Does Regional Development Policy Promote Industrial Structure Upgrading? Evidence from the Yangtze River Delta in China

Abstract

The “Regional Development Plan of the Yangtze River Delta (YRD)”, or the “YRD Development Policy”, is a national policy of China aimed at promoting industrial structure upgrading and the high-quality development of the regional economy in the YRD. To test the implementation effect of this policy, this work applied the synthetic control method (SCM) to explore the impact of the YRD Development Policy on industrial structure upgrading in the YRD based on 15-year panel data of 30 provinces in mainland China. The results showed that, as a whole, the implementation of the YRD Development Policy has contributed to industrial structure upgrading in the YRD. The trend of industrial structure upgrading is more rapid in the original YRD than in the new YRD. From a local perspective, the YRD Development Policy has hindered the upgrading of the industrial structure in Anhui Province but promoted upgrading in the rest of the YRD. From a long-term perspective, the effectiveness of the YRD Development Policy is limited, presenting a clear N-shaped development trend. In terms of industrial structure changes, the impact of the YRD Development Policy on the three types of industries in the YRD shows obvious regional differences. Furthermore, economic development, urbanization, and technology innovation have a significant and positive impact on the industrial structure upgrading of the YRD. These findings have policy-making implications, enrich the research on the impact of the YRD Development Policy on industrial structure upgrading, and provide empirical reference for subsequent policy improvements.

The Enlightenment of Eu Experience to the Integration of Yangtze River Delta

“…To achieve market integration, strengthen the unity of a series of regional market rules and systems, improve the level of modernization and integration of market supervision, so as to promote the coordination of industrial chain and cross-border co-construction of clusters, and at the same time rely on large platforms for product and industry sharing and co-governance. Since the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region needs to establish an innovation-industry system based on scientific research, with technology research and development and technology application research and development as referrals, and with industrialization and market-oriented production and application as exports [11] ,the innovation and improvement of the regional coordination mechanism is particularly important, which can help break through administrative barriers. The establishment of an integrated mechanism that can handle local administration and regional division of labor and cooperation avoids conflicts of interests at different levels.…”

Path Optimization of Technological Innovation Efficiency Improvement in China’s High-Tech Industries Based on QCA and GA-PSO-BP Neural Network

“…There is a consensus that industrial structure can have an impact on regional innovation. The upgrading of regional industrial structure can provide a broad market for the application of new knowledge and technology, attract the concentration of high-tech industries, and promote the development of strategic emerging industries [26]. Moreover, the upgrading of industrial structure will further deepen the division of labor and promote the efficiency of regional innovation [27].…”