Evolution Characteristics and Convergence Evaluation of Economic Disparity in Northern and Southern Regions of China
The widening gap between the north and the south in China has become a typical phenomenon of unbalanced and inadequate regional development.This paper uses the nighttime satellite light data from 1992 to 2020 to analyze the North-South gap and its dynamic evolution characteristics,evaluates its global and local convergence,and explores the main factors affecting the convergence of the North-South gap.The empirical results show that:1)During the sample period,the North-South gap showed a downward-upward trend of repeated fluctuations,but after 2013,it showed a new round of accelerated expansion trend.2)The South and the North in China both experienced a process from non-existent club convergence to club convergence,which is mainly reflected divergence in the southern region and convergence in the northern region.3)There are obvious local convergence characteristics in the southern and northern regions,but the steady-state level of convergence in different regions is differentiated.4)The gap between the business environment and the innovation level is the main factor causing the accelerated differentiation between the northern and the southern regions.Technological progress and innovation level are the leading forces leading to the internal differentiation in the southern region,and the change of industrial structure has a positive effect on narrowing the internal gap in the northern region.This paper provides an effective policy reference for narrowing the gap between the northern and the southern regions and promoting regional coordinated development.
North-South gapregional developmentnighttime satellite lighttechnological progress and innovationbusiness environmentindustrial structureregional coordination development
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
