Presenter: Associate Professor Wang Xuebo (School of Economics, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics)
Host: Xie Mingjia, Assistant Professor (Li Anmin Institute of Economics, Liaoning University)
Guest Introduction: Assistant Professor Liu Renliang (Li Anmin Institute of Economics, Liaoning University)
Date: May 16, 2025 (Friday) 10:00 - 11:30 (Beijing Time)
Location: Conference Room on the First Floor of Wuzhouyuan, Chongshan Campus, Liaoning University
Online address: Tencent Meeting 846-7809-5157
Language: Chinese/English
Abstract:
In China, central cities like Shanghai generate spillover effects on their peripheries, while Beijing exhibits siphon effects, concentrating resources and constraining surrounding regions’ development. This study investigates the political economy origins of these contrasting economic geography patterns, focusing on how government- versus market-dominated resource allocation shapes China’s spatial economic landscape. We hypothesize that market-driven resource allocation enables resources to flow freely across regions, preventing boundary discontinuities and promoting spillover effects, while government-dominated allocation concentrates resources in administrative centers, inducing siphon effects. Using a regression discontinuity design with high-resolution kilometer-level GDP grid data, we quantify siphon effects by estimating economic development discontinuities across central city borders. Provincial-level panel data analysis reveals a significant negative correlation between marketization level and discontinuity magnitude, suggesting that marketization may mitigate siphon effects. Mechanism analysis indicates that marketization reduces discontinuities by alleviating resource misallocation between central cities and their peripheries, fostering balanced regional development.
Speaker's Profile:
Wang Xuebo is an associate professor at the School of Economics, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. His main research fields are applied microeconomics, including development economics and labor economics. Currently, he focuses on empirical research in political economy, public economics, and economic history. His research has been published in the Journal of Development Economics and he has won the 8th Zhang Peigang Development Economics Outstanding Achievement Award.
