西部大开发成效与中国区域经济收敛

The Effect of Western Development Program and Regional Economic Convergence in China

本文应用差分内差分方法评估西部大开发对于促进西部地区经济增长及中国区域经济收敛的作用。通过建立增长模型,采用1987—2007年中国省际面板数据,使用系统GMM方法的计量分析,对西部大开发的实施成效进行严谨的社会科学检验。实证结果表明,西部大开发的实施,使得西部地区2000年以来的年均经济增长率增加了约1.5个百分点,促使中国区域经济从趋异转向收敛。西部大开发促进西部地区经济增长的机制,主要是通过大量的实物资本特别是基础设施投资实现的,教育发展、科技进步及软环境并没有因为西部大开发而得到显著改善。本文建议国家进一步推进西部大开发的过程中,在继续加大对西部地区实物资本和基础设施建设投入的同时,应当强化对人力资本的投资和政策法规人文等软环境的建设。

This article uses difference in difference method to test on the effect on the western regional economic growth and regional convergence of China＇s western development program. Based on a growth model, this article collects China＇s provincial panel data from 1987 to 2007, and uses system moment method （GMM） to do a social scientific test on the performance effect of the western development program. According to the empirical conclusion, this article finds that the performance of the western development program accelerates economic growth rate of western region about average 1.5 percentage every year, and it makes China＇s regional economy from divergence to convergence. The mechanism to accelerate the economic growth of western development program is mainly the input of physical capital, especially infrastructure. The educational development, technology advance and the soft environment in western region is not improved through the western development program. This article suggests that in the process of the further western development program, the government is supposed to continue to intensify the input of physical capital and infrastructure, at the same time, the construction of soft environment such as investment on human resources, policies and regulations, humanities and so on are supposed to be intensified.