Agglomeration of Productive Services, Industrial Structure Upgrading and Green Total Factor Productivity: An Empirical Analysis Based on 68 Prefectural-Level-and-Above Cities in the Yellow River Basin of China

Study on the impact of digital economy on industrial collaborative agglomeration: Evidence from manufacturing and productive service industries

In the digital era, digital economy has a far-reaching impact on the collaborative agglomeration of manufacturing and service industries. This research aims to examine the economic relationship between digital economy and industrial collaborative agglomeration. Based on a panel data set of 286 Chinese cities, this research employs Tobit model, moderating effect model, and mediating effect model to conduct data analysis. It is found that digital economy has a nonlinear relationship with industrial collaborative agglomeration, and this relationship is a U-shape. Moderating effect analysis reveals that government intervention significantly regulates the role of digital economy in industrial collaborative agglomeration. Mediating effect analysis indicates that digital economy promotes industrial collaborative agglomeration through entrepreneurial activity. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the facilitating effect of digital economy on collaborative agglomeration in high-end industries comes earlier than in middle- and low-end industries. Moreover, this research finds that digital economy plays a significant role in industrial collaborative agglomeration in central and western regions of China but not in the eastern region. To enhance the impact of digital economy on industrial collaborative agglomeration, it is crucial to strengthen the engagement of the government and ensure the availability of digital technology.

The impact of structural upgrading of the service industry on regional ecologicalization efficiency of Industry: Empirical evidence from 30 Chinese provinces

With the wave of the digital economy and industrial ecological construction, it is more essential for developing countries to focus on improving the structural quality of the service industry rather than just the quantitative aspect of the service industry. This study utilizes panel data from 30 provinces in China and spatial Dubin models to estimate the impact of service industry structure upgrading on industrial ecologicalization efficiency and its spatial effect. Our results reveal that productive and high-end service industries play a vital role in promoting industrial ecological efficiency. At the level of spatial effect, the productive service industry has a negative spatial correlation with the adjacent area, while the effect of the high-end service industry on the adjacent area is not highlighted. This study focuses on clarifying the spatial role of service industry structure upgrading on the improvement of industrial ecological efficiency, further expanding the theory of industrial structure adjustment, and providing insights for developing countries on how to optimize the structure of the service industry and achieve high-quality development of industrial ecologicalization.

Green Total Factor Productivity and Its Saving Effect on the Green Factor in China's Strategic Minerals Industry from 1998-2017

Improving green total factor productivity (GTFP) is a fundamental solution to help the strategic mineral industry to achieve green and sustainable development. This study incorporates the dual negative externalities of resource depletion and environmental pollution into the GTFP measurement to capture the 'green' elements. By employing a truncated third-order (TTO) translog cost function and the feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) approach, we evaluate the GTFP growth performance and its components in China's strategic minerals industry from 1998 to 2017. Moreover, we explore the bias of technological progress toward the resource and environmental factors to grasp the green factor saving effects. The results show that: (1) during the sample period, the average GTFP growth rate of China's strategic minerals industry was 0.46%, but there were variances between mineral sectors. Nevertheless, after 2012, the GTFP of all mineral sectors experienced different degrees of decrease. (2) The main driver of adjustments in GTFP growth shifted from technological progress to changes in scale efficiency, with technological progress contributing less to GTFP growth. This is particularly evident in the metal and energy minerals sectors. (3) Green technological progress is biased toward saving environmental factor input but enhancing resource extraction. Therefore, the current development of China's strategic minerals industry falls into a non-sustainable mode of being environmentally friendly but not resource-saving.