China's Agglomerations, Agglomeration Effects, and Regional Disparities: A GIS Study

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 23530319
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Economic policy
• Research Institution: Kobe University
• Principal Investigator: CHEN Kuang-hui 神戸大学, 国際協力研究科, 教授 (00188509)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): KAWABATA Koji 神戸大学, 大学院国際協力研究科, 准教授 (10273806) ; HASHIGUCHI Yoshihiro 独立行政法人日本貿易振興機構アジア経済研究所, 開発研究センター, 研究員 (40432554)
• Project Period (FY): 2011-04-28 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 集積検出 / 生産性 / 地理情報システム / 地理的加重回帰 / 空間計量経済学

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The geospatial structure of China's economic growth is visualized. A statistically testable method of measuring and detecting agglomerations is developed based on a simple probabilistic model of plant location. A data smoothing method of "blockwise geographically weighted regression" is also presented. A slight indication of change in the triple-pole structure, the Pearl River Delta, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Bohai Economic Rim structure of agglomerations is observed. It is also observed that productivity has not been necessarily higher in agglomerated and rapidly-growing regions, which might partly explain why the empirical literature has found mixed results on agglomeration effects in China.

Free Research Field

中国経済論，地域経済学