中欧班列开通是否提升了城市创业活跃度——来自中国地级市的经验证据

Does the Operation of China-Europe Railway Express Increase Urban Entrepreneurial Activity--Evidence from Prefecture-level Cities in China

中欧班列作为高质量共建“一带一路”的交通纽带和空间载体,不仅提高了开通城市的对外开放水平,也加速了所在区域的要素资源流动,为城市创业活动注入新的动能。本文利用2004—2019年中国工商企业注册数据,构建多期双重差分模型,研究中欧班列开通对城市创业活跃度的影响。结果表明,中欧班列显著促进了开通城市创业活跃度的提升,且经过一系列稳健性检验后结论仍然成立。影响机制在于,中欧班列通过贸易开放效应丰富了创业机会并通过金融发展效应缓解了创业融资约束,从而使开通城市创业活跃度进一步提升。本文补充了中欧班列在城市创业层面经济溢出效应的经验证据,为高质量共建“一带一路”以及加速将中欧班列带来的机遇优势转化为当地的经济优势提供了政策参考。

The China-Europe Railway Express,serving as a crucial transportation link and spatial carrier for the high-quality construction of“the Belt and Road”Initiative,has not only improved the opening-up level of cities along its route but also accelerated the flow of resources and factors within the region,injecting new impetus into urban entrepreneurial activities.This paper constructs a multi-period difference-in-differences model to further investigate the impact of the China-Europe Railway Express on urban entrepreneurial activity by utilizing the administrative data of Chinese industrial and commercial enterprises from 2004 to 2019.The results indicate that the China-Europe Railway Express significantly promotes the enhancement of entrepreneurial activity in the connected cities,and the conclusion remains valid after a series of robustness tests.The underlying mechanism lies in the fact that the China-Europe Railway Express,through the trade openness effect,enriches entrepreneurial opportunities and alleviates financing constraints for entrepreneurship through financial development effects,thus further enhancing the entrepreneurial vitality of the cities it serves.This study not only provides direct evidence for the economic spillover effects of the China-Europe Railway Express at the urban entrepreneurial level but also offers policy insights for the high-quality joint construction of“the Belt and Road”Initiative.In addition,it provides guidance for accelerating the transformation of the opportunities brought by the China-Europe Railway Express into local economic advantages.