Research On The Spatial Effects Of Bi-Directional Openness In Border Regions

The spatial effect of economic globalization and regional integration has always been a hot point of Regional Science,and the border region is a natural lab of integration studies.However,as a second window of opening up,its industrialization and urbanization is still on a low level,and characteristics of far distance,high segmentation,low density are significant in Chinese border regions.These areas are frontier of geography but not economic development.For the situation of border region as periphery,New Economic Geography provides a theory of such a spatial structure,and argues that the unbalance of openness in China expands economic gap between different areas,and leading openness of costal area is an important reason that those areas have become economic concentration regions,and others become periphery region.However,except the unbalanced characteristic,openness is also directional,including international openness and interregional openness.So,border region as periphery is a result of the effects of the bi-directional openness.Nowadays,the 'one belt and one road'initiative brings the role of the development and openness in border area to a higher level,and pushes regionalization as well as internationalization develop synchronized.Researches on spatial effect of border area will become an important part of studies on world border area.Therefore,different with other researches which emphasis the role of international openness or focus on the core areas,highlighting the multi-hierarchy direction of openness and the asymmetry of international openness and combining the characteristics of border region,this paper discuss what will any shock to economic activities location choice in border area by the different degree and hierarchy of openness?When openness in border area from lack of international openness and domestic openness is dominants to both international and domestic openness improved.Will it enhance the geography center location advantage of border area,or even marginalization?Focus on this main problem,basing on the relative theories and literatures,and combining with the border regional features,this paper puts forward a theory framework of spatial effects by bi-directional openness in border region,further quantizes two realistic features through the analysis of bi-directional openness modes and economic structure of border region,and based on such a result,then continue building a theory model as well as two empirical models to conduct my research.Firstly,basing on the New Economic Geography and combining with the border situation,this article reveals the spatial effect mechanism of bi-directional openness in border region.The bi-directional openness have an influence on economic activities location choices by the cost of living effect,the proximity effect to international market,the proximity effect to domestic market close,the local market effect,the market crowding effect and competition effect,and there are multiple circular and cumulative causation relationship among these effects.Secondly,analyzing the meaning and development models of bi-directional openness and basing on policies adjustment of regional development,this part divide a five period for it,which are lack of'internationalization&inter-regionalization&intra-regionalization',costal internationalization,interregional domains,revolution of internationalization and deepen of 'internationalization&inter-regionalization&intra-regionalization'.Since border open policy was putted up at 1992,border region stared its process of internationalization which born in the period of interregional dominant.Furthermore,by studying on the economic structure in border area,this paper found that the degree of international openness has improved as well as interregional and intraregional openness in these areas,but its international openness is lag and fall behind coastal areas,and spatial characteristics that industrial agglomeration lead by industry not strong and wage not high are noticeable.These objective reality characteristics are the conception foundation of this paper.Thirdly,Considering on the lower international openness as well as industrial agglomeration,this paper develop the C-P model of New Economic Geography,differ the openness level between Border area(B)and costal area(C),and establish a B-C model of two countries with three regions,two sections(agriculture and manufacturing industry)and two factors(farmers and workers).The numerical simulation results reveal the spatial effect mechanism of bidirectional openness to border area.Found that,1)There is a U-shape relationship between international trade freedom and actual wage in border area,and the same to interregional trade freedom,intraregional trade freedom and actual wage show a nonlinear increasingly relationship.2)Improvement of international trade freedom will affect the regional actual wage difference in either possible ways:expand-shrink-expand or shrink-expand.Actually which one will work determines by the level of its industrial agglomeration.When international trade freedom of border area is lower than costal area,the improvement of interregional trade freedom will restrain the wage degree of border area,make domestic economic activities more split,and enhance the core-periphery structure.Otherwise,intraregional openness makes contribution to improve relative wage advantage in border region,which will reduce regional gap.3)Bi-directional openness affects the decision remaking of location choice through changing relative magnitudes of centripetal forces and centrifugal forces in economic system.That will lead to spatial distribution of industries(workers)exist multi-equilibrium solutions of stable,unstable,symmetric and asymmetric.There is a border break though point.As other conditions remain unchanged,border region will become the absolutely core area of manufacturing industry when the level of international openness overtake that point.When international openness level is lower than costal area,there is a core break though point for interregional openness,when it's been overtaken,costal area will become the absolutely core,then border region change into absolutely periphery to develop agriculture.As preparation above is ready,choosing Yunnan and Guangxi provinces as cases(which located at Southwestern border area of China),and considering the geo-characteristics of border area,this paper divide the international openness of this area into two scales:openness to ASEAN countries and openness to other countries in the world,then conduct two empirical analysis including effects of industrial agglomeration and effects of the wage.The results come with these:1)Regional openness has a dispersal spatial effect on the industrial agglomeration in border areas,which has disadvantage to it.There is an U-shape relationship between intraregional openness and industrial agglomeration,which means economic elements outflow cause by the reduced intra-trade cost results in a lower attraction to industrial agglomeration for border areas in the previous stage,and the further decreasing cost,the more attraction it wins,which then leads to a higher level of industrial agglomeration in the next stage.The industrial agglomeration effect is not significant of the two scale of international openness.2)Similar to what's mentioned above,there is a U-shape relationship between openness and the actual wage,the effect on openness to ASEAN countries located in the back end of the curve,and shows a positive effect,international openness to other countries of low level in the other side and has a negative effect.3)Effect on international openness to relative wage gap in border area has a threshold effect.When industrial agglomeration is higher than the threshold value,the negative effect that the higher openness to ASEAN countries makes to restrain lifting relative wage is insignificant,and the positive effect that the higher openness to other countries works another way around is larger.Wage regional difference didn't been limited by the threshold of industrial agglomeration either interregional or intraregional openness.The relative wage level was lifted by a higher intraregional openness,otherwise a higher interregional openness.Besides,this paper takes two geography location factors into consideration:industrial agglomeration and wage effect of adjacent border(boundaries)and adjacent core(core markets),and find that there is a negative effect on industrial agglomeration and wage near boundaries.When comes to adjacent core side,it shows an inverted U shaped relationship with industrial agglomeration but opposite with salary effect.Finally,based on these theories and empirical studies,this paper come up with some policy suggestions on solution of regional and interregional compromise.Those focus on the relationship of endogenous development for border region and regional coordinated growth,it's a hierarchy structure that intraregional is the foundation,interregional is crucial,and international is balance.Government should conduct the industrial agglomeration,to reach an adjustment of local and regional development.