Agglomeration and productivity in China: Firm level evidence

- Co-location of large firms, rather than that of a large number of firms, is important to the productivity of Chinese firms.
- Agglomeration of upstream industries contributes more than that of the same industry.
- Private enterprises, especially in upstream industries, are the primary source of agglomeration effects.
- Private enterprises benefit most from their own agglomeration.
- Industrial agglomeration contributed to about 14% of the China's productivity growth.

This paper conducts an in-depth evaluation on the role of industrial agglomeration in productivity growth of China's industrial sector by exploiting large dataset of manufacturing firms active in 176 three-digit industries and in 2860 counties. We also complement our analysis with the 2004 Census data to capture the agglomeration of small firms. Unlike previous studies that often focused on specific industries, we assess the impact of agglomeration in a comprehensive range of industries and extend the scope of analysis to upstream industries as well. Moreover, we explore how the ownership of Chinese firms shapes their ability to benefit from agglomeration effect as well as to act as the source of externality. We find that congestion and fiercer competition offset the benefits of agglomeration for firms operating within agglomerated regions. On the other hand, a co-location of large firms contributes significantly to productivity. We also find a more important contribution from the agglomeration of upstream industries than from that of the same industry. Private enterprises are the primary source of agglomeration effects especially in upstream industries, whereas their productivity is boosted most by the agglomeration of other private enterprises. We reckon that industrial agglomeration contributed up to 14% of the productivity growth in China's industrial sector between 2000 and 2007.