| Convergence of economic growth means that for different economies within an economic scope,the economic growth rate of backward economies is higher than that of developed economies,so that the difference of static economic indicators of each economy at the beginning of the period gradually disappears,and more attention is paid to the background of the prominent contradiction between sustained economic growth and unbalanced development.For China,physical high-speed rail network and Internet have a huge impact on social and economic life.Existing studies mostly separate high-speed rail and Internet to explore their respective effects on economic growth convergence,but in reality,the two together form a spatial-temporal compression effect,promote regional market integration,adjust social employment structure and reshape economic spatial layout.We will promote convergence of regional economic growth.Therefore,based on the existing research on the impact of high-speed rail and Internet development on economic growth and its convergence,this paper takes271 Chinese prefecture-level cities from 2005 to 2019 as the research object.First,a spatial-temporal compression development level index system integrating the two is constructed and calculated.This paper analyzes the spatio-temporal compression effect caused by the development of high-speed rail and Internet in prefecture-level cities.Then,the general panel model and the spatio-temporal weighted regression model are used to empirically study the effect of spatiotemporal compression on the convergence of economic growth in prefecture-level cities.Finally,the paper puts forward some policy suggestions based on the above research results.This paper finds that,firstly,the spatial-temporal compression development level of China’s prefecture-level cities is increasing year by year,with the average value increasing nearly 7 times from 2005 to 2019.Its growth rate has slowed since peaking in 2011;From the variation of its range and coefficient of variation with years,it can be seen that the absolute gap of spatio-temporal compression development level increases with time,but the relative difference decreases year by year.In addition,the spatial agglomeration and heterogeneity of spatiotemporal compression development level are significant,similar to many other economic development indicators in China,showing a typical spatial pattern of "high in the east and low in the west".The spatio-temporal compression development level of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei,Yangtze River Delta,ChengduChongqing,Zhengzhou,Wuhan and other regions is significantly higher than that of their surrounding regions,while some cities in northwest and Northeast China are typical of low level agglomeration.Secondly,from 2005 to 2019,the per capita GDP of prefecture-level cities in China grew steadily,the absolute difference of per capita GDP increased,and the relative difference gradually decreased slightly.In terms of spatial positive correlation and spatial heterogeneity,the per capita GDP of southeast coastal area is higher than that of other areas,and it is a significant high-level spatial agglomeration area.The per capita GDP growth rate increased slightly at the beginning,and then decreased year by year,from 1.309 in 2005 to 1.137 in 2019,indicating that the economic development entered a new stage of low growth,and the range and coefficient of variation also showed a downward trend year by year,indicating that the absolute and relative gap of economic growth between prefecture-level cities in China was narrowing year by year.The economic growth rate showed a significant spatial positive correlation,and in the past 15 years,the fastest growing region shifted from the north to the south,especially the southwest.Thirdly,the results show that absolute β convergence and conditional βconvergence exist in the economic growth of Chinese prefecture-level cities,but σconvergence only exists after 2009.In addition,conditional β convergence has significant temporal and spatial heterogeneity.In the time dimension,in the first few years of the study period(2005-2007),the β value of most prefecture-level cities is positive,and there is no economic growth convergence.Since 2009,the mean β value is significantly negative,and conditional β convergence exists.Spatially,the economic growth of prefecture-level cities in China is divided into four clubs: northeast,west,north central and other regions.Fourthly,at the same time,the empirical results show that the spatio-temporal compression effect caused by the development of high-speed rail and the Internet has a significant impact on the convergence of economic growth,but the direction and intensity of the impact vary with different regions and stages of development.To be specific,the convergence of economic growth in China’s prefecture-level cities is mostly inhibitory at the beginning when the development level of spatial and temporal compression increases,and turns to promoting effect when the development level of spatial and temporal compression increases to a certain extent.Spatially,for Northeast China,spatial-temporal compression of development level has a positive effect on the convergence of economic growth.In other areas of the country,the study was inhibited at the beginning,and then turned to promoting effect.In addition to the level of space-time compression,factors such as the growth rate of labor force and the proportion of value-added of tertiary industry in GDP will also promote the convergence of economic growth.Based on the above research results,this paper puts forward the following policy suggestions: First,speed up the construction of high-speed railway network,complete construction of the national transport network is conducive to shortening the gap between time and space,realizing the trans-regional free flow of production factors and other resources,promoting the coordinated and shared development of regional economy,and gradually realizing regional economic convergence.Second,we should grasp the new wave of Internet and artificial intelligence,make good use of the "Internet plus Northeast China",and promote the transformation of traditional industries.At the same time,the government should give full play to the space compression nature of the Internet,strengthen the publicity of Northeast China,attract talent inflow,reduce the loss of population and labor. |
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