Comparison and Measurement of Economic Growth in Coastal Areas and Inland Provinces of China

This study aims to measure the regional difference in economic growth and the driving effect of export of coastal areas for inland provinces in China from the perspective of labor division.Embedded input and output data are adopted on the basis of the input-output theory for economic growth and trade accounting.Since China’s accession to WTO,vertical specialization across areas has been improved in general,but the areas differ widely in their participation in labor division in the global value chain(GVC)and national value chain(NVC).Different areas in China mainly rely on local production for economic growth,but engagement in GVC and NVC labor division is the major driver for the country’s rapid economic growth.Under the external impact,local economic growth has relied less on the outside,but more on local production since 2008.The driving effect of export of coastal areas for inland provinces is mainly reflected in agriculture,indicating that inland provinces and cities indirectly participate in international division of labor mainly by providing raw materials for production for eastern areas.This study,based on GVC and NVC integration and interaction,conducts in-depth research on the driving effect of export of coastal areas for the economic development of inland provinces,and offers a new perspective for studying the regional difference in economic growth in China.