Does Low-Altitude Economy Development Drive Productivity Growth in Peripheral Counties: A Quasi-Natural Experiment from Wencheng County_Vol. 3 No. 4 (JBM 2026)_Journal of Business and Marketing (ISSN: 3005-5717)

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Does Low-Altitude Economy Development Drive Productivity Growth in Peripheral Counties: A Quasi-Natural Experiment from Wencheng County

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.62517/jbm.202609401

Author(s)

Li Zhang1,2

Affiliation(s)

1Digital Business Department, Zhejiang Dongfang Polytechnic, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China 2Wenzhou Low Altitude Industry Economic Research Institute, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China

Abstract

As an important component of new-quality productive forces, the low-altitude aviation economy requires empirical evidence to support whether its industry development can effectively promote economic efficiency at the county level. This paper utilizes the 2015 issuance by Wenzhou City of the “General Aviation Industry Development Plan (2014–2030)”, which designated Wencheng County as a key area for general aviation airport construction, as a quasi-natural experiment setting. Using county-level panel data for Wenzhou City from 2007 to 2024, the study employs the difference-in-differences method to assess the impact of low-altitude industry development on Total Factor Productivity in Wencheng County. The study finds that: the low-altitude industry strategies led to a relative increase in Wencheng County’s TFP of approximately 23.87 percentage points, which is statistically significant at the 1 per cent level. Estimates of dynamic effects indicate that the development’s treatment effect exhibits a year-on-year increase, with the ATT rising from 10.85 in 2016 to 30.95 in 2024. This paper elucidates the mechanism of action of low-altitude measures from the perspective of resource allocation theory, providing empirical guidance for the development of the low-altitude economy at the county level.

Keywords

Low-Altitude Industrial Development; Total Factor Productivity; Difference-in-differences Method; Wencheng County; Aviation Town

References

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