撤县设区、边界效应与边界区发展OACHSSCD

Administrative boundaries delineated by administrative divisions often become invisible barriers that impede the free flow of economic factors,thereby generating significant"blocking"border effects.As a major administrative division adjustment driving urbanization in recent years,county-to-district conversion essentially involves the restructuring of local government power and authority relationships from decentralization toward centralization,which in turn affects border effects and the economic development of administrative border areas.However,existing research has not sufficiently explored how such administrative division adjustments affect economic growth in administrative border areas at the intra-city micro-scale. Utilizing satellite remote sensing nighttime light data from 2012 to 2021 as a proxy indicator for regional economic and social development,this paper employs geographic information analysis tools such as ArcGIS to extract data from 1000-meter,2000-meter,and 3000-meter buffer zones on both sides of the administrative boundaries.Empirically,this study adopts a staggered difference-in-differences(DID)method to evaluate the policy effects.The findings indicate that:(1)County-to-district conversion can drive the transformation of border effects from"blocking"to"mediating"and promote economic development in border areas.(2)At the regional spatial scale,border areas closer to municipal districts experience stronger spillover effects;regarding regional development characteristics,the promoting effect of county-to-district conversion on border area development is more pronounced in the eastern region,in larger cities with higher development levels,and in administrative units directly converted from counties.(3)County-to-district conversion accelerates economic development in border areas mainly by boosting the construction of transportation infrastructure and advancing the market-oriented allocation of land resources.(4)The policy dividends of county-to-district conversion exhibit the dual characteristics of cross-boundary synergy and region-wide promotion. The marginal contributions of this paper are primarily reflected in three aspects.First,by processing satellite remote sensing data with geographic information analysis tools such as ArcGIS,this study systematically and comprehensively investigates the actual impact of county-to-district conversion on intra-city border effects at a micro-scale,examining both the entire county domain and the immediate interfaces between counties and municipal districts.Second,grounded in the reality of dynamic power allocation,this paper places the border effect within a dynamic analytical framework of"decentralization"and"centralization."Using administrative boundaries as an entry point,it provides an in-depth analysis of the power interactions between centralization and decentralization in governance practice.Third,drawing on the rich connotations of national strategies,this paper focuses on economic activities within the specific geographic areas of administrative boundaries,exploring potential pathways through which county-to-district conversion dismantles intra-city border effects to promote economic development in administrative border areas. Ultimately,this paper posits that future research should step beyond the framework of administrative division adjustments.Instead,the focus should shift to how to advance the transformation of border effects from"blocking"to"mediating"through more flexible and efficient market-oriented instruments without altering existing administrative divisions and boundaries.Doing so will provide richer,more sustainable policy pathways for achieving broader regional coordination and urban-rural integrated development.