IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i6p3511-d772897.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How Does New Infrastructure Investment Affect Economic Growth Quality? Empirical Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Xin Du

    (School of Economics and Management, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China)

  • Hengming Zhang

    (Urbanization Development Research Center of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310005, China)

  • Yawen Han

    (School of Economics and Management, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China)

Abstract

The current phase of the technological revolution and the accelerated rate of industrial change have encouraged the structural transformation of global infrastructure investment. This study aims to identify and evaluate the impact of new infrastructure investment on economic growth quality. This paper explains the theoretical mechanisms in terms of their effects on technological innovation, industrial structure, and productivity, using the three-dimensional analysis framework of economic growth conditions, process, and results. We then carry out an empirical examination based on provincial panel data for China from 2004 to 2019. The findings demonstrate that new infrastructure investment can significantly improve economic growth quality, and this conclusion still seems valid after conducting endogeneity treatments and robustness tests. Further mechanism evaluations indicate that new infrastructure investments contribute to boosting economic growth quality in terms of the condition, process, and results of economic growth by promoting technological innovation, improving industrial structure, and enhancing production efficiency. Moreover, the magnitude and mechanism of the positive effects differ depending on the heterogeneity of the region examined. In terms of the nonlinear change characteristics, the significant dual-threshold effect reveals that the marginal effects of new infrastructure investment on economic growth quality tend to be incremental under the threshold condition. This study provides a theoretical and factual basis for governments to enforce new infrastructure investments in the digital economy era, and it also has some value as a reference regarding the economic sustainability of developing countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Xin Du & Hengming Zhang & Yawen Han, 2022. "How Does New Infrastructure Investment Affect Economic Growth Quality? Empirical Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-30, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:6:p:3511-:d:772897
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/6/3511/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/6/3511/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Romer, Paul M, 1986. "Increasing Returns and Long-run Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(5), pages 1002-1037, October.
    2. Bresnahan, Timothy F. & Trajtenberg, M., 1995. "General purpose technologies 'Engines of growth'?," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 83-108, January.
    3. Montfort Mlachila & René Tapsoba & Sampawende J. A. Tapsoba, 2017. "A Quality of Growth Index for Developing Countries: A Proposal," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 134(2), pages 675-710, November.
    4. Kong, Qunxi & Peng, Dan & Ni, Yehui & Jiang, Xinyue & Wang, Ziqi, 2021. "Trade openness and economic growth quality of China: Empirical analysis using ARDL model," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    5. Dale W. Jorgenson & Mun S. Ho & Kevin J. Stiroh, 2008. "A Retrospective Look at the U.S. Productivity Growth Resurgence," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 22(1), pages 3-24, Winter.
    6. Georg Graetz & Guy Michaels, 2018. "Robots at Work," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 100(5), pages 753-768, December.
    7. Daron Acemoglu & Pascual Restrepo, 2019. "Automation and New Tasks: How Technology Displaces and Reinstates Labor," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 33(2), pages 3-30, Spring.
    8. Dong-hyun Oh, 2010. "A global Malmquist-Luenberger productivity index," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 34(3), pages 183-197, December.
    9. Eric Rougier & Francois Combarnous, 2017. "Emerging capitalisms and institutional reforms in developing countries," Post-Print hal-02486358, HAL.
    10. Elena Toader & Bogdan Narcis Firtescu & Angela Roman & Sorin Gabriel Anton, 2018. "Impact of Information and Communication Technology Infrastructure on Economic Growth: An Empirical Assessment for the EU Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-22, October.
    11. Ivan A. Canay, 2011. "A simple approach to quantile regression for panel data," Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 14(3), pages 368-386, October.
    12. Shanlang Lin & Prithvi Raj Dhakal & Zhaowei Wu, 2021. "The Impact of High-Speed Railway on China’s Regional Economic Growth Based on the Perspective of Regional Heterogeneity of Quality of Place," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-24, April.
    13. John C. Driscoll & Aart C. Kraay, 1998. "Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimation With Spatially Dependent Panel Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(4), pages 549-560, November.
    14. Benjamin Faber, 2014. "Trade Integration, Market Size, and Industrialization: Evidence from China's National Trunk Highway System," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 81(3), pages 1046-1070.
    15. Mitra, Arup & Sharma, Chandan & Véganzonès-Varoudakis, Marie-Ange, 2016. "Infrastructure, information & communication technology and firms’ productive performance of the Indian manufacturing," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 353-371.
    16. Neelu Seetaram & Sylvain Petit, 2012. "Panel data analysis in Tourism Research," Post-Print hal-01831529, HAL.
    17. Eric Rougier & François Combarnous (ed.), 2017. "The Diversity of Emerging Capitalisms in Developing Countries," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-319-49947-5, September.
    18. Shaofeng Ru & Jiaqi Liu & Tonghui Wang & Guo Wei, 2020. "Provincial Quality of Economic Growth: Measurements and Influencing Factors for China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-16, February.
    19. Daron Acemoglu & Pascual Restrepo, 2018. "The Race between Man and Machine: Implications of Technology for Growth, Factor Shares, and Employment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(6), pages 1488-1542, June.
    20. Charles R. Hulten & Esra Bennathan & Sylaja Srinivasan, 2006. "Infrastructure, Externalities, and Economic Development: A Study of the Indian Manufacturing Industry," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 20(2), pages 291-308.
    21. Hansen, Bruce E., 1999. "Threshold effects in non-dynamic panels: Estimation, testing, and inference," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 345-368, December.
    22. Piotr Prus & Marek Sikora, 2021. "The Impact of Transport Infrastructure on the Sustainable Development of the Region—Case Study," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-15, March.
    23. Robert Barro, 2002. "Quantity and Quality of Economic Growth," Central Banking, Analysis, and Economic Policies Book Series, in: Norman Loayza & Raimundo Soto & Norman Loayza (Series Editor) & Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel (Series Editor) (ed.),Economic Growth: Sources, Trends, and Cycles, edition 1, volume 6, chapter 5, pages 135-162, Central Bank of Chile.
    24. Choi, Changkyu & Hoon Yi, Myung, 2009. "The effect of the Internet on economic growth: Evidence from cross-country panel data," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 105(1), pages 39-41, October.
    25. Rinaldo Evangelista & Paolo Guerrieri & Valentina Meliciani, 2014. "The economic impact of digital technologies in Europe," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(8), pages 802-824, November.
    26. Aschauer, David Alan, 1989. "Is public expenditure productive?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 177-200, March.
    27. Ann Bartel & Casey Ichniowski & Kathryn Shaw, 2007. "How Does Information Technology Affect Productivity? Plant-Level Comparisons of Product Innovation, Process Improvement, and Worker Skills," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(4), pages 1721-1758.
    28. Emmanouil Tranos, 2012. "The Causal Effect of the Internet Infrastructure on the Economic Development of European City Regions," Spatial Economic Analysis, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(3), pages 319-337, September.
    29. Farhadi, Minoo, 2015. "Transport infrastructure and long-run economic growth in OECD countries," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 73-90.
    30. Jin Zhou & Ali Raza & Hongguang Sui, 2021. "Infrastructure investment and economic growth quality: empirical analysis of China’s regional development," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(23), pages 2615-2630, May.
    31. Ajay Agrawal & Joshua S. Gans & Avi Goldfarb, 2019. "Artificial Intelligence: The Ambiguous Labor Market Impact of Automating Prediction," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 33(2), pages 31-50, Spring.
    32. Niebel, Thomas, 2018. "ICT and economic growth – Comparing developing, emerging and developed countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 197-211.
    33. Barro, Robert J, 1990. "Government Spending in a Simple Model of Endogenous Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages 103-126, October.
    34. Lars-Hendrik Roller & Leonard Waverman, 2001. "Telecommunications Infrastructure and Economic Development: A Simultaneous Approach," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 909-923, September.
    35. Harald Edquist & Peter Goodridge & Jonathan Haskel, 2021. "The Internet of Things and economic growth in a panel of countries," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(3), pages 262-283, April.
    36. Arup Mitra & Chandan Sharma & Marie-Ange Véganzonès-Varoudakis, 2016. "Infrastructure, Information and Communication Technology and Firms’ Productive Performance of the Indian Manufacturing," Post-Print halshs-01293608, HAL.
    37. Taotao Deng, 2013. "Impacts of Transport Infrastructure on Productivity and Economic Growth: Recent Advances and Research Challenges," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(6), pages 686-699, November.
    38. Muhammad Javid, 2019. "Public and Private Infrastructure Investment and Economic Growth in Pakistan: An Aggregate and Disaggregate Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-22, June.
    39. Hong Joo Lee & Hoyeon Oh, 2020. "A Study on the Deduction and Diffusion of Promising Artificial Intelligence Technology for Sustainable Industrial Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-15, July.
    40. Zheng, Jiali & Mi, Zhifu & Coffman, D'Maris & Milcheva, Stanimira & Shan, Yuli & Guan, Dabo & Wang, Shouyang, 2019. "Regional development and carbon emissions in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 25-36.
    41. Duggal, Vijaya G. & Saltzman, Cynthia & Klein, Lawrence R., 2007. "Infrastructure and productivity: An extension to private infrastructure and it productivity," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 140(2), pages 485-502, October.
    42. Noah Kaiser & Christina K. Barstow, 2022. "Rural Transportation Infrastructure in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Review of Impacts, Implications, and Interventions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-48, February.
    43. Nicholas Crafts, 2021. "Artificial intelligence as a general-purpose technology: an historical perspective," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 37(3), pages 521-536.
    44. Inhye Yoo & Chan-Goo Yi, 2022. "Economic Innovation Caused by Digital Transformation and Impact on Social Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-18, February.
    45. Shirley, Chad & Winston, Clifford, 2004. "Firm inventory behavior and the returns from highway infrastructure investments," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 398-415, March.
    46. Heejung Yu & Howon Lee & Hongbeom Jeon, 2017. "What is 5G? Emerging 5G Mobile Services and Network Requirements," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-22, October.
    47. Pan, Xiongfeng & Guo, Shucen & Li, Mengna & Song, Jinbo, 2021. "The effect of technology infrastructure investment on technological innovation ——A study based on spatial durbin model," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    48. Song, Lili & van Geenhuizen, Marina, 2014. "Port infrastructure investment and regional economic growth in China: Panel evidence in port regions and provinces," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 173-183.
    49. Serban Raicu & Dorinela Costescu & Mihaela Popa & Vasile Dragu, 2021. "Dynamic Intercorrelations between Transport/Traffic Infrastructures and Territorial Systems: From Economic Growth to Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-16, October.
    50. Erik Brynjolfsson & Lorin Hitt, 1996. "Paradox Lost? Firm-Level Evidence on the Returns to Information Systems Spending," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(4), pages 541-558, April.
    51. Decheng Fan & Kairan Liu, 2021. "The Relationship between Artificial Intelligence and China’s Sustainable Economic Growth: Focused on the Mediating Effects of Industrial Structural Change," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-15, October.
    52. Chao-Qun Ma & Jiang-Long Liu & Yi-Shuai Ren & Yong Jiang, 2019. "The Impact of Economic Growth, FDI and Energy Intensity on China’s Manufacturing Industry’s CO 2 Emissions: An Empirical Study Based on the Fixed-Effect Panel Quantile Regression Model," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-16, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wudu Muluneh & Tadesse Amsalu, 2022. "Financing Urban Infrastructure through Land Leasing: Evidence from Bahir Dar City, Ethiopia," Papers 2211.12061, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2022.
    2. Despina Gavresi & Anastasia Litina & George Tsiachtsiras, 2022. "Railways and Roadways to Trust," Discussion Paper Series 2022_08, Department of Economics, University of Macedonia, revised Sep 2022.
    3. Albérico Travassos Rosário & Joana Carmo Dias, 2023. "The New Digital Economy and Sustainability: Challenges and Opportunities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-23, July.
    4. Tim Hartwig & Trung Thanh Nguyen, 2022. "Local infrastructure, resilience capacity and poverty in rural Southeast Asia," TVSEP Working Papers wp-029, Leibniz Universitaet Hannover, Institute of Development and Agricultural Economics, Project TVSEP.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Li, Chunying & Zhang, Jinning & Lyu, Yanwei, 2022. "Does the opening of China railway express promote urban total factor productivity? New evidence based on SDID and SDDD model," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    2. Junjie Hong & Zhaofang Chu & Qiang Wang, 2011. "Transport infrastructure and regional economic growth: evidence from China," Transportation, Springer, vol. 38(5), pages 737-752, September.
    3. Fedderke, J.W. & Bogetic, Z., 2009. "Infrastructure and Growth in South Africa: Direct and Indirect Productivity Impacts of 19 Infrastructure Measures," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 1522-1539, September.
    4. Ajoy Ketan Sarangi & Rudra Prakash Pradhan, 2020. "ICT infrastructure and economic growth: a critical assessment and some policy implications," DECISION: Official Journal of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Springer;Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, vol. 47(4), pages 363-383, December.
    5. Koike, Atushi & Sakaguchi, Takuhiro & Seya, Hajime, 2022. "Road infrastructure and TFP in Japan after the rapid growth: A nonstationary panel approach," MPRA Paper 112375, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Du, Longzheng & Lin, Weifen, 2022. "Does the application of industrial robots overcome the Solow paradox? Evidence from China," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    7. Shahnazi, Rouhollah, 2021. "Do information and communications technology spillovers affect labor productivity?," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 342-359.
    8. Park, Jin Suk & Seo, Young-Joon & Ha, Min-Ho, 2019. "The role of maritime, land, and air transportation in economic growth: Panel evidence from OECD and non-OECD countries," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    9. António Madureira & Nico Baken & Harry Bouwman, 2011. "Value of digital information networks: a holonic framework," Netnomics, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-30, April.
    10. Abdulqadir, Idris A. & Asongu, Simplice A., 2022. "The asymmetric effect of internet access on economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 44-61.
    11. Delera, Michele & Pietrobelli, Carlo & Calza, Elisa & Lavopa, Alejandro, 2022. "Does value chain participation facilitate the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies in developing countries?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    12. Montobbio, Fabio & Staccioli, Jacopo & Virgillito, Maria Enrica & Vivarelli, Marco, 2022. "Robots and the origin of their labour-saving impact," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    13. Yang Liu & Yanlin Yang & Huihui Li & Kaiyang Zhong, 2022. "Digital Economy Development, Industrial Structure Upgrading and Green Total Factor Productivity: Empirical Evidence from China’s Cities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-23, February.
    14. Tang, Chang & Xu, Yuanyuan & Hao, Yu & Wu, Haitao & Xue, Yan, 2021. "What is the role of telecommunications infrastructure construction in green technology innovation? A firm-level analysis for China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    15. Junjun Tang & Xing Zhao, 2023. "Does the new digital infrastructure improve total factor productivity?," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(4), pages 895-916, October.
    16. Elena Toader & Bogdan Narcis Firtescu & Angela Roman & Sorin Gabriel Anton, 2018. "Impact of Information and Communication Technology Infrastructure on Economic Growth: An Empirical Assessment for the EU Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-22, October.
    17. Abdulqadir, Idris & Asongu, Simplice, 2021. "The asymmetric effect of internet access on economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa: Insight from a dynamic panel threshold regression," MPRA Paper 109904, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Chakraborty Shankha & Dabla-Norris Era, 2011. "The Quality of Public Investment," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 11(1), pages 1-29, August.
    19. Wenhan Ren & Yu Chen, 2022. "Realizing the Improvement of Green Total Factor Productivity of the Marine Economy—New Evidence from China’s Coastal Areas," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-22, July.
    20. Kumar, Ronald Ravinesh & Stauvermann, Peter Josef & Samitas, Aristeidis, 2016. "The effects of ICT⁎ on output per worker: A study of the Chinese economy," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 102-115.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:6:p:3511-:d:772897. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.