Abstract:

In China, local government behaviors, which significantly influence the coordinated growth of regional economies,are profoundly shaped by government performance evaluations. Shifting government performance evaluation from a “standardized" approach to a “differentiated" one may encourage mutually beneficial partnerships between governments across various regions, thereby contributing to the coordinated development of regional economies. Using county-level data from 2003 to 2019, this article examines the impact of differentiated performance evaluations based on main functional areas on the coordinated development of regional economies. Empirical results show that differentiated performance evaluations have increased economic coordination levels between different types of regions by an average of 16.4%, compared with regions of the same type. The main mechanisms include promoting factor mobility and guiding industrial division. The findings of this article contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between China's local government evaluation system and coordinated regional economic development. 

Key words:

main functional areas planning, differentiated performance evaluations, government evaluation system, coordinated development of regional economies

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