| The development of new digital technologies such as the Internet,big data,and artificial intelligence has made the digital economy a "new engine" for high-quality regional development,shaping important strategic decisions to create new advantages in regional competition.In China,the Yangtze River Delta region is a participant,leader,promoter,and demonstrator in the development of the digital economy,being at the forefront of digital industrialization,industrial digitization,digital governance,data value creation,digital trade,and more.The total digital economy of the Yangtze River Delta region accounted for about 28% of the national digital economy scale in 2020,representing approximately 44% of the region’s GDP.At the same time,under the trend of regional integration in the Yangtze River Delta,governments in four provinces and one city are actively promoting the joint construction of key innovation platforms in the digital economy sector,jointly promoting the construction of national digital economy innovation and development pilot zones,software cities,and international digital infrastructure.They are also deploying high-standard "digital new infrastructure",which is bound to bring about a new wave of digital economic development.Although the development of digital economy and digital industries is extremely rapid,the theoretical research on digital enterprises is still lagging behind practical development.In recent years,academia has launched a research boom in the digital economy and digital industries,focusing on the measurement of their development level,the classification of digital industries,and their impact on regional economic development and innovation efficiency,among other aspects.The research achievements are relatively rich and have further expanded to include the relationship with regional income level,talent aggregation,and other factors.However,there are still several problems with existing research,and there is a possibility for further deepening research.Firstly,due to data limitations,studies mostly rely on macro statistical data from government announcements,with the research scale mainly focusing on the provincial level and there is still a lack of research at the city level,as well as micro-level enterprise research.Secondly,existing research mostly conducts cross-sectional analysis of certain years in recent past,and has not explored the spatiotemporal evolution pattern and influencing factors of digital industries over longer time periods.Thirdly,digital enterprises can be divided into manufacturing-type digital enterprises and service-type digital enterprises,and while forefront literature has already recognized the spatial differences between the two,there is still a lack of differentiation in their location selection influencing factors.Lastly,the clustering characteristics of digital enterprises are still less studied,and the clustering characteristics of service-type digital enterprises may also differ significantly from those of manufacturing-type digital enterprises.At the same time,the impact of clustering on the growth of digital enterprises has also been rarely studied.Therefore,this paper takes the Yangtze River Delta region as a case study and uses micro-enterprise POI data,GIS spatial analysis and threshold models to explore the spatiotemporal distribution,clustering characteristics and influencing factors of service-type digital enterprises in the region.The research conclusions are as follows:The service-type digital enterprises in the Yangtze River Delta region show a fast growth rate and significant changes in their total volume,exhibiting a clear core-periphery structure.The direct-controlled municipalities and provincial capital cities have more companies,forming the core area,while non-provincial capital cities have fewer companies,forming the periphery area.The total number of enterprises has formed a high-value agglomeration area around the estuary of the Yangtze River,while low-value agglomeration areas have emerged in the northwest of Jiangsu Province,the northeast of Anhui Province,and the southwest of Zhejiang Province.Additionally,there are significant spatial differences in the distribution of digital enterprises in different years.The spatial evolution characteristics of agglomeration density,enterprise proximity index,specialization and diversity show significant differences.(a)From 2000 to 2019,the agglomeration density increased continuously over time and showed three stages of evolution: "higher in the east and lower in the west and north" → "higher in the west and lower in the east,with a balanced north-south distribution" → "higher in the west and lower in the east,with higher density in the south and lower in the north." The stage characteristics of enterprise agglomeration density were significant,and the evolution process was intense.(b)The enterprise geographic proximity index showed four stages of evolution: "sporadic high-value areas and overall evenly distributed" → "large but stable indices along the Yangtze River and south of the Yangtze River,with small changes,but small indices and large differences in the north" → "overall increases but spatial differences decrease" → "overall decreases but spatial differences increase."(c)The overall specialization agglomeration density is increasing year by year,and the spatial evolution shows that "there is a common north-south and east-west difference,but the north-south difference is greater than the east-west difference" → "the specialization agglomeration in the west continues to strengthen,while the specialization degree in the east weakens" → "the specialization degree in the east and south deepens,and a high-value professional agglomeration area is formed along the Yangtze River."(d)The diversity agglomeration level of service-type digital enterprises in the Yangtze River Delta region increased first and then decreased,and the spatial characteristics differed significantly from those of specialization agglomeration.The growth of service-type digital enterprises is influenced by factors such as the previous year’s agglomeration density,enterprise proximity index,specialization agglomeration,diversity agglomeration,per capita GDP,the proportion of the added value of the tertiary industry to GDP,patent applications,the number of employees in information transmission computer services,and per capita social consumer goods expenditure.The impact of last year’s agglomeration density of service-type digital enterprises on the growth of digital enterprises in the Yangtze River Delta region showed a double-threshold effect.The impact of last year’s enterprise proximity index of service-type digital enterprises on the growth of enterprises showed a single-threshold effect.The impact of last year’s specialization agglomeration of service-type digital enterprises on enterprise growth showed a double-threshold effect.The impact of last year’s diversity agglomeration of service-type digital enterprises on enterprise growth showed a single-threshold effect.Per capita GDP,the proportion of the added value of the tertiary industry to GDP,patent applications,and the number of employees in information transmission computer services significantly positively affect the growth of service-type digital enterprises in the Yangtze River Delta region,but with slight differences in significance levels.However,per capita social consumer goods expenditure has a negative impact on enterprise growth.This article analyzes the development status and trends of service-oriented digital enterprises in different stages and regions,analyzes the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of different agglomeration types,and clarifies the location factors that influence their location choices in the information age,which can provide academic support for judging the development stage of the digital industry and provide empirical research basis for formulating the digital industry policy. |
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