Regional Leading Industry Theory And Empirical Research

Industries are the skeleton of national economy and the industrial stmcture is an internal indicator of the level of regional economic development. The growth of modem regional economy chiefly depends upon the growth of regional key industries. To promote the key industries is of vital importance for the growth of regional economy. The issue of key industries is an important aspect and a hot topic in the research fields of industrial economics and regional economics. Some issues are not easy to be analyzed. Having consulted a number of secondaiy data and based on the past experience and lessons in economic work, the author takes Sichuan province as a case study. A series of issues have been studied: how to construct theoretical framework of the regional key industries; the criteria for determining regional key industries including indicators, influential factors and mathematical analysis. The study has both 5 p theoretical and practical significance in analyzing regional key industries. The paper falls into the following five sections: The first section is a prelude. In this part a series of related concepts are proposed and examined such as industrial structure, fundamental industries, key industries, leading industries and industrial policies. It sets up a clear context on the whole paper. It presents the reasons for engaging in this study. The objectives, contents and logic framework of the study are also settled in this part. In the second section, an analysis of the theories on key industries in China and aboard has been made and then a theoretical framework to determine the key industries has been constructed. The core of the framework is the theoiy of industrial structure evolution and the theory of regional development After having analyzed the defects and disadvantages in the studies on key industries both in China and aboard, the author proposes a new perspective to deepen the study, i.e. to broaden the scope of industrial study, to put regional spatial elements into the studies of the key industries and to enhance the micro infrastructures in forming key industries. A theoretical system including the screening, assessment, promotion and expansion of key industries has been constructed. In the third section the author analyzes the evolution of industrial structure in Sichuan and the main æ…³chievements in pushing industrialization and nurturing key industries since the æ…£hree-Line Construction?in the 1960s. 6 It also points that the industrial structure in Sichuan has the problems of weak infrastructures and weak fundamental industries and the problems of low quality of industrial structure. The author also analyzes the factors influencing the industrial structure in Sichuan province, including the unbalanced development between urbanization and industrialization, underdevelopment of markets of productive elements, backwardness of opening to the outside world, which has provided a basis for determining the key industries in Sichuan. Section four is the quantitative study in screening key industries. Seven fundamental principles and seven standards in screening key industries in Sichuan have been proposed. Based on analyzing the fac...