BEYOND CONVERGENCE: SPACE, SCALE, AND REGIONAL INEQUALITY IN CHINA

Since the late 1980s there has been a renewed interest in regional inequality, fuelled by the concern over the effects of globalisation and liberalisation, and facilitated by theoretical and methodological developments in geography and economics. In essence, the new convergence theory, like the old convergence theory, is another theory devoid of space and time. Research on China has unfolded a complex landscape of regional development, the existence of distinct models of regional development, and the significant role of institutions. This paper examines regional inequality in China, especially Zhejiang Province, and attempts to uncover the trend and driving forces of regional inequality. It adopts a top-down and bottom-up strategy and employs recent developments in exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) and geographically weighted regression (GWR). We have found that regional inequality is sensitive to geographic scales and spatial organisation, and that conventional approaches mask spatial agglomeration and the significance of regions in shaping trends of regional inequality. Overall, regional inequality in Zhejiang rose during the reform period and a division between coastal and interior Zhejiang formed, additionally sustained by weak linkages between the two regions and the significance of location and nonstate enterprises in development. This paper further reveals the emergence of Wenzhou, and discusses its effect on regional inequality. Copyright (c) 2009 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG.

[1]  G. Lin.  Red capitalism in South China , 1997 .

[2]  A. Rodríguez‐Pose,et al.  Growth, Integration, and Regional Disparities in the European Union , 2005 .

[3]  George Petrakos,et al.  Patterns of Regional Inequality in Transition Economies , 2001 .

[4]  Y. Wei,et al.  Widening Inter-County Inequality in Jiangsu Province, China, 1950-95 , 2002 .

[5]  Chaolin Gu,et al.  Regional Polarization under the Socialist-Market System since 1978: A Case Study of Guangdong Province in South China , 2001 .

[6]  Y. Wei,et al.  DOMESTICATING GLOBALISATION, NEW ECONOMIC SPACES AND REGIONAL POLARISATION IN GUANGDONG PROVINCE, CHINA , 2007 .

[7]  Danlin Yu,et al.  Spatial Data Analysis of Regional Development in Greater Beijing, China, in a GIS Environment , 2008 .

[8]  Enru Wang,et al.  Forging Ahead and Falling Behind: Changing Regional Inequalities in Post‐reform China , 2002 .

[9]  J. Gourdon.  Openness and Inequality in Developing Countries: a New Look at the Evidence , 2006 .

[10]  C. Fan,et al.  China's Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2006-2010): From "Getting Rich First" to "Common Prosperity" , 2006 .

[11]  Jordi Suriñach,et al.  Regional economic dynamics and convergence in the European Union , 1999 .

[12]  Catherine Baumont,et al.  The European Regional Convergence Process, 1980-1995: Do Spatial Regimes and Spatial Dependence Matter? , 2006 .

[13]  Cem Ertur,et al.  Exploratory spatial data analysis of the distribution of regional per capita GDP in Europe, 1980–1995 , 2003 .

[14]  Terry Cannon,et al.  The Geography of Contemporary China : The Impact of Deng Xiaoping's Decade , 1990 .

[15]  Yia-Ling Liu,et al.  Reform from Below: The Private Economy and Local Politics in the Rural Industrialization of Wenzhou , 1992, The China Quarterly.

[16]  Danlin Yu,et al.  Spatially varying development mechanisms in the Greater Beijing Area: a geographically weighted regression investigation , 2006 .

[17]  N. Lardy.  Centralization and Decentralization in China's Fiscal Management , 1975, The China Quarterly.

[18]  L. Ying.  Understanding China’s recent growth experience: A spatial econometric perspective , 2003 .

[19]  Y. Wei,et al.  Regional Development in China: Transitional Institutions, Embedded Globalization, and Hybrid Economies , 2007 .

[20]  Simon Zhao Xiaobin.  Spatial Disparities and Economic Development in China, 1953-92: A Comparative Study , 1996 .

[21]  E. Anderson.  Openness and inequality in developing countries: a review of theory and recent evidence , 2005 .

[22]  Jianfa Shen.  Urban and regional development in post-reform China: the case of Zhujiang delta , 2002 .

[23]  R. Barro,et al.  Convergence across States and Regions , 1991 .

[24]  Y. Wei,et al.  Regional Inequality in China: A Case Study of Zhejiang Province , 2004 .

[25]  Általános és összehasonlító irodalomtudomány.  Guns, Germs, and Steel , 2010 .

[26]  Cem Ertur,et al.  Exploratory spatial data analysis of the distribution of regional per capita GDP in Europe, 1980−1995 , 2000 .

[27]  Gong-hao Cui,et al.  Economic Transition at the Local Level: Diverse Forms of Town Development in China , 2002 .

[28]  Donggen Wang,et al.  Knowledge Disparity and Regional Inequality in Post-reform China , 2003 .

[29]  C. Fan,et al.  Of Belts and Ladders: State Policy and Uneven Regional Development in Post-Mao China , 1995 .

[30]  Sergio J. Rey,et al.  US Regional Income Convergence: A Spatial Econometric Perspective , 1999 .

[31]  Yehua Dennis Wei,et al.  Regional Inequality in China: A Case Study of Jiangsu Province , 2000 .

[32]  Y. Wei,et al.  Analyzing Regional Inequality in Post-Mao China in a GIS Environment , 2003 .

[33]  M. Bradshaw,et al.  A New Perspective on Regional Inequalities in Russia , 2003 .

[34]  S. Whiting.  Power and Wealth in Rural China: Incentive Structures and Local Cadre Behavior , 2000 .

[35]  Xinyue Ye,et al.  Geospatial Analysis of Regional Development in China: The Case of Zhejiang Province and the Wenzhou Model , 2005 .

[36]  Sergio J. Rey,et al.  STARS: Space-Time Analysis of Regional Systems , 2004 .

[37]  Qihao Weng.  Local Impacts of the Post‐Mao Development Strategy: The Case of the Zhujiang Delta, Southern China , 1998 .

[38]  Yehua Dennis Wei,et al.  Restructuring Industrial Districts, Scaling Up Regional Development: A Study of the Wenzhou Model, China , 2007 .

[39]  Y. Wei.  Regional inequality in China , 1999 .

[40]  Y. Wei,et al.  Changing patterns of spatial inequality in China, 1952-1990 , 1996 .

[41]  W. Alonso.  Five bell shapes in development , 1980 .

[42]  T. Lyons,et al.  Interprovincial Disparities in China: Output and Consumption, 1952-1987 , 1991, Economic Development and Cultural Change.