Study On The Influence Of Upgrading Development Zone On Regional Industrial Structure Upgrading

Since the reform and opening up,national development zones have played an irreplaceable role in driving regional economic development and optimizing industrial structure.Since 2009,in response to the financial crisis and the transformation of economic development mode,China has launched the examination and approval work of upgrading provincial development zones to national development zones.By the end of2022,a total of 296 provincial development zones have been upgraded to national development zones.This paper argues that the upgrading of the development zone meets the quasi-natural experimental conditions of external shocks.Therefore,after analyzing the mechanism of the upgrading of the development zone on the upgrading of the regional industrial structure,using the panel data of 225 prefecture-level cities from2003 to 2020,using the multi-period double difference method,the empirical test of the impact of the upgrading policy of the development zone on the upgrading of the industrial structure of the region.Based on the empirical results,this paper draws the following conclusions :Firstly,the upgrading of provincial development zones to national development zones has a significant role in promoting the upgrading of regional industrial structure and the rationalization of industrial structure.Therefore,the upgrading of development zones can promote the upgrading of regional industrial structure,and the conclusion is still valid after robustness test.Secondly,the impact of the upgrading of development zones on the upgrading of regional industrial structure is heterogeneous in terms of region,type,quantity and business environment.From a regional perspective,the upgrading of development zones in the eastern region has no significant impact on the advancement of industrial structure and has a significant role in promoting the rationalization of industrial structure,while the upgrading of development zones in the central and western regions has a significant role in promoting the advancement of industrial structure and has no significant impact on the rationalization of industrial structure.From the perspective of the types of development zones,the upgrading of economic development zones and high-tech zones can promote the upgrading of regional industrial structure and the rationalization of industrial structure,but the promotion effect of high-tech zones on the upgrading of industrial structure is greater than that of economic development zones.From the perspective of the number of upgrades,only one development zone has a greater role in upgrading the industrial structure than two or more development zones,and has a considerable promotion effect in the rationalization of the industrial structure;from the perspective of business environment,in areas with relatively good business environment,the upgrading policy of development zones has a greater role in promoting the advancement of industrial structure,while in areas with relatively poor business environment,the upgrading of development zones has no significant impact on the rationalization of industrial structure.Thirdly,the analysis of the impact mechanism shows that the upgrading of development zones mainly promotes the upgrading of regional industrial structure by optimizing resource allocation,improving innovation level and expanding consumer demand.The upgrading of development zones mainly promotes the upgrading of industrial structure by optimizing resource allocation and improving innovation level,and promotes the rationalization of industrial structure by optimizing resource allocation,improving innovation level and expanding consumer demand.Based on the research conclusions,in order to give full play to the industrial advantages and institutional advantages of national development zones and promote the upgrading of industrial structure and the transformation of economic development mode,this paper puts forward targeted policy recommendations from the aspects of continuously implementing the upgrading policy of development zones,optimizing the layout of upgraded development zones and improving the management system of upgraded development zones.