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Research on the Effects of Regional Economic Integration for Urban Economic Development
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Abstract
Since the 1970s, regional integration policies have been implemented across the globe, with examples ranging from the European Union and ASEAN to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and various regional trade agreements in African countries. As part of this global trend, China established the Pearl River Delta regional integration policy, leveraging its proximity to Hong Kong and Macau to attract investment and build a modern economic system. This initiative has significantly contributed to making Guangdong Province the leading economic powerhouse in China today. The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of regional integration policies on economic growth in urban areas. Using the Pearl River Delta (PRD) cities as the treatment group and non-PRD cities as the control group, this study examines the economic effects of regional integration policies in the Pearl River Delta from 2002 to 2022. By utilizing the natural logarithm of GDP (ln-GDP) as an indicator of economic levels and applying the difference-in-difference (DiD) method for analysis, this research aims to provide comprehensive insights into how regional integration policies drive urban economic growth.
Keywords
Regional integration, Economic growth, Pearl River Delta
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Cite this article
Xu,M. (2025). Research on the Effects of Regional Economic Integration for Urban Economic Development. Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences,144,191-198.
Data availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.
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Volume title: Proceedings of ICFTBA 2024 Workshop: Finance's Role in the Just Transition
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