SPATIOTEMPORAL EVOLUTION AND DETERMINANTS OF COUNTY ECONOMIC GROWTH IN THE YANGTZE RIVER DELTA
SPATIOTEMPORAL EVOLUTION AND DETERMINANTS OF COUNTY ECONOMIC GROWTH IN THE YANGTZE RIVER DELTA
Tianyu MA, Xinyu HAN
Party School of the Kunshan Municipal Committee of C.P.C
Soochow University
Copyright © 2026 by Cayley Nielson Press, Inc.
ISBN: 978-1-957274-26-3
Cayley Nielson Press Scholarly Monograph Series Book Code No.: 216-4-1
US$168.50
Preface
As a critical node connecting urban and rural areas, county-level regions serve as an important bond for advancing high-quality development. They can absorb the spillover effects of urban industries, capital and technologies, while driving the development of rural resources, the circulation of agricultural products and the upgrading of production factors, thus acting as the core hub for dismantling the urban-rural dual structure and facilitating the two-way free flow of production factors between urban and rural areas. In the meantime, county-level economies represent the fundamental components of the national economy. With a large economic scale and extensive coverage, they constitute a key pillar for boosting overall economic growth and stabilizing the macroeconomy, and also function as the core carrier for expanding employment, nurturing small and medium-sized market entities, and advancing the downward shift of industries.
Nevertheless, the development levels of county-level regions in China are currently highly uneven, with prominent gaps existing especially between counties in the central and western regions and those in the eastern region. My hometown is Zuoyun County in Shanxi Province, whose current GDP stands at approximately 10 billion yuan. I work in Kunshan City, hailed as "China's Top County", whose GDP has exceeded 500 billion yuan and is approaching 600 billion yuan. The gap in GDP is reflected in substantial disparities between the two regions across a wide range of fields, including infrastructure, healthcare, education, elderly care, and issues concerning agriculture, rural areas and farmers. Kunshan stands as a pacesetter at the forefront of the times, whereas Zuoyun County remains at a development stage characteristic of the 20th century. I aspire to contribute to the development of my hometown yet lack the requisite capacity at present. Accordingly, I intend to commence with research on county-level economies, aiming to explore feasible development pathways for numerous counties in the central and western regions, including Zuoyun County.
Although the Yangtze River Delta is one of the most economically developed regions in China, it also features conspicuous internal developmental disparities, which can be regarded as a microcosm of China’s overall economic structure. Therefore, taking county-level units in the Yangtze River Delta as research samples carries significant reference value for the development of counties across the country. This study takes 150 county-level units in the Yangtze River Delta as analytical subjects, focusing on the spatio-temporal evolution, regional inequalities, convergence characteristics, influencing factors and spatial linkages of county-level economic growth. Adopting the dual perspectives of temporal dynamics and spatial interaction, this research aims to uncover the fundamental characteristics and intrinsic mechanisms of county-level economic growth in the Yangtze River Delta. On this basis, this book further attempts to dissect the universal laws underlying county-level development, providing an analytical perspective for interpreting developmental disparities among counties and their evolutionary trends. Ultimately, this research is expected to offer valuable references for the development of a vast number of county-level regions in China.
Tianyu MA and Xinyu HAN jointly completed this book. Tianyu MA undertook the major share of the writing, amounting to approximately 160,000 words, and was responsible for the overall design of the book, the refinement of its main arguments, and the writing of most of its chapters. In addition, Tianyu MA carried out the systematic review of the relevant literature, the preparation of related figures and tables, and the synthesis and analysis of the research content, as well as the overall integration, revision, and finalization of the manuscript. Xinyu HAN contributed approximately 40,000 words and mainly assisted with the collection of materials, the collection and organization of statistical data and case materials, the compilation and verification of data, the checking of references and notes, the revision of the text, and the formatting of the manuscript. Tianyu MA ultimately reviewed, unified, and finalized the book.
Owing to the limitations of the authors’ knowledge and writing ability, and given the complexity of collecting and organizing the materials, as well as the time constraints under which this book was prepared, shortcomings and imperfections may still remain. We would be most grateful to experts and readers for their valuable comments and corrections.
Tianyu MA
Party School of the Kunshan Municipal Committee of C.P.C
Suzhou, Jiangsu, China
Jan. 30th, 2026
Contents
Preface I
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
1.1 Research Background 1
1.2 Research Significance 3
1.2.1 Theoretical Significance 3
1.2.2 Practical Significance 4
1.3 Research Content and Methods 4
1.3.1 Research Content 4
1.3.2 Research Methods 6
1.4 Research Approach and Analytical Framework 7
1.5 Research Innovations 7
Chapter 2 Theoretical Foundations and Literature Review 10
2.1 Definition of Relevant Concepts 10
2.1.1 County Economy 10
2.1.2 Counties in the Yangtze River Delta 11
2.2 Theoretical Foundations 14
2.2.1 Theoretical Foundations 14
2.2.2 Theories of Unbalanced Regional Economic Development 17
2.2.3 Theories of County Economic Development 19
2.3 Literature Review 21
2.3.1 Studies on Regional Economic Growth 21
2.3.2 Studies on Unbalanced Regional Economic Development 30
2.3.3 Studies on County Economic Development 32
2.3.4 Review of the Literature 34
Chapter 3 Current Development and Spatiotemporal Evolution of County Economy in the YRD 37
3.1 Overview of County Economic Development in the YRD 37
3.1.1 Economic Scale 38
3.1.2 Industrial Structure 42
3.1.3 Market Consumption 45
3.1.4 Government Revenue and Expenditure 47
3.2 Spatiotemporal Evolution of County Economic Growth in the YRD 50
3.2.1 Temporal Evolution of County Economic Growth in the YRD 50
3.2.2 Spatial Evolution of County Economic Growth in the YRD 77
3.3 Convergence Test of County Economic Growth in the YRD 125
Chapter 4 Empirical Analysis of the Determinants of County Economic Growth in the YRD 128
4.1 Analysis of the Determinants of County Economic Growth in the YRD 128
4.2 Baseline Regression Analysis 139
4.2.1 Model Specification and Data Sources 139
4.2.2 Variable Selection and Description 140
4.2.3 Descriptive Statistics and Variance Inflation Factor Test 143
4.2.4 Analysis of the Baseline Regression Results 144
4.2.5 Heterogeneity Analysis 154
4.3 Spatial Regression Analysis 161
4.3.1 Test of Spatial Correlation 161
4.3.2 Selection of the Spatial Econometric Model 163
4.3.3 Construction of the Spatial Econometric Model 165
4.3.4 Analysis of the Spatial Durbin Model Results 166
4.4 Robustness Test 183
Chapter 5 Conclusions and Recommendations 187
5.1 Research Conclusions 187
5.2 Policy Recommendations 191
5.2.1 Optimizing Industrial Structure and Coordinating County Development 191
5.2.2 Improving Land and Water Transport and Reducing Economic Distance 194
5.2.3 Reforming the Labor Market and Stimulating Innovation Vitality 196
5.2.4 Building an Effective Government and Supporting Market Actors 197
5.3 Future Research 199
References 200
Readership
This book should be useful for students, scientists, engineers and professionals working in the areas of optoelectronic packaging, photonic devices, semiconductor technology, materials science, polymer science, electrical and electronics engineering. This book could be used for one semester course on adhesives for photonics packaging designed for both undergraduate and graduate engineering students.
