Impact of Northeast Revitalization Policy on the industrial economy: empirical evidence from Central and southern Liaoning urban agglomeration

For a long time, China’s economic development has followed a policy-oriented development model and achieved remarkable results. In the North-East, however, things do not seem to be going as smoothly as they should. This study aims to investigate the impact of the new round of Northeast Revitalization Policy (NRP), initiated in 2014, on the industrial economy of the Central and southern Liaoning Urban Agglomeration. By employing Synthetic Difference-in-Differences (SDID) methodology we provide an evaluation of policy’s effects on industrial structure, innovation efficiency, and industrial clustering. The results show that: first, in the short term, the policy has significantly promoted the transformation of the industrial structure. However, the long-term effects are less pronounced; second, the policy’s impact on the comprehensive technical efficiency of the urban agglomeration is positive but statistically insignificant. Comparing the core cities with other cities in this urban agglomeration, the policy has not brought about a more remarkable increase; third, we reveal that the policy has significantly enhanced the industrial specialization clustering degree and reduced the industrial diversification clustering degree. The findings in this research highlight the importance of continually monitor and evaluate the impact of revitalization policies and adjust strategies.