an and Honghu, to analyze resource inputs, resource utilization efficiency, environmental impacts and sustainability by employing the emergy analysis method. Our analysis of Jianli, Honghu, Qianjiang, Gong’an, Shishou and Shayang reports total emergy inputs ranging from 6.46 × 1016 to 8.25 × 1016, with renewable rates between 78.38% and 84.34%. Shishou leads in the unit emergy value (5.58 × 10−1) and the emergy yield ratio (5.30). The sustainability evaluation finds that the environmental loading ratio is from 0.19 to 0.28 and the emergy index for sustainable development varies between 1.27 and 3.00. This analysis indicates that the southern regions have higher inputs and efficiency, with southeastern areas showing lower environmental impact and higher sustainability. We also underscore the impact of non-renewable resources on environmental outcomes and sustainability, suggesting tailored development strategies for the rice–crayfish rotation system’s optimization and sustainable growth.

Research on the Identification of Rural Revitalization Potential and Precise Financial Support in Poverty-Stricken Areas

Research on the Identification of Rural Revitalization Potential and Precise Financial Support in Poverty-Stricken Areas

The impact of teleconnections of built-up land on unbalanced regional development and spatial carbon balance

The rapid expansion of built-up land in China contributes to the great differences in regional development, which has impacted balanced regional development. Analysis on teleconnections of built-up land can better understand the mechanism of spatial imbalance, thus promoting the achievement of overall carbon neutrality. We attempt to quantify the degree of unbalanced regional development based on teleconnections of built-up land in China. Results reveal an increase in external dependence in developed regions, with the economic growth in these regions driving the expansion of built-up land in undeveloped regions. Undeveloped regions primarily serve as suppliers of land for the mining and manufacturing industry, while developed regions export substantial land for the service industry. There is considerable variation in the environmental-economic benefits among regions: While each province experiences economic gains from built-up land expansion, differences in land utilization efficiency contribute to a significant development gap among regions. This divergence in development levels exacerbates the unbalanced regional development in China, a trend that is currently widening. It is imperative for developed regions to assume greater responsibility in achieving carbon neutrality. This involves providing economic and technological support to undeveloped regions, fostering a more equitable and sustainable development path.

Analysis of the Main Factors Affecting Employment Rates in Canada

The employment rate, as an important indicator of the level of economic development of a country or region, has always been a focus of attention for governments and economists. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the major factors that affect the employment rate in Canada. The scope of the study covers the whole of Canada. This study collected and analyzed the historical employment data, and analyzed the influencing factors of the employment rate through regression analysis and correlation analysis. Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that a high level of the economy, inflation stabilization and a high level of technology are the main factors for Canadas high employment rate, while issues such as a low fertility rate and unbalanced regional development may limit the further increase of Canadas employment rate. This study is important for understanding the current situation and future direction of the Canadian job market. It also provides a number of policy recommendations to promote employment growth and economic development.

An Inquiry into the Characteristics of Carbon Emissions in Inter-Provincial Transportation in China: Aiming to Typological Strategies for Carbon Reduction in Regional Transportation

The low-carbon development of the transportation sector is crucial for China to achieve its national goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. Since China is a vast country with unbalanced regional development, there are considerable differences in the levels of carbon dioxide emissions from the transportation sector across regions. Therefore, revealing the influencing factors that shape the characteristics of transportation carbon dioxide emissions (TCO2) can inform tailored sub-national carbon reduction strategies based on local conditions, which is an important technical approach for achieving national goals. Based on an extended Kaya identity, we derived indicators of the impacts on provincial TCO2 from factors such as economic development, population density, energy structure, transportation efficiency, technology research and development (R&D), infrastructure construction, transportation operation conditions, and residents’ transportation behavior. Using a multi-indicator joint characterization method, we explored the characteristics of provincial TCO2 in China in 2019. By applying Ward’s method to hierarchical clustering, the thirty provinces of China were classified into six characteristic types (Types I to VI). Based on the total TCO2 (TC), the intensity of TCO2 (TI), and the per capita TCO2 (TP) calculated for each province in 2019, the priority control directions and indicators for carbon reduction in each type were obtained through relative relationships with provincial averages and correlation analysis with the indicators. Specifically, Type I and Type IV can be categorized as TP-controlled, Type II and Type III as TC-controlled, and Type V and Type VI as TI-controlled. Finally, we provided typological strategies and key performance indicators (KPIs) relevant to local governments to better achieve carbon reduction goals in each provincial type. It can promote cooperative development and collaborative governance in carbon reduction across regions and the unified implementation of China’s dual-carbon goals.

Do institutional contingencies matter for green investment?—An institution based view of Chinese listed companies

Current research in the field of environmental management has placed significant emphasis on understanding the reasons behind varying organizational responses to environmental responsibilities. Governance scholars emphasize the central role of institutional factors in shaping environmental responsibilities, primarily due to the substantial influence exerted by regulatory institutions. Drawing on institutional theory, we investigate how sub-national institutional factors impact a firm's green investment intensity and explore their moderating influence on the relationship between green investment and a firm's financial performance. Using a database of Chinese listed companies from 2012 to 2019, this study employs fixed effect model as a baseline regression. Our analysis demonstrates that sub-national institutions, such as state-owned enterprises (SOEs), regional development, and cross-listing, have significant and positive impact on corporate green investment. Our study further provide an evidence that green investment significantly improve firms' financial performance. Moreover, the positive effect of green investment on financial performance is stronger in SOEs and in firms of developed regions as compared to their counterparts, and weaker in cross listed firms than those of non-cross listed peers. Our study suggest that subnational institutions play an imperative role in improving environmental quality and financial performance by promoting corporate green investment. To make sure that our findings remain robust to endogeneity, we applied generalized method of moments (GMM) and propensity score matching (PSM) method. Our findings further provide implications for emerging economies with similar shareholding patterns and unbalanced regional development.

Optimizing road networks in underdeveloped regions for improving comprehensive efficiency integrated by accessibility, vulnerability and socioeconomic interaction

Previous studies on performance assessment and optimization of road networks (RNs) have focused on either normal performance related to accessibility or extreme performance related to vulnerability. However, these two aspects are rarely considered together, and the impact of socioeconomic interaction has not been addressed. Therefore, the RN may be unable to adapt to the construction of future resilient infrastructure, leading to unstable and inefficient operations. Besides, the neglect of the role and development of RNs in underdeveloped regions can lead to unbalanced regional development. This study develops an optimization model of RNs in underdeveloped regions for comprehensive efficiency to solve the regional coordinated development problem. Specifically, a quantitative assessment method of the comprehensive efficiency integrating accessibility, vulnerability, and socioeconomic interaction is proposed to measure the performance. Then, a two-stage bi-level programming model for underdeveloped regions focusing on optimizing comprehensive efficiency is proposed. Finally, a case is studied to verify the model's effectiveness and enlighten the assessment and planning of RNs. Results show that compared with the original RN regarding invulnerability, reachable time, and socioeconomic interaction, optimization results of Stage 1 are optimized by 14.81 %, 31.62 %, and 0.03 %, respectively, and Stage 2 are optimized by 44.64 %, 42.87 %, and 57.71 %, respectively.

Ecological Welfare Performance Evaluation and Spatial–Temporal Difference Evolution of Blue Economic Zones: A Case Study of the Blue Economic Zone of Shandong Peninsula

The construction and development of the Blue Economic Zone on the Shandong Peninsula in China was elevated to a national strategy in 2011, and it has achieved year-on-year economic growth, driving the economic development of Shandong Province. However, it has also generated problems, such as a fragile ecological environment, unbalanced regional development, and prominent human–land conflicts. Therefore, on the basis of the idea of green sustainable development, this paper measures the ecological welfare performance of seven prefecture-level cities in the Blue Economic Zone of Shandong Peninsula from 2011 to 2020 using an entropy-weighted model together with the TOPSIS method. It then analyzes their spatial distribution characteristics using the natural breaks method. Our findings show that the overall ecological welfare performance level in the Shandong Peninsula BEZ shows a stable upward trend, and that the ecological welfare performance of each city is similar to that of the divided region. The ecological welfare performance levels of Weifang, Rizhao, and Binzhou are relatively low. Dongying, Weihai, Qingdao, and Yantai form a cluster of cities with high ecological welfare performance. Therefore, for the advancement of the Shandong Peninsula BEZ, the government should the government should reasonably deploy the industrial structure; actively implement industrial transformation; strengthen the synergistic development among cities to achieve complementary advantages, coordinating the growth of rural and urban areas; and improve the social security system to achieve high-quality sustainable development in the Shandong Peninsula BEZ.

Study on Urbanization in Liaoning Province

In recent years, there are some problems in the urbanization of Liaoning Province, such as slow economic growth, serious brain drains, unbalanced regional development and so on. If there is no scientific research guidance, the development of new urbanization in Liaoning Province will only be like a headless fly, and ultimately affect the healthy economic and social development of Liaoning Province. In order to solve these problems properly, the comprehensive level of the new type of urbanization in Liaoning Province should be studied. In the paper, a comprehensive evaluation index system is constructed, 13 specific evaluation indexes are selected. Principal component analysis is used to analyze the factors influencing the process of new urbanization. The evaluation index and statistical method can be used as a reference for the study on the comprehensive level of new urbanization in the future prediction.

Research on the dynamic evolution and convergence of collaborative capacity of pollution control and carbon reduction: from the perspective of whole-process governance.

Under the strategic goals of achieving peak carbon neutrality, deepening the battle against pollution, and building a beautiful China, improving the collaborative capacity of pollution control and carbon reduction is an important means to achieve comprehensive green and low-carbon transformation of the social economy. Starting from the essential requirements of improving the collaborative capacity of pollution control and carbon reduction, based on the whole-process governance perspective of "source-process-end-of-pipe," build an evaluation index system, measure the collaborative capacity, quantify the spatial differences, analyze the evolution characteristics, and explore the improvement path. The study found that China's collaborative capacity of pollution control and carbon reduction is characterized by homogeneous agglomeration and unbalanced regional development. Intra-regional differences are the main source of the differences, sorting by contribution is "Eastern > Western > Central > Northeast." After taking into account the factors of green transformation of industry, the input of scientific and technological elements, and opening to the outside world, the differences have gradually narrowed. Among them, the green transformation of industry is instrumentally in bridging the gap in eastern, central, and northeastern, the input of scientific and technological elements is instrumentally in bridging the gap between regions and the eastern and northeast, and opening to the outside world is instrumentally in bridging the gap between regions and the western. The scientific measurement and improvement of this capacity will provide the factual basis and path choice for achieving the task goal of "significantly improving China's collaborative capacity of pollution control and carbon reduction by 2030," which is of great practical significance for building a higher-quality, more sustainable, and greener pattern of the collaborative capacity of pollution control and carbon reduction.

Structure and Analysis of the Smart Court Construction Evaluation Index Based on Principal Component Analysis for Different Regions

<p>In this paper, the principal component analysis method is mainly used to analyze that the construction level of Smart Court in different regions. The construction level of Smart Court consists of three main components. The result of Smart Court construction level in different regions is calculated. It is concluded that the construction level of Smart Court varies in different regions. It is necessary to make great efforts to solve the problem of unbalanced regional development. It is suggested that the construction of Smart Court in the future should focus on the publicity business such as online cases. And more and more new generation information technology such as artificial intelligence should be applied.</p> <p> </p>

Local government debt and corporate tax burden: A perspective based on the trade-off of government tax collection and management.

As an important source of local fiscal revenue, will enterprise tax be affected by local government debt? What role do the government's tax collection and management motives and behaviors play in this effect? By investigating the impact of local government debt on the actual tax burden of enterprises, this study shows that local governments have a trade-off of tax collection in the process of resolving the debt repayment pressure. The study finds that, in general, the expansion of local government debt has increased the actual tax burden of enterprises, which is mainly reflected in non-state-owned enterprises and enterprises that are collected and managed by the local tax department. The results of the mechanism test show that local debt pressure will encourage local governments to adjust the intensity of tax collection and tax incentives, and then increase the level of tax burden of enterprises in the jurisdiction. Furthermore, the heterogeneity test that distinguishes the institutional environment shows that there are significant differences in the taxation behavior of local governments and the impact of the corporate tax burden in different regions. Specifically, the strict tax behavior of local governments is more significant in regions with better institutional environment, while regions with worse institutional environment, due to the lack of market competitiveness, are more inclined to provide a relaxed tax collection environment to enterprises in their jurisdiction, so as to stabilize the tax base and resolve debts through long-term tax growth. In the context of unbalanced regional development, this study provides empirical evidence that the expansion of local debt affects the taxation behavior of local governments, and then affects the actual tax burden of enterprises in the jurisdiction, which is helpful to understand the government behavior during the transition period of developing countries, and provides policy implications for improving the public debt management system, creating a fair tax environment, and promoting high-quality economic growth.

Efficiency evaluation for higher education institutions in China considering unbalanced regional development: A meta-frontier Super-SBM model

The development of higher education institutions (HEIs) is related to the future overall development of higher education in China. Studying the efficiency of provincial HEIs in China has great significance in deepening the reform of higher education evaluation, promoting coordinated regional development, and building a country powerful in its higher education. Based on the Super-SBM method, this paper creatively integrates meta-frontier theory and an index of international exchange and cooperation into an evaluation system for higher education efficiency. Taking 2011–2020 as the sample period, this study conducts a dynamic assessment of the higher education efficiency in 30 mainland Chinese provinces. It explores the differences in production technology in the eastern, central, and western regions, analyzing the environmental factors that affect the efficiency of higher education. The results show that during the sample period, the overall efficiency of higher education in China improved steadily. Efficiency Change is the main driving force. The three regions have significantly different technology gap ratio, and the structure of resource allocation significantly impacts efficiency. Therefore, this study's main recommendations are that the Chinese government should not only deepen the coordinated development of higher education between regions but also pay more attention to solving the problem of unbalanced development between China's geographical regions. At the same time, educational authorities should expand the number of ordinary colleges and universities in the central and western regions, develop non-financial funding sources, and improve the level of refined management of HEIs.

ИССЛЕДОВАНИЕ УПРАВЛЕНИЯ РАЗВИТИЕМ ЭЛЕКТРОННОЙ КОММЕРЦИИ В СЕЛЬСКИХ РАЙОНАХ КИТАЯ: ПРОБЛЕМЫ И РЕШЕНИЯ

This paper is the second part of the survey . In recent years, e-commerce in rural areas of China has been developing rapidly, which has an impact on regional development. The article explores and analyzes the issues of e-commerce management in rural areas of China. It has previously been identified that this area has problems such as backward infrastructure, an imperfect system of agricultural supply chains, and unbalanced regional development of e-commerce and conditions for its conduct. The article proposes solutions aimed at improving the management of e-commerce development in rural China. The author recommends: a) setting a management priority for reducing the rural e-commerce gap in various regions of China; b) develop a model of rural e-commerce and implement a general optimization scheme for the development of rural e-commerce in the country; c) organize the process of transferring experience and professional knowledge from regions with high development of e-commerce to regions with its weak use. The key management solutions for the development of rural e-commerce in China are: strengthening infrastructure; optimization of the agricultural supply chain system; improving standardization and branding of rural e-commerce goods; balancing regional differences in rural e-commerce development.

China’s Urban and Rural Development Significantly Affects the Pattern of Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production

Increasing human activities have greatly influenced the ecosystem and the use of ecological resources, and the unbalanced urban–rural development in China (urban and rural areas being two major bases of human activities) has always been accompanied by heterogeneous ecological effects. Human appropriation of net primary production (HANPP) is an integrated indicator quantifying the human domination of productivity and harvest in the biosphere. Identifying the unbalanced constraints of urban and rural development on HANPP has become necessary for improving human–land relationships. This study analyzed the spatial distribution and regional differentiations of the HANPP in China in 2015 and investigated how HANPP and its components responded to unbalanced regional urban–rural development. The results show that the total amount of HANPP was 2.68 PgC and gradually decreased from the southeast to the northwest of China in 2015, representing 60.33% of the NPPpot. In addition, HANPPluc, harvest through cropland, livestock grazing, and forestry contributed 60.70%, 29.86%, 8.53%, and 0.91%, respectively, to the total HANPP, with HANPPluc playing the dominant role in 21 provinces. There was a significant differentiation (p < 0.05) in the spatial distribution of HANPP (gC/m2), HANPPharv (gC/m2), and HANPPluc (gC/m2), especially between the Huanyong Hu Line and the western–eastern part of China, fundamentally resulting from uneven regional development. In addition, biomass production–consumption decoupling existed in most regions in China, 17 provinces were identified as consumption type, and a universal positive correlation (p < 0.05) was identified between the production–consumption ratio of occupied biomass and HANPPharv (%HANPP). Different drive mechanisms were found between urban–rural development and HANPP, and each HANPP index was more likely to be affected by urban economy (UE), rural population (RP), and rural agricultural technology (RA) in China. The higher regional average nighttime light intensity, the proportion of the built-up area, and the urban road area corresponded with a large HANPPluc value. Conversely, HANPP would decrease as the proportion of urban green spaces increased. Furthermore, HANPP (%NPPpot) and HANPP (gC/m2) mostly depended on the rural development index, while HANPPluc and HANPPharv were mainly controlled by urban and rural development, respectively. Our findings help understand, first, how unbalanced regional development influences human-induced biomass occupation, the comprehensive urban ecological construction, and rural ecological restoration and, second, that the overall planning of urban–rural integration development must be strengthened to face greater ecological pressures in the future.

Does environmental regulation narrow the north-south economic gap ? - Empirical evidence based on panel data of 285 prefecture-level cities

The economic differentiation between the north and the south of China, as a long-standing phenomenon of unbalanced regional economic development, is aggravating, and has gradually become a resistance to the construction of a new development pattern and regional coordinated development. Most of the existing studies focus on the comparison of differences between the Eastern, Central and Western regions of China, but there is little discussion on the economic gap between China's North-South economy. In addition, through the literature review, no attention has been paid to the environmental regulation factor that leads to the economic gap between the North and the South. In view of this, the study constructs a benchmark regression model and a non-linear regression model based on the balanced panel data of 285 cities in China from 2004 to 2019, explores the role that environmental regulation plays in the widening of China's North-South economy gap. The results show that, firstly, environmental regulation is significantly conducive to narrowing the economic gap between the North and the South; In addition, with the greater intensity of environmental regulation, the economic gap shows a trend of “narrowing first, expanding then”, that is, There exists positive U-shaped nonlinear relationship between them. Finally, the heterogeneity of urban scale leads to significant differences in the position and shape of the positive U-shaped curve, which exists between environmental regulation and China's North-South economy gap. The test results shows that the inflection point level of the U-shaped curve in the North is higher than that in the South. Based on this, the study proposes to adjust environmental policies accordingly under regional differentiated conditions, increase financial investment in improving environmental regulation tools and promote coordinated environmental governance in the North and South regions, to promote regional coordinated and sustainable development, provide empirical evidence and theoretical reference to improve people's livelihood and well-being and ultimately achieve the goal of common prosperity.

The Impact of the “Show IP Location” Policy on Geographical Discrimination Based on the Comments on Mainstream Chinese Youth Video Websites “Bilibili”

A new policy to show IP location is promulgated by the Chinese government in 2022. Since then, mainstream Chinese social media, including video sites and forums, has to display the provincial IP address of the person who posted the video or article, meaning social media users will be able to see where the article is posted from. This paper collects comments from “Bilibili”, a mainstream video site for young Chinese, and analyzes the content of each comment to determine whether they contain geographically discriminatory content. By comparing the number of geographically discriminatory comments on videos before and after the policy enactment, the author found that the new policy has increased the likelihood of geographic discrimination. In fact, users are more likely to notice the address of the commentator when viewing comments and respond to the commentator in a geographically discriminatory way in relation to the comment content. Looking at the downward trend in geographically discriminatory comments, the author concludes that the decline is partly due to a decline in the novelty of new features among Internet users. Meanwhile, the author summarizes four different types of geographic discrimination, including regional stereotypes, opposing viewpoints generated by unbalanced regional development, international stereotypes, and negative nationalist mentality that arises from political reasons.