This dissertation investigates the determinants of economic growth in China since 1978, with a focus on the determinants of spatial growth. A study of the theories of economic growth shows that both proximate and fundamental factors can contribute to economic growth. In the case of China, institutional changes are the keys to the Chinese transitional economy. Given the special nature of China's economy, the main institutional reforms since 1978 are examined, together with the gradual transition process. Furthermore, from the overview of empirical literature, it is found that the proximate determinants such as initial gross domestic product (GDP), investment, population growth, human capital and openness are determinants of economic growth in China based on the findings in cross-country growth literature. From growth accounting exercises, capital formation and total factor productivity (TFP) growth can be seen to play important roles in the rapid economic growth in China. However, while the nationwide economic growth is impressive, the pace of reform and economic development has been uneven across provinces. In the existing literature, geography and preferential policy are emphasised as particular factors that affect coastal-interior disparity. This study incorporates the economic variables identified as important stimulants to growth, drawing on major findings in the study of convergence and economic growth to estimate the determinants of regional economic growth in China. To address the weaknesses of using ordinary least squares (OLS) for cross-country regression analyses, fixed-effects ordinary least squares (OLS) and random-effects generalised least squares (GLS) panel data estimators are applied to provincial data from 1994 to 2003. It is concluded that the convergence hypothesis does not hold in China, and that export, investment, education, foreign direct investment (FDI) growth and coastal dummy have a positive effect on regional GDP per capita growth in China while population growth affects the annual growth rate negatively. / Thesis (M.Com. (Economics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

This dissertation investigates the determinants of economic growth in China since 1978, with a focus on the determinants of spatial growth. A study of the theories of economic growth shows that both proximate and fundamental factors can contribute to economic growth. In the case of China, institutional changes are the keys to the Chinese transitional economy. Given the special nature of China's economy, the main institutional reforms since 1978 are examined, together with the gradual transition process. Furthermore, from the overview of empirical literature, it is found that the proximate determinants such as initial gross domestic product (GDP), investment, population growth, human capital and openness are determinants of economic growth in China based on the findings in cross-country growth literature. From growth accounting exercises, capital formation and total factor productivity (TFP) growth can be seen to play important roles in the rapid economic growth in China. However, while the nationwide economic growth is impressive, the pace of reform and economic development has been uneven across provinces. In the existing literature, geography and preferential policy are emphasised as particular factors that affect coastal-interior disparity. This study incorporates the economic variables identified as important stimulants to growth, drawing on major findings in the study of convergence and economic growth to estimate the determinants of regional economic growth in China. To address the weaknesses of using ordinary least squares (OLS) for cross-country regression analyses, fixed-effects ordinary least squares (OLS) and random-effects generalised least squares (GLS) panel data estimators are applied to provincial data from 1994 to 2003. It is concluded that the convergence hypothesis does not hold in China, and that export, investment, education, foreign direct investment (FDI) growth and coastal dummy have a positive effect on regional GDP per capita growth in China while population growth affects the annual growth rate negatively. / Thesis (M.Com. (Economics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

The People's Republic of China has experienced since the late 70s unprecedented economic development. That is, on the one hand, coupled with the many positive aspects, on the other, but also brought some negative things. One of them was the increasing regional disparities and the related problems of poverty, which are the main subject of this thesis. Regional disparity is dealt through the provinces of Sichuan, Hunan and Liaoning, each of them represents one Chinese region. By comparing socio-economic development of these provinces it is found that the differences in their economic levels are greater than the differences in social level. But the important thing is that these differences in the last years are not deepening and there is a gradual narrowing of the gap between the East and the rest of the country. This is due not only to economic growth but also adopted government programs.

<p>The purpose of this thesis is to disentangle the causes behind differences in regional employment across the 81 Swedish LA regions. Thus, two questions will be answered; which factors causes regional disparity in employment and which where the least and the</p><p>most affected regions during the economic crises of the 1990’s? The answer to these questions are imposed by certain chosen restrictions, where only the situation within two manufacturing industries will be investigated; the car- and machine manufacturing sectors. Previous research claim that there are specific factors that influence and creates regional growth disparity. Among these factors can be found; education, infrastructure, demography, industry diversity and migration. Statistical data then enables a division of the regions on basis of the change in employment level within the manufacturing industries as a share of total employment. It is revealed that the most affected regions during an economic shock are those areas that have the highest employment ratio within these manufacturing sectors. The empirical findings indicates that in the case of Swedish manufacturing industries especially three factors influence the employment level; population, education and migration. Additionally, distance to a larger city is proven to be</p><p>significant during recessions while being insignificant during economic booms. The last factor, diversity, on the other hand indicates that the correlation is the reverse. Hence, diversity has an impact during economic upswings, while this is not the case during downturns. With the development during the 90’s as a reference, the same method is used to locate today’s most vulnerable industrial regions. Statistics show that Ljungby is at the top</p><p>of this list. When studying the strategic development plan for this region it is found that this area follows a policy in line with those variables that this thesis has pin-pointed to be</p><p>beneficial for regional growth. Hence, this region has taken beneficial policy steps in order to decrease the dependency on a vulnerable and market sensitive industrial sector.</p> / <p>Syftet med denna uppsats är att utreda varför anställningsgraden skiljer sig mellan de 81 svenska LA regionerna. De två frågor som skall besvaras är följaktligen; vilka faktorer påverkar skillnader i sysselsättningsgrad samt utpeka vilka regioner var de minst och mest</p><p>drabbade under 1990-talets ekonomiska kris? Dessa frågor har dock begränsats till att undersöka förhållandet inom två tillverkningsindustrier; bil- och maskintillverkning.</p><p>Tidigare forskning hävdar att det finns vissa specifika faktorer som påverkar och skapar regionala skillnader i tillväxt. Bland dessa kan nämnas utbildning, infrastruktur, demografi, diversitet och migration. Den deskriptiva statistiken delar därefter upp Sveriges regioner på basis av förändringen i anställning inom de två valda industrisektorerna som en del av totala sysselsättningen. De hårdast drabbade regionerna under en lågkonjunktur är deregioner som har störst andel av totala arbetskraften inom tillverkningsindustrin. Vidare indikerar de empiriska resultaten att för svensk tillverkningsindustris vidkommande så har främst population, utbildning samt migration ett starkt samband med</p><p>sysselsättningsfrekvensen. Vidare visar det sig att avståndet till en större stad har en inverkan under lågkonjunktur men ej under högkonjunktur. För den sista variabeln, grad av diversitet, visar sig sambandet vara det motsatta; det vill säga ingen påverkan under en konjunkturnedgång, medan en positiv influens under konjunkturuppgång. Med händelseutvecklingen från 90-talet som grund kan samma metod användas för att lokalisera dagens mest sårbara industriregioner. Statistiken visar att Ljungby toppar denna lista. Men då man studerar denna regions framtids- och utvecklingsmål följer dessa just de faktorer som denna uppsats utpekar som viktiga ingredienser för regional tillväxt. Följaktligen har denna region tagit positiva steg i riktning mot att minska sitt beroende av en sårbar och konjunkturkänslig industrisektor.</p>

This study aims to analyze China’s regional disparity during 1997-2006 by adopting Keng’s (2004) general equilibrium analysis. China’s 31 provinces are divided into ten regions. The intra- and inter regional disparity as well as the Effective Regional Disparity (ERD) are all investigated in this study. Based on ample quantitative findings, in 2006, the largest intra-regional disparity existed in the Coastal North while the smallest intra-regional disparity existed in the Inner West. The largest inter-regional disparity existed between the Coastal East and the Inner South not between the richest region (the Coastal North) and the poorest region (the Inner West). This study also uses the Effective Regional Disparity (ERD) to understand the magnitude of an individual province’s contribution to the overall regional disparity. The top five on the ERD ranking of China’s 21 lower income provinces in 2006 were Henan, Sichuan, Anhui, Hebei, and Hunan. Hence, in order to reduce the regional disparity, the Chinese central government needs to focus on the heavily populated provinces in the Inner area rather than in the West.

Depuis 1979, la Chine a entrepris les politiques des Réformes et de l’Ouverture. Cette période marque un tournant de la Chine. La libéralisation du marché, l’industrialisation et l’internationalisation, qui sont réalisées de manière systématique et graduelle, ont permis d’intégrer la Chine dans l’économie mondiale et la mondialisation. En étudiant le processus de la mondialisation et du développement régional en Chine, nous pouvons constater une évolution multipolaire : une transition de l’économie traditionnelle, planifiée et fermée vers une économie moderne et ouverte du marché, une transformation d’une société agricole vers une société industrielle et de services et un changement conceptuel du centrisme chinois et de tradition vers la mondialisation et la modernité. Cette évolution est le résultat des forces irrésistibles de la mondialisation et des expériences de la Chine quant à son refus, sa résistance, son acceptation forcée, et ses essais en matière d’apprentissage vers la mondialisation. Cependant, la croissance n’est pas partagée de manière équilibrée entre les régions de la Chine. En raison des différences dans l’environnement naturel, dans les ressources, dans les structures industrielles, dans le développement social et compte tenu des éléments historiques et politiques, le développement des régions retardées est une question qui relève non seulement de la stabilité économique et politique de la Chine, mais aussi d’une source de durabilité de la croissance chinoise. Les IDE sont un des facteurs contribuant à la croissance économique en Chine, mais ils ne sont pas les seuls facteurs fautifs à l’écart de la disparité en Chine. / Since 1979, China has undertaken the policies of the Reforms and the Opening. This period marks a turning-point of China. The liberalization of the market, the industrialization and the internationalization, which are carried out in a systematic and gradual way, made it possible to integrate China in the world economy and globalization. By studying the process of globalization and regional development in China, we can observe a multiple evolution: a transition from the traditional economy, planned and closed towards an economy modern and opened market, a transformation of an agricultural society towards an industrial society and services and a conceptual change of the Chinese centrism and tradition towards globalization and modernity. This evolution is the result of the irresistible forces of the globalization and the experiments of China as for its refusal, its resistance, its acceptance forced, and its tests as regards training towards globalization. However, the growth of China is not shared in a balanced way between the regions of China. Because of the differences in natural environment, in the resources, the industrial structures, social development and taking into account the historical and political elements, the development of the delayed areas of China is a question which concerns not only the economic stability and policy of China, but also of a source of durability of the Chinese growth. The FDI is one of the factors contributing to the economic growth in China, but they are not the only faulty factors for the disparity in China.

The purpose of this thesis is to disentangle the causes behind differences in regional employment across the 81 Swedish LA regions. Thus, two questions will be answered; which factors causes regional disparity in employment and which where the least and the most affected regions during the economic crises of the 1990’s? The answer to these questions are imposed by certain chosen restrictions, where only the situation within two manufacturing industries will be investigated; the car- and machine manufacturing sectors. Previous research claim that there are specific factors that influence and creates regional growth disparity. Among these factors can be found; education, infrastructure, demography, industry diversity and migration. Statistical data then enables a division of the regions on basis of the change in employment level within the manufacturing industries as a share of total employment. It is revealed that the most affected regions during an economic shock are those areas that have the highest employment ratio within these manufacturing sectors. The empirical findings indicates that in the case of Swedish manufacturing industries especially three factors influence the employment level; population, education and migration. Additionally, distance to a larger city is proven to be significant during recessions while being insignificant during economic booms. The last factor, diversity, on the other hand indicates that the correlation is the reverse. Hence, diversity has an impact during economic upswings, while this is not the case during downturns. With the development during the 90’s as a reference, the same method is used to locate today’s most vulnerable industrial regions. Statistics show that Ljungby is at the top of this list. When studying the strategic development plan for this region it is found that this area follows a policy in line with those variables that this thesis has pin-pointed to be beneficial for regional growth. Hence, this region has taken beneficial policy steps in order to decrease the dependency on a vulnerable and market sensitive industrial sector. / Syftet med denna uppsats är att utreda varför anställningsgraden skiljer sig mellan de 81 svenska LA regionerna. De två frågor som skall besvaras är följaktligen; vilka faktorer påverkar skillnader i sysselsättningsgrad samt utpeka vilka regioner var de minst och mest drabbade under 1990-talets ekonomiska kris? Dessa frågor har dock begränsats till att undersöka förhållandet inom två tillverkningsindustrier; bil- och maskintillverkning. Tidigare forskning hävdar att det finns vissa specifika faktorer som påverkar och skapar regionala skillnader i tillväxt. Bland dessa kan nämnas utbildning, infrastruktur, demografi, diversitet och migration. Den deskriptiva statistiken delar därefter upp Sveriges regioner på basis av förändringen i anställning inom de två valda industrisektorerna som en del av totala sysselsättningen. De hårdast drabbade regionerna under en lågkonjunktur är deregioner som har störst andel av totala arbetskraften inom tillverkningsindustrin. Vidare indikerar de empiriska resultaten att för svensk tillverkningsindustris vidkommande så har främst population, utbildning samt migration ett starkt samband med sysselsättningsfrekvensen. Vidare visar det sig att avståndet till en större stad har en inverkan under lågkonjunktur men ej under högkonjunktur. För den sista variabeln, grad av diversitet, visar sig sambandet vara det motsatta; det vill säga ingen påverkan under en konjunkturnedgång, medan en positiv influens under konjunkturuppgång. Med händelseutvecklingen från 90-talet som grund kan samma metod användas för att lokalisera dagens mest sårbara industriregioner. Statistiken visar att Ljungby toppar denna lista. Men då man studerar denna regions framtids- och utvecklingsmål följer dessa just de faktorer som denna uppsats utpekar som viktiga ingredienser för regional tillväxt. Följaktligen har denna region tagit positiva steg i riktning mot att minska sitt beroende av en sårbar och konjunkturkänslig industrisektor.

本文以中國1997~2003年中央政府對地方政府之淨移轉支付為研究對象，運用量化之研究途徑，分析中國近年來中央政府資源分配之財政目標變化，以及影響此財政目標之主要因素。依據本文實證結果分析顯示，在1997~2003年這段期間，中國中央政府的財政資源分配方式由過去以穩定社會環境、發展整體經濟為主要目標，轉以均衡各地情況為主，於此同時，影響此財政資源分配模式之主要因素為區域政策之轉折，並推論中國區域政策的產出與執行，並非如一般所論，僅是領導人安定環境、攏絡民心的口頭宣示和空頭支票。 / Through examining the transfer payment from China’s central government to provincial government, this study seeks to discover the logic of financial resource allocation in China. It goes on to compare the modes of financial transfer in different years to see whether China has devoted more resources on income redistribution, and if so, which factor make that happen. My findings suggest that China does adjust the logic of resource allocation, shifting from pro-growth to pro-balance through these years. And, the key that trigger such change is the modification of regional policy instead of reshuffle of top leadership.