IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/palcom/v12y2025i1d10.1057_s41599-025-04782-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The more centralized the spatial structure is, the greater the economic growth? Evidence from urban agglomerations in western China

Author

Listed:
  • Jing Zhao

    (Xi’an University of Technology)

  • Na Chen

    (Xi’an University of Technology)

  • Zhen Jin

    (Xingzhi College of Xi’an University of Finance and Economics)

Abstract

This research examines data from eight urban agglomerations in western China from 2003 to 2020 to investigate the impacts of spatial structure changes on economic growth. Using dynamic spatial econometrics, we find that spatial agglomeration has significant effects on the economic growth performance of urban agglomerations in western China. Moreover, the direct effects of three indicators measuring spatial structure—population, industry and land use spatial structure—on economic growth are all directly positive. Moreover, these three spatial structure indicators affect economic growth through mediating variables such as environmental pollution, technological progress, and industrial structure. Further heterogeneity tests reveal that the positive effects of spatial structure on economic growth are increasing and that the positive effects expand from the short term to both the short and long term.

Suggested Citation

  • Jing Zhao & Na Chen & Zhen Jin, 2025. "The more centralized the spatial structure is, the greater the economic growth? Evidence from urban agglomerations in western China," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-16, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:12:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-025-04782-3
    DOI: 10.1057/s41599-025-04782-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41599-025-04782-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41599-025-04782-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Koichi Futagami & Yasushi Ohkusa, 2003. "The Quality Ladder and Product Variety: Larger Economies May Not Grow Faster," The Japanese Economic Review, Japanese Economic Association, vol. 54(3), pages 336-351, September.
    2. Alejandro Diaz-Bautista, 2005. "Agglomeration Economies, Economic Growth and the New Economic Geography in Mexico," Urban/Regional 0508001, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Evert J Meijers & Martijn J Burger, 2010. "Spatial Structure and Productivity in US Metropolitan Areas," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 42(6), pages 1383-1402, June.
    4. Boris A. Portnov & Moshe Schwartz, 2009. "Urban Clusters As Growth Foci," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(2), pages 287-310, May.
    5. Martin, Philippe & Ottaviano, Gianmarco I P, 2001. "Growth and Agglomeration," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 42(4), pages 947-968, November.
    6. Nicolas DEBARSY (CERPE De Namur) & Cem ERTUR & James P. LeSAGE, 2010. "Interpreting Dynamic Space-Time Panel Data Models," LEO Working Papers / DR LEO 800, Orleans Economics Laboratory / Laboratoire d'Economie d'Orleans (LEO), University of Orleans.
    7. William Brock & M. Taylor, 2010. "The Green Solow model," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 127-153, June.
    8. Tian, Yingying & Zhou, Dingyang & Jiang, Guanghui, 2021. "A new quality management system of admittance indicators to improve industrial land use efficiency in the Beijing−Tianjin−Hebei region," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    9. Feng, Gen-Fu & Niu, Peng & Wang, Jun-Zhuo & Liu, Jian, 2022. "Capital market liberalization and green innovation for sustainability: Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 610-623.
    10. Brülhart, Marius & Sbergami, Federica, 2009. "Agglomeration and growth: Cross-country evidence," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 48-63, January.
    11. Shang, Yuping & Xu, Jilan & Zhao, Xin, 2022. "Urban intensive land use and enterprise emission reduction: New micro-evidence from China towards COP26 targets," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    12. Belal N. Fallah & Mark D. Partridge & M. Rose Olfert, 2011. "Urban sprawl and productivity: Evidence from US metropolitan areas," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 90(3), pages 451-472, August.
    13. Ngai, L. Rachel, 2004. "Barriers and the transition to modern growth," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(7), pages 1353-1383, October.
    14. Lourens Broersma & Jan Oosterhaven, 2009. "Regional Labor Productivity In The Netherlands: Evidence Of Agglomeration And Congestion Effects," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(3), pages 483-511, August.
    15. Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), 2015. "Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 5, number 5.
    16. Robert E. Hall & Charles I. Jones, 1999. "Why do Some Countries Produce So Much More Output Per Worker than Others?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(1), pages 83-116.
    17. Mu, Yaqian & Cai, Wenjia & Evans, Samuel & Wang, Can & Roland-Holst, David, 2018. "Employment impacts of renewable energy policies in China: A decomposition analysis based on a CGE modeling framework," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 256-267.
    18. Ottaviano, Gianmarco I.P. & Pinelli, Dino, 2006. "Market potential and productivity: Evidence from Finnish regions," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 636-657, September.
    19. Bumsoo Lee & Peter Gordon, 2007. "Urban Spatial Structure and Economic Growth in US Metropolitan Areas," Working Paper 8564, USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
    20. Ben Gardiner & Ron Martin & Peter Tyler, 2011. "Does spatial agglomeration increase national growth? some evidence from Europe," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(6), pages 979-1006, November.
    21. Combes, Pierre-Philippe, 2000. "Economic Structure and Local Growth: France, 1984-1993," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 329-355, May.
    22. Chengri Ding & Erik Lichtenberg, 2011. "Land And Urban Economic Growth In China," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 299-317, May.
    23. Henderson, Vernon & Becker, Randy, 2000. "Political Economy of City Sizes and Formation," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 453-484, November.
    24. Sun, Yang, 2021. "Case based models of the relationship between consumer resistance to innovation and customer churn," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    25. Ding, Jian & Liu, Baoliu & Shao, Xuefeng, 2022. "Spatial effects of industrial synergistic agglomeration and regional green development efficiency: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    26. Alejandro Diaz-Bautista, 2005. "Agglomeration economies, growth and the new economic geography in Mexico," EconoQuantum, Revista de Economia y Finanzas, Universidad de Guadalajara, Centro Universitario de Ciencias Economico Administrativas, Departamento de Metodos Cuantitativos y Maestria en Economia., vol. 1(2), pages 57-79, Enero-Jun.
    27. J. Elhorst, 2010. "Applied Spatial Econometrics: Raising the Bar," Spatial Economic Analysis, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(1), pages 9-28.
    28. Wu, Haitao & Hao, Yu & Ren, Siyu & Yang, Xiaodong & Xie, Guo, 2021. "Does internet development improve green total factor energy efficiency? Evidence from China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    29. Abdullah Kaya & Muammer Koc, 2018. "Over-Agglomeration and Its Effects on Sustainable Development: A Case Study on Istanbul," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-23, December.
    30. Zhao, Jing & Zhao, Ziru & Zhang, Huan, 2021. "The impact of growth, energy and financial development on environmental pollution in China: New evidence from a spatial econometric analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    31. Rizov, Marian & Oskam, Arie & Walsh, Paul, 2012. "Is there a limit to agglomeration? Evidence from productivity of Dutch firms," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 595-606.
    32. Wang, Song & Yang, Canyu & Hou, Dailing & Dai, Liang, 2023. "How do urban agglomerations drive economic development? A policy implementation and spatial effects perspective," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 1224-1238.
    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. Shang Chen & Yuanhe Du & Yeye Liu, 2025. "Regional Integration and Urban Green and Low-Carbon Development: A Quasi-Natural Experiment Based on the Expansion of the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-34, April.

    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. Yuan, Huaxi & Feng, Yidai & Lee, Chien-Chiang & Cen, Yan, 2020. "How does manufacturing agglomeration affect green economic efficiency?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    2. Wan Li & Bindong Sun & Tinglin Zhang, 2019. "Spatial structure and labour productivity: Evidence from prefectures in China," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 56(8), pages 1516-1532, June.
    3. Liu, Shuwen & Li, Youli & Shen, Zhihan & Yu, Jinyi & Xu, Zhaoyi, 2024. "The impact of population agglomeration on economic resilience: Evidence from 280 cities in China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    4. Alfonso Díez‐Minguela & Rafael González‐Val & Julio Martinez‐Galarraga & M. Teresa Sanchis & Daniel A. Tirado, 2020. "The long‐term relationship between economic development and regional inequality: South‐West Europe, 1860–2010," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 99(3), pages 479-508, June.
    5. Frick, Susanne A. & Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés, 2018. "Change in urban concentration and economic growth," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 156-170.
    6. Wenfang Fu & Chuanjian Luo & Modan Yan, 2023. "Does Urban Agglomeration Promote the Development of Cities? Evidence from the Urban Network Externalities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-20, June.
    7. Julio Martinez-Galarraga & Elisenda Paluzie & Jordi Pons & Javier Silvestre & Daniel A. Tirado, 2021. "New economic geography and economic history: a survey of recent contributions through the lens of the Spanish industrialization process," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 15(3), pages 719-751, September.
    8. Colin Davis & Ken-Ichi Hashimoto, 2015. "Industry Concentration, Knowledge Diffusion and Economic Growth Without Scale Effects," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 82(328), pages 769-789, October.
    9. Carlos Carreira & Luís Lopes, 2020. "How are the potential gains from economic activity transmitted to the labour factor: more employment or more wages? Evidence from the Portuguese context," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(2), pages 319-348, April.
    10. Partridge, Mark D. & Rickman, Dan S., 2012. "Integrating regional economic development analysis and land use economics," MPRA Paper 38291, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Grace Carolina Guevara Rosero & Stephane Riou & Corinne Autant-Bernard, 2015. "Agglomeration externalities and urbanization in Ecuador," ERSA conference papers ersa15p689, European Regional Science Association.
    12. Bindong Sun & Tinglin Zhang & Wan Li & Yan Song, 2022. "Effects of Polycentricity on Economic Performance and Its Dependence on City Size: The Case of China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-19, September.
    13. Xie, Lin & Wang, Shaozhuang & Yan, Lingxiao, 2024. "Distributional effects of expressway access on rural entrepreneurial activities in China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    14. Jie Shen & Chunlai Chen & Mengyu Yang & Keyun Zhang, 2019. "City Size, Population Concentration and Productivity: Evidence from China," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 27(1), pages 110-131, January.
    15. Wang, Song & Yang, Canyu & Hou, Dailing & Dai, Liang, 2023. "How do urban agglomerations drive economic development? A policy implementation and spatial effects perspective," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 1224-1238.
    16. Zhuang, Zongwu & Han, Feng, 2024. "Urban spatial structure and firm growth: Evidence from China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    17. Lu, Yuhai & Gong, Mincheng & Lu, Linzhuo & Wang, Yaqin & Wang, Yang, 2024. "Urban polycentrism and total-factor energy efficiency: An analysis based on the night light data," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    18. Emanuela Marrocu & Raffaele Paci & Stefano Usai, 2013. "Productivity Growth In The Old And New Europe: The Role Of Agglomeration Externalities," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 418-442, August.
    19. T. Gries & R. Grundmann & I. Palnau & M. Redlin, 2017. "Innovations, growth and participation in advanced economies - a review of major concepts and findings," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 293-351, April.
    20. Jordi Jofre-Monseny & Raquel Marín-López & Elisabet Viladecans-Marsal, 2012. "What underlies localization and urbanization economies? Evidence from the location of new firms," Working Papers 2012/9, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:pal:palcom:v:12:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-025-04782-3. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.nature.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.