Study on the impact of administrative division management on the regional economy—From the perspective of 281 prefecture-level cities

Abstract

Merging counties into districts has significant implications for optimizing administrative structures, enhancing regional governance efficiency, and promoting socio-economic development. By incorporating the experiences of previous studies and summarizing corresponding advantages and disadvantages, we utilized data from 1999 to 2018. Employing a double-difference model, we constructed an index system covering economic, employment, ecological, and other aspects. We selected 22 indicators from 281 cities to assess the high-quality development level at the city scale. Based on whether the policy of merging counties into districts was implemented, we divided all samples into treatment and control groups to delve into the economic impact of administrative division adjustment policies. The study empirically demonstrates that the policy of merging counties into districts has a significantly positive impact on economic development in the regions where this policy is implemented. We found that administrative division management can have a positive impact on the economy, and this result has been verified, passing the significance test.