IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/pocoec/v21y2009i1p103-115.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Industrial agglomeration and labour productivity in transition: an empirical study of Chinese manufacturing industries

Author

Listed:
  • Can-fei He
  • Sheng-jun Zhu

Abstract

China has experienced substantial spatial restructuring of manufacturing industries since the economic reforms. Chinese manufacturing industries reversed an early drop in industrial agglomeration and have been increasingly agglomerated since the early 1990s. Resource-intensive industries have been relatively dispersed while export-oriented industries have been progressively agglomerated. Industries driven by market and global forces are agglomerated while those favoured and protected by local governments are widely dispersed. Statistical analysis confirms a significant positive relationship between industrial agglomeration and labour productivity in China. This positive relationship was particularly prominent in liberalised and globalised industries in the 1980s and has been found in most industries since the 1990s. The empirical results imply that marketisation and globalisation have stimulated industrial agglomeration and thereby raised industrial competitiveness in China.

Suggested Citation

  • Can-fei He & Sheng-jun Zhu, 2009. "Industrial agglomeration and labour productivity in transition: an empirical study of Chinese manufacturing industries," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(1), pages 103-115.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:pocoec:v:21:y:2009:i:1:p:103-115
    DOI: 10.1080/14631370802663711
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14631370802663711
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/14631370802663711?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Au, Chun-Chung & Henderson, J. Vernon, 2006. "How migration restrictions limit agglomeration and productivity in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 350-388, August.
    2. Duranton, Gilles & Puga, Diego, 2004. "Micro-foundations of urban agglomeration economies," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: J. V. Henderson & J. F. Thisse (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 48, pages 2063-2117, Elsevier.
    3. Mary Amiti, 1998. "Trade Liberalisation and the Location of Manufacturing Firms," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(7), pages 953-962, September.
    4. Devereux, Michael P. & Griffith, Rachel & Simpson, Helen, 2004. "The geographic distribution of production activity in the UK," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 533-564, September.
    5. Wen, Mei, 2004. "Relocation and agglomeration of Chinese industry," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 329-347, February.
    6. Bai, Chong-En & Du, Yingjuan & Tao, Zhigang & Tong, Sarah Y., 2004. "Local protectionism and regional specialization: evidence from China's industries," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 397-417, July.
    7. Lall, Somik V. & Shalizi, Zmarak & Deichmann, Uwe, 2004. "Agglomeration economies and productivity in Indian industry," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(2), pages 643-673, April.
    8. Michael E. Porter, 2000. "Location, Competition, and Economic Development: Local Clusters in a Global Economy," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 14(1), pages 15-34, February.
    9. Li, Xiaoying & Liu, Xiaming & Parker, David, 2001. "Foreign direct investment and productivity spillovers in the Chinese manufacturing sector," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 305-321, December.
    10. Zuohong Pan & Fan Zhang, 2002. "Urban Productivity in China," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 39(12), pages 2267-2281, November.
    11. Yung Joon Lee & Hyoungsoo Zang, 1998. "Urbanisation and Regional Productivity in Korean Manufacturing," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 35(11), pages 2085-2099, November.
    12. HE Canfei, 2006. "Regional Decentralisation and Location of Foreign Direct Investment in China," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 33-50.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xubei Luo & Nong Zhu, 2020. "Hub-Periphery Development Pattern and Inclusive Growth: Case Study of Guangdong Province," CIRANO Working Papers 2019s-39, CIRANO.
    2. Guillaumont Jeanneney, Sylviane & Hua, Ping, 2011. "How does real exchange rate influence labour productivity in China?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 628-645.
    3. Luo,Xubei & Zhu,Nong, 2015. "Hub-periphery development pattern and inclusive growth : case study of Guangdong province," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7509, The World Bank.
    4. Gao, Yuchen & Hu, Yimei & Liu, Xielin & Zhang, Huanren, 2021. "Can public R&D subsidy facilitate firms’ exploratory innovation? The heterogeneous effects between central and local subsidy programs," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(4).
    5. Devesh Singh, 2022. "Cluster Space Among Labor Productivity, Urbanization, and Agglomeration of Industries in Hungary," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 13(2), pages 1008-1027, June.
    6. David W. H. Wong & Harry F. Lee & Simon X. B. Zhao & Andy C. L. Tai, 2022. "Post-2008 Fiscal Stimulus Packages and the Driving Forces for China’s Urbanization," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-16, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lu, Jiangyong & Tao, Zhigang, 2009. "Trends and determinants of China's industrial agglomeration," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 167-180, March.
    2. Long, Cheryl & Zhang, Xiaobo, 2012. "Patterns of China's industrialization: Concentration, specialization, and clustering," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 593-612.
    3. Gilles Duranton, 2007. "From cities to productivity and growth in developing countries," Working Papers tecipa-306, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    4. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Gobillon, Laurent, 2015. "The Empirics of Agglomeration Economies," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 247-348, Elsevier.
    5. Jennifer Day & Peter Ellis, 2013. "Growth in Indonesia's manufacturing sectors: Urban and localization contributions," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(3), pages 343-368, August.
    6. Jiawei Wu & Yehua Dennis Wei & Qizhai Li & Feng Yuan, 2018. "Economic Transition and Changing Location of Manufacturing Industry in China: A Study of the Yangtze River Delta," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-28, July.
    7. Chauvin, Juan Pablo & Glaeser, Edward & Ma, Yueran & Tobio, Kristina, 2017. "What is different about urbanization in rich and poor countries? Cities in Brazil, China, India and the United States," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 17-49.
    8. Hangang Hu & Lisha Pan & Xin Jing & Guan Li & Yuefei Zhuo & Zhongguo Xu & Yang Chen & Xueqi Wang, 2022. "The Spatiotemporal Non-Stationary Effect of Industrial Agglomeration on Urban Land Use Efficiency: A Case Study of Yangtze River Delta, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-27, May.
    9. Overman, Henry G. & Venables, Anthnony J., 2010. "Evolving City Systems," WIDER Working Paper Series 026, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    10. Long, Cheryl & Zhang, Xiaobo, 2011. "Cluster-based industrialization in China: Financing and performance," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 112-123, May.
    11. Canfei He & Fenghua Pan, 2010. "Economic Transition, Dynamic Externalities and City-industry Growth in China," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 47(1), pages 121-144, January.
    12. Dan Zheng, 2011. "The Dynamics of Economic Policy and Regional Specialization: Evidence from China's High-tech Industry," ERSA conference papers ersa11p1086, European Regional Science Association.
    13. Canfei He & Qi Guo & David Rigby, 2015. "Industry Relatedness, Agglomeration Externalities and Firm Survival in China," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1528, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Sep 2015.
    14. Berthold, Norbert & Kullas, Matthias, 2007. "The spirits that I've cited my commands ignore: how does Chinese regional policy affect the agglomeration process?," Discussion Paper Series 101, Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, Chair of Economic Order and Social Policy.
    15. Li, Ben & Lu, Yi, 2009. "Geographic concentration and vertical disintegration: Evidence from China," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 294-304, May.
    16. Lin, Hui-Lin & Li, Hsiao-Yun & Yang, Chih-Hai, 2011. "Agglomeration and productivity: Firm-level evidence from China's textile industry," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 313-329, September.
    17. Vera Barinova & Stepan Zemtsov, 2015. "SME?s cluster identification in Russia," ERSA conference papers ersa15p572, European Regional Science Association.
    18. He, Qing & Xue, Chang & Zhu, Chenqi, 2014. "Financial development and patterns of industrial specialization : Regional evidence from China," BOFIT Discussion Papers 12/2014, Bank of Finland, Institute for Economies in Transition.
    19. Frederick van der Ploeg & Steven Poelhekke, 2008. "Globalization and the rise of mega-cities in the developing world," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 1(3), pages 477-501.
    20. Sara Cruz & Aurora A.C. Teixeira, 2014. "The determinants of spatial location of creative industries start-ups: Evidence from Portugal using a discrete choice model approach," FEP Working Papers 546, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:pocoec:v:21:y:2009:i:1:p:103-115. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/CPCE20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.