The Impact of Economic Centres on City Level Growth in China - A panel data analysis of urban economic growth

Abstract: China’s space economy is highly fragmented with a few mega cities and a large periphery with less advantageous cities lagging behind. While this have been the explicit approach of China’s policymakers to achieve rapid growth, less developed cities have been challenged as the suppliers in the process. The purpose of this paper is with the use of a production function examine the spatial spill overs from growth centres on cities in China. Controlling for known factors, the exogenous factor of economic centres promote the growth of cities, and this effect is conditional on development.