修改后的外文翻译.docx

修改后的外文翻译.docx

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修改后的外文翻译

Agglomerationandproductivity:

Firm-levelevidencefromChina'sTextileindustry

Isthespatialconcentrationofmanufacturingactivityabletoenhancefirm-levelproductivity?

ThisquestionisparticularlyrelevanttoproductioninChina,whichhasahugeterritoryandpopulation,butaskeweddistributionintermsofurban-ruraldevelopment.Thispaperaimstoexaminethedynamicsofindustrialagglomerationandtheimpactofagglomerationonfirm-levelproductivityinChina’stextileindustrybyusingafirm-levelpaneldatasetfrom2000to2005.First,theaveragevalueoftheEllison-Glaeser（EG）index（citylevel）isfoundtobeapproximately0.00019.Moreover,thecalculatedcityEGindexofspatialconcentrationforeachyearexhibitsadecreasingtrendofspatialagglomerationforgarmentsandotherfiberproducts,butanincreasingtrendforthetextileindustries’agglomerationinChina.TheabovefindingsaresimilartothefindingsofLuandTao（2009）.Secondlyandimportantly,thisstudyfindsaninvertedU-shaperelationshipbetweenagglomerationandproductivity.Itsuggeststhatwhileindustrialagglomerationenhancesfirms’productivity,agglomerationdiseconomiesmayappearifthedegreeofagglomerationistoohigh。

Thetendencytowardthespatialagglomerationofproductionactivitywasawidely

observedphenomenoninpastdecades,especiallyforhigh-techindustries.Thesuccessfulexperienceofindustrialagglomeration,hasattractedwideattentionamongeconomistsandinspiredastreamofresearchreferredtoasthe“NewEconomicGeography”thathasbeenrevitalized.Whileagglomerationcanbediscernedatvariousgeographicallevels,suchasatthecityandprovinciallevels,thespatialconcentrationofmanufacturingactivityisthoughttobenefitfromtheadvantagesofknowledgeexternalities,specialization,theexistenceoflocalpublicgoods,andreducedtransactioncostswithinindustries,allofwhichcanpositivelycontributetothefirms’productivity.Recentlytheoreticaldevelopments,haveprovidedcomprehensiveexplanationsofthemicro-foundationofagglomeration.

Animportantquestionworthexaminingiswhetherthespatialconcentrationof

manufacturingactivityreallyenhancesfirms’productivity.Furthermore,mostoftheliteraturerelatingindustrialagglomerationtoeconomicactivityfocusesonadvancedcountries,providingthemaininspirationforthisstudy:

Doesthe“NewEconomicGeography”theorybasedonWesternexperiencesapplytoChina?

Thisquestionisbothinterestingandimportant.

Ontheonehand,itisparticularlyrelevanttoproductioninChina,inviewofitshuge

geographicterritoryandpopulationcoupledwithahighdegreeofregionalinequality

.Ontheotherhand,China’seconomicreformsthathavetransformedtheeconomyfromacentrally-plannedtoamarket-basedeconomyfurthercomplicatetheapplicabilityofthisargument.

Thetextileindustryhastraditionallybeenanimportantindustryandhasplayedacriticalroleintermsofoutput,exportsandemployeesinChina’smanufacturingsector.Itremainedwelldevelopedforalongtimesincetheearly1950sduringthecentralplanningperiod.EventhoughChinahasaggressivelydevelopeditshigh-techindustriessincethelate1990s,andhasaimedtotransformitsprimarilylabor-intensiveindustriesintotechnology-intensiveindustriesinitsmanufacturingsectortomeetthechallengesofthecurrenteraofaknowledgeeconomy,thetextileindustryhasremainedoneofitskeyindustries.In2007,theoutputofthetextileindustryamountedtoRMB263.33billion,accountingfor6.5%oftotalindustrialoutputofRMB4,051.77billion.Thetextileindustry’sexportsamountedtoUS$16.580billion（approximatelyRMB128billion）,implyingthatapproximately50%ofitsproductswerebeingexportedtoothercountries.Indeed,Chinaisthelargestproduceraswellasexporteroftextileandclothingproductsintheworld.

Unlikethenewly-developedhigh-techindustriesthatareconcentratedinBeijing,the

YangtzeRiverDelta,andthePearlRiverDeltaduetotheadvantagesofreducedtransactioncostsundertheindustrialstructureofverticaldisintegration,withrawmaterialsbeingspreadoverawidearea,2lowerproductprices,andhightransportationcosts,itdoesnotseemtobenecessaryfortextilefirmstobenefitfromagglomerationadvantages.Specifically,intheearly1950s,thegovernmentaskedthetextileindustrytobegindeployingitsresourcesina“rawmaterial-oriented,market-oriented,andlabor-oriented”fashion,inordertoshifttextilefirmstowardtheareasfromwhichtherawmaterialsoriginated,aswellasareaswithaconcentrationofworkers,andconsumermarkets.Inthisway,thetextileindustrycouldbedevelopedinthehinterlandandinareaswhereminorityethnicgroupswereclustered

Alongwiththeopen-doorpolicyimplementedintheearly1980s,thespatialconcentrationsoftextilefirms,however,appeartohavegraduallychanged.LiuandRen（2004）showedthat80percentoftextilefirmsintermsoffirmnumberswereconcentratedinthesoutheasterncoastalregionsin2002.ThelocationquotientvaluesofthetextileindustryinZhejiangandJiangsuprovincesincreasedcorrespondinglymorethan2001suggestingahigherdegreeofspatialconcentration.Thus,itmightbeaskedwhethertherereallywasanincreasingdegreeofspatialagglomerationamongtextilefirmsalongwithChina’saccessiontotheWTOin2001thatforcedtextilefirmstoenterthelargemarketsinthecoastalregionstomeetthedemandthereandalsotoenablethemtoexporttointernationalmarketsmoreconveniently

WhilesomeChinesescholarshavediscussedthispossibledevelopmentofconcentratedclustersinthemanufacturingsector,theyhavenotusedmicrodatatoconductin-depthexaminationsofthedegreeofagglomeration.OneofthemainpurposesofthisstudyisthereforetoexplorethedynamicsofagglomerationinChina’stextilefirmsusingtheindexofspatialconcentration.

Moreimportantly,ifthereisanincreasedtrendofagglomerationinthetextileindustrythatiscausedbythefirms’self-selection,itneedstobeaskedwhethertheindustrialagglomerationpositivelycontributestofirms’productivity,asisthecaseinthedevelopedcountries.Infact,therelationshipbetweenagglomerationandproductivityhasbeenwidelyexaminedempiricallyandhastendedtoexhibitasignificantlypositiverelationship,Whiletheissueofproductivityisofmuchconcernandisclaimedtoserveasoneofthemajordrivingforcesofsustainableeconomicgrowth,e.g.2003yearnostudieshavesystematicallyexaminedtherelationshipbetweenagglomerationandfirm-levelproductivityinChina.Thispaperthereforeaimstofillthisgapintheempiricalliteratureregardingtheapplicationofthe“NewEconomicGeography”theorytoatransitioneconomy,China.

Thispaperanalyzesthedynamicsofspatialagglomerationandtheimpactofagglomerationonfirm-levelproductivityinChina’stextileindustrybyusingapaneldatasetconstructedfromtheChineseNationalBureauofStatistics.Thedatasetcovers22,152textilefirmsfrom2000to2005,yielding83,801observations.WefirstadoptthespatialagglomerationindexdevelopedbyEllisonandGlaeser（1997）,theso-calledEGindex,tomeasurethedegreeofspatialagglomerationanddispersionwithinthetextileindustry.Theresultsshowthatmarket-orientedagglomerationoccursinthetextileindustrytotheextentthattherewasanincreasinglyspatialconcentrationtowardthesoutheasterncoastalprovincesduringthe2000-2005period.Theagglomerationarisesfromthebenefitofcloseproximitytolargemarketsandconvenienceinexporting.TheregressionanalysisthatseekstoquantifytherelationshipbetweenagglomerationandproductivityleadstoresultsthatareconsistentwithpreviousfindingsinthatthedegreeofspatialconcentrationdoeshaveasignificantlypositiveimpactonenhancingproductivityinChina’stextileindustry.Moreover,someinterestingfindingsregardingtheinfluencesofproductivityarealsodiscussedinthisstudy.

FollowingKrugman’swork,therehavebeennumeroustheoreticaldevelopmentson

advancingthetheoryofagglomeration.AccordingtoPorter’s（1998）definition,industrialagglomerationreferstothegeographicalclusteringofagroupofcompaniesandinstitutionswhicharerelatedintermsofspecificproductionand/oreconomicactivities.Whydofirmschoosetoconcentratethemselvesgeographically?

Krugman（1991）providedthreepossiblereasons:

agglomerationprovidesalabormarketpooling;ahigherdegreeofindustrialagglomerationcansupportnon-tradespecializedinputsandimprovethelevelofindustrialspecialization;andinformationspilloverinspatiallyconcentratedregionscaninduceapositiveexternalityonthefirms’productivity.

Animportantpointconcerningtheabove-mentionedcausesofagglomerationisthattheyareclassedaspositiveexternalities.Infact,theconceptofagglomerationeconomieswasfirstinitiatedbyMarshall（1920）whenheclaimedthatexternaleconomiescanbeachievedbyindustrialregionalization.Whenindustrialoutputislargeenoughtosupportthespecializedproductionofmanyfirmsandenablesfirmstoenjoyeconomiesofscale,theaveragecostofproductionofafirmwilldecreaseconsiderably.Inotherwords,theadvantageofindustrialregionalization（agglomeration）liesinitspromotingthedivisionofspecializedproducersofintermediategoodsinaspecificregionandthengeneratinginformationspillovers.

Consequently,manystudieshaveprovidedexplanationsastothecausesofagglomerationandhavecategorizedtheagglomerationeffectsintolocalizationeconomiesandurbanizationeconomies.Thelocalizationecon