| In October 2022,the party’s 20 th National Congress stressed the importance of“Promoting the inheritance and innovation of traditional Chinese medicine”,placing the development of the traditional Chinese medicine industry at the core of national development,the aim is to improve the modernization and systematization of Chinese medicine industry.Chinese herbal medicines are the core foundation of the Chinese medicine industry and a key link to ensure people’s safety.Bozhou,as the country’s top four drug capitals and the country’s largest distribution center for Chinese herbal medicines,it is an important area for the rapid development of Chinese medicinal materials industry.With the rapid development of the Chinese herbal medicine industry in Bozhou,the phenomenon of industrial agglomeration has gradually emerged,which has enhanced the competitiveness of the industry in the market,at the same time,it promotes the regional technological innovation,the industrial coordination agglomeration and the industrial structure optimization and upgrading,which is beneficial to the regional economic growth and becomes an important mode to promote the high-quality development of the region and the country.Therefore,it is of great significance to study the industrial agglomeration of Chinese medicinal materials in Bozhou and its effects.This paper mainly studies the effect of the agglomeration of Chinese herbal medicine industry on regional economic growth in Bozhou and its mechanism.Firstly,the theories and literatures related to industrial agglomeration were reviewed and analyzed systematically,and a series of hypotheses were put forward on the mechanism of regional economic growth affected by industrial agglomeration of Chinese medicinal materials.Secondly,the evolution of time and space of Chinese herbal medicine industry agglomeration in Bozhou is analyzed in depth.Finally,using the 2021 data from 2000 to2021 from four regions in Bozhou,China,the paper empirically analyzes the above research hypotheses using static panel regression model and dynamic panel GMM model,in order to ensure the reliability of the conclusion,the endogeneity and robustness tests are made,and the following main conclusions are drawn:First,the agglomeration level of Chinese herbal medicine industry in Bozhou fluctuates obviously with time,and the agglomeration degree of Chinese herbal medicine industry in different counties and districts shows obvious differences.Firstly,Qiaocheng District is the main production area of Chinese medicinal materials,in which the level of Chinese medicinal materials industry agglomeration is always at a high level,but the fluctuation is obvious and the trend is declining.Second,Guoyang County,Mengcheng County over the past two decades,the Chinese herbal medicine industry agglomeration level has not changed much,the development is more stable,but the level of agglomeration is different.Third,the agglomeration level of Lixin County’s traditional Chinese medicine industry,the overall performance of the agglomeration growth trend,but relatively large fluctuations.Second,there is a significant positive linear relationship between the agglomeration of the Chinese herbal medicine industry in Bozhou and regional economic growth,there is no “U-shaped” or “N-shaped” relationship between the agglomeration of Chinese herbal medicine industry and regional economic growth in Bozhou.Third,the mechanism analysis found that Bozhou’s Chinese herbal medicine industry could indirectly affect regional economic growth by stimulating regional technological innovation,promoting industrial agglomeration and optimizing industrial structure,and the optimization of industrial structure is the most prominent intermediary effect. |
