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Effects of ports on urban economic geography: A study based on the natural experiment of decentralization reform in China

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  • Li, Jiewei
  • Li, Xiaobing
  • Zhu, Ruihua

Abstract

Ports are usually regarded as hubs for resource allocation, and the identification of port impacts is still worthy of further study. Using 1998–2007 panel data on all 146 ports and 282 cities in China and a quasi-experimental empirical design involving port decentralization reform in China from 2001 to 2004, this work studies the impacts of the decentralization reform on ports and port cities with a time-varying difference-in-differences (DID) regression model. The results show that since the management of ports was transferred from the central government to local governments, the growth rate of port investment has increased by approximately 1%, and the agglomeration of manufacturing and financial industries in port cities has been significantly enhanced. Furthermore, the results reveal that the impacts of decentralization reform on ports and industries have been stronger in China's coastal and southern port cities and weaker in inland and northern port cities. These findings show that decentralization reform can promote port development, in turn shaping the economic geography by driving the agglomeration of related industries.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Jiewei & Li, Xiaobing & Zhu, Ruihua, 2023. "Effects of ports on urban economic geography: A study based on the natural experiment of decentralization reform in China," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jotrge:v:111:y:2023:i:c:s0966692323000960
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2023.103624
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