| 1,Research Background and SignificanceAs one of the most important economical topics in the evolution of human society, the progressive development of regional economy has always been highly concerned by global economists and decision-makers of government. The disparity of regional economy's progressive development in our country has been resulted of several factors, such as natural resources, histories, territory conditions, political and social factors and so on. Since the Reform and Opening-up policy was implemented in 1978, the distribution of productive force and resources has been given privilege to the eastern area along the seaside, which included the government implemented "the eastern area development strategy", gave preferential terms to enhance its economic development, pushed forward the economic system reform in this area and opening-up policy, and furthermore made the eastern area as the focus of government reform and investment by inducting the various resources and factors flowing from the west to the east in our country. As a result, the gap between different regions became increasingly wider and wider, which has been the main obstacle for the coordinating development of different regions and the significant political issue concerned by our people. However, people have usually focused on the internal causes for the gap between different regions' economic growth, such as the internal factors of the well-development or under-development areas, the favorable policies from the government and so on. Compare to that, the developing cost paid by the under-development areas for the well-development areas has always been underestimated and less studied, especially by quantitative methods.The significance of our research is to find the rational basis of the compensation from the well-development areas to the under-development, in the way of empirical analyzing the factor costs paid by the under-development areas for the well-development areas during past three decades. We should not only rely on the political or emotional causes for the government transfer payment or the economic support from the well-development areas to the less-development areas, but the rational ones. The new prospective will give another way to solve the disparity problem of regional development and has practical values for the society.2. Main ContentsBased on the reality of the progressive development of our country's regional economy, our research focuses on reviewing the historic evolution of the progressive development of regional economy, and fully discusses the balanced development theory and unbalanced development theory of regional economy. Meanwhile, we analyze several key factors of progressive development such as natural resources, capitals, labor force, technology development, system innovation and entrepreneurship. On the basis of the mutual impact and interaction of those key factors, we discuss the inter property, natural property and social property of the progressive development of regional economy, and analyze its material effect, social effect and developing effect. We use Theil index to test our country's disparity of the regional economy's progressive development, including discussing the different phases during the system transformation. On that basis, we emphatically discuss the cost paid by the middle/west areas for the east on labor force, capitals and natural resources, and the benefit that the east areas should share with the middle/west. After all we set up the model of cost-sharing that the middle/west areas has applied for the economic growth of the east.(1) Cost-sharing research, in the prospective of labor force flowIn the year of 2007, only taking the net migration movement into consideration, among those net immigration provinces, top six of that list seated at the Yangtze River Delta Economic Zone and the Bohai Circle Economic Region, which were Guangdong, Shanghai, Beijing, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Tianjin. The total immigration population was 30.11 millions. Compare to the those areas, the top nine areas to emigrate labor force were all in the west, including Henan, Sichuan, Anhui, Hunan, Chongqing, Hubei, Guangxi, Guizhou and Jiangxi, and the total emigration population was 42.56 millions.(2) Cost-sharing research, in the prospective of capital allocation Concerning capital flows, the east area has always occupied more than half of the total local fiscal revenue all over the country during the year from 2000 to 2009, which was stable at 0.6161-0.5688. Compare to the east, the middle area has only occupied 0.2079-0.1722 and the west 0.1760-0.1691, and those portions are inclined to sequentially decrease. Concerning the investment in the fixed assets, the east proportion has sustainably occupied half of the total country's investment (0.5879-0.4928), contrast to the middle (0.2205-0.2801) and west area (0.1916-0.2271) from the year of 2000 to 2009. Although the middle and the west proportion are inclined to increase, the gap of the absolute total investment between the east and the middle/west is still very large. For example, the disparity of the absolute total investment between the east and the middle has increased from 1171.91 billions yuan to 4654.83 billions yuan (the disparity of that between the east and the west has increased form 1264.19 billions yuan to 5815.41 billions yuan), and that increasing amount has nearly tripled. Furthermore, more than 80% investment in the fixed assets from the foreign capitals allocate in the eastern area.(3) Cost-sharing research, in the prospective of agricultural resources flowDuring the year 2000 to 2009, the planting area and proportion of food supply in the middle/west have largely passed over the east. For example, the food production amount in the middle area which has taken up 40%-50% of the total food production in our country during that decade, and has been inclined to go on rising. On the other side, the proportion the eastern area occupied has decreased from 32% to 28%. According to the definition of the food supplier and food customer in China, the seven main food customers are Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Fujian and Hainan; the seven main food suppliers in the northern China are Hebei, Neimenggu, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Shandong and Henan; and the six main food suppliers in the southern China are Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Henan and Sichuan. Furthermore, those big food exchange markets of China mostly are allocated in the east, and meanwhile the seven main food customers are all in the east, compare to the main food suppliers are mainly in the middle/west. We can conclude that the middle area has done a lot to help the economic growth in the eastern area.(4) Cost-sharing research, in the prospective of natural resources flowIn China, there are 68% of the total exploitable oil,89.3% of the natural gas reserves,93.2% of the coal reserves,79.4% of the pyrites reserves and 76.85% of the exploitable hydroenergy in the middle/west region. Except of the mineral reserves of magnesite and kaoline, most of the main energy resources, ferrous metals, nonferrous metals and nonmetal mineral reserves are allocated in the middle/west region, which in fact should help those regions to establish resource-centered enterprises. However, under the government's macro-control of the natural resources, those basic resources other than export have been sold at relatively low price to the east which has helped the economic growth in those areas, which furthermore made the output of cast iron, steel and oil in the east much more than those in the west. Most of the further processing products of natural resources except of the natural gas and coal have been supplied in the east. However, even under this circumstance, the price of natural gas in the west region is still higher than that in the east. Under the unequal resources exchange system, the suppliers (the middle/west area) have not gained reasonable compensations.(5) research on the cost-sharing of the regional economic growthWe use the notion that cost of regional economic progressive development. This cost is defined as the monetary expression of labor force, capitals, natural resources and ecologic environment that the middle/west areas have supplied to the east. We use tow different methods (average and benchmarking) to calculate this cost paid by the middle/west during the regional progressive economic growth.3,Main Conclusions(1) the absolute disparity of the regional progressive economic growth will continuously increase and the east has gained more economic profits.We find that the absolute disparity between the east and the middle/west has continuously increased, though the degree of disparity between them turns out convergence. In 1978, per capita GDP in the east was 485.18 yuan, compare to 310.65 in the middle and 290.29 in the west. In 2007, per capita GDP in the east led to pass 30,000 yuan, compare to 15387.15 in the middle and 13186.44 in the west.(2) the system factor leads the direction of regional economic development, which means those areas where system transformation came first has gained more profits. During the six decades of regional economic progressive development in China, the system transformation has always run through it. Differences of the new system are mainly decided by degree of marketizaiton, pattern of ownership, degree of opening-up, and sometimes even the different social customs. Every phase of system transformation has stimulated the economic growth of China to some degree, and the area where system transformation came first has gained more economic profits.(3) Factor flows have brought profits for the economic development in the east, but the cost paid by the middle/west.First, according to the analysis of structure, quantity and quality of labor force, we find that the structure of net immigration in the eastern area and net emigration in the west are very notable. The west has trained enormous young workforce for the east and contributes to the economic growth of the east, however, the training cost was paid by the family and governments in the middle/west. Second, because of the better social/economic environment and higher profit from the capital investment, a large amount of fiscal revenue, infrastructure investment, and foreign investment are concentrated in the east, which accelerates the capital flowing from the west to the east. Third, the fast economic growth of the east has taken a lot advantages from the west, especially in the prospective of agricultural resources over the past thirty years since the Reform and Opening-up policy has been implemented. The lands in the east have been used for industries with high additional value other than agriculture. Finally, layout of natural resources in China is very unbalanced in each area, and most of those resources are in the middle/west region. Under the unequal resources exchange system, the suppliers (the middle/west area) have not gained compensations and the original resources advantages in the middle/west cannot be transformed to the economic advantages. Therefore, even with more natural resources, the middle/west areas cannot get more profits by them.(4) the cost paid by the middle/west area for the economic growth in the east has been huge. According to the method of average, from the year 1978 to 2008, the profit gained by the east has reached 42845.1 billions, and the cost of the middle has reached 18984.9 billions and the west 23860.2 billions. According to the benchmarking method, the profit gained by the east has reached 173709.4 billions, and the cost of the middle has reached 8207.06 billions and the west 91638.7 billions.4,Main Countermeasures and Solution Plans(1) Equivalent distribution of social and economic resources must be guaranteed. It can be done by marketing distribution and the government's macro-control.(2) Continuous mechanism of transfer payment should be established. In order to narrow the gap between the east and the middle/west, that mechanism of transfer payment must be established, and also monitoring structure and relative legislature should be improved.(3) Opportunity for the regional progressive development should be seized. Strategies of the development of the central region and large-scale development of the western region have implemented and given the middle/west areas chances to self-improvement. Therefore, they should seize the opportunity based on their own advantages.(4) Technology innovation in middle/west should be stimulated. Technology innovation is the source of wealth of human beings and the power house of economic growth. Economic growth in the middle/west should rely on the technology innovation, and the government should implement the resource-saved strategy to ensure the economic growing well and fast.(5) Profit of resources factors should be improved. The middle/west areas should change from the old high-input high-output pattern to the low-input low-cost high-output pattern, which means the economic grow should focus on the effectiveness of the resource factors.(6) Negative effect of the high welfare during the progressive development should be noticed. While we raise the welfare level in our society, we should also notice that the stimulation effect of the progressive development, which means absolute "fairness" as the over-focus on the absolute coordinating development should be avoid.5,Main Innovative PointsFirst, we create the model of cost sharing by method of average and benchmarking, which calculates the contribution done by the middle/west for the economic growth of the east. Second, we set up the transverse cost-compensation mechanism of regional economic development, which means the central government should cut off the east area's proportion of transfer payment for the middle/west; finally, we redefine the notion and symbols of coordinating development of regional economy, and let all people well understand those indicators such as the good and health development of regional economy, regional competitive advantage, which actually is the result of the contribution from all social members. Therefore, it is the responsibility of members in well-development areas to financially support the less-development areas and give more opportunities for the middle/west regions.6,Problems for Further ResearchFirst, we analyze the regional balance in a static way, but the true balance is dynamic, which will change along with the economic growth. Therefore the theory of dynamic balance should be further studied. Secondly, considering the strategy of transverse cost-compensation, the unbalanced situation among the different provinces in the east areas should be the focus in the further research.
|
PDF Full Text Request