Does Regional Development Policy Promote Industrial Structure Upgrading? Evidence from the Yangtze River Delta in China

Abstract

The “Regional Development Plan of the Yangtze River Delta (YRD)”, or the “YRD Development Policy”, is a national policy of China aimed at promoting industrial structure upgrading and the high-quality development of the regional economy in the YRD. To test the implementation effect of this policy, this work applied the synthetic control method (SCM) to explore the impact of the YRD Development Policy on industrial structure upgrading in the YRD based on 15-year panel data of 30 provinces in mainland China. The results showed that, as a whole, the implementation of the YRD Development Policy has contributed to industrial structure upgrading in the YRD. The trend of industrial structure upgrading is more rapid in the original YRD than in the new YRD. From a local perspective, the YRD Development Policy has hindered the upgrading of the industrial structure in Anhui Province but promoted upgrading in the rest of the YRD. From a long-term perspective, the effectiveness of the YRD Development Policy is limited, presenting a clear N-shaped development trend. In terms of industrial structure changes, the impact of the YRD Development Policy on the three types of industries in the YRD shows obvious regional differences. Furthermore, economic development, urbanization, and technology innovation have a significant and positive impact on the industrial structure upgrading of the YRD. These findings have policy-making implications, enrich the research on the impact of the YRD Development Policy on industrial structure upgrading, and provide empirical reference for subsequent policy improvements.