Industrial Structure Changes, Spatial Spillover and Economic Growth in the Yangtze River Delta

Based on the data of 41 cities in the Yangtze River Delta from 2003 to 2016, this paper constructs a spatial Durbin model (SDM) and empirically tests the relationship between the industrial structure changes and economic growth. The results show that the industrial structure rationalization is not only conducive to the promotion of local economic growth, but also has a positive spatial spillover effect on other spatial neighboring cities. The industrial structure upgrading has a significant negative impact on the economic growth, and has a significant negative spatial spillover effect. Therefore, cities in the Yangtze River Delta should focus on improving the industrial structure rationalization and it is not appropriate to overemphasize the upgrading of industrial structure.