Does local government tax competition promote industrial transformation and upgrading
Abstract
Promoting industrial transformation and upgrading is the vital and main driving force for realizing high-quality economic development. The paper related to this dataset systematically interprets the theoretical mechanism of local government tax competition and industrial transformation and upgrading from the theoretical level, based on which, through the fixed effect model, we test the impact of local government tax competition on industrial transformation and upgrading, the transmission mechanism, and the moderating effect played by technological innovation. The study finds that: (1) There exists an inverted “U-shaped” relationship between local government tax competition and industrial transformation and upgrading, which is driven by incentives and then constrained by competition and is tested by a series of robustness tests; (2) Heterogeneity analysis shows that the inverted “U-shaped” relationship between local government tax competition and industrial transformation and upgrading is more evident in cities with no economic growth targets, cities in the eastern region, economically developed cities, and cities with weak tax officials; (3) Mechanism test shows that local government tax competition mainly contributes to industrial transformation and upgrading by adjusting the tax structure, reducing the inequality of income distribution and strengthening the level of industrial agglomeration; (4) Technological innovation positively moderates the inverted “U-shaped” relationship between local government tax competition and industrial transformation and upgrading, and makes the inverted “U” curve steeper and the inverted “U-shaped” relationship more pronounced. The study helps to identify the impact of local government tax competition on industrial transformation and upgrading. The study helps to identify the specific effect of local government tax competition on industrial transformation and upgrading. It can provide theoretical support and decision-making reference for optimizing local tax policies and promoting high-quality economic development.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.fj6q5747v
Description of the data and file structure
This dataset comprises city-level panel data for empirical analysis of how local government tax competition influences industrial transformation and upgrading in China. The data span the period from 2011 to 2022, covering 270 prefecture-level cities. Primary data sources include the Statistical Yearbook of Chinese Cities, provincial statistical yearbooks, and local government work reports. Key variables comprise measures of local government tax competition and industrial transformation and upgrading, alongside a range of control variables such as economic development level, fiscal capacity, Infrastructure level, Education level, population density, and degree of openness to the outside world. Moderating variables include technological innovation. Mediating variables encompass tax structure, income distribution, and industrial agglomeration.
Files and variables
File: data.xlsx
Description: This file contains all city-level panel data for the analysis of local government tax competition and industrial upgrading.
Variables
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In the file data.xlsx, Column A: pro denotes the province identification code（Column name: pro）;
Column B: id denotes the city identification code（Column name: id）;
Column C: year denotes the study year（Column name: year）;
Column D: Score denotes industrial transformation and upgrading (index, dimensionless)（Column name: ITU）;
Column E: TAX denotes local government tax competition (index, dimensionless)（Column name: Taxcompete）;
Column F: RGDP denotes economic development level (ten thousand yuan per capita)（Column name: Rgdp）;
Column G: FC denotes fiscal capacity (percentage %)（Column name: FC）;
Column H: Road denotes infrastructure development (percentage %)（Column name: Road）;
Column I: Edu denotes educational attainment (percentage %)（Column name: Edu）;
Column J: PD denotes population density (percentage %)（Column name: PD）;
Column K: Open denotes degree of openness to the outside world (percentage %)（Column name: Open）;
Column L: Inno denotes technological innovation (number of instances)（Column name: Inno）;
Column M: GAP denotes income distribution (index, dimensionless)（Column name: GAP）;
Column N: IA denotes industrial agglomeration (percentage %)（Column name: IA）;
Column O: TaxS denotes tax structure (percentage %)（Column name: TaxS）;
Code/software
The data file data.xlsx can be viewed and processed using Microsoft Excel.
Access information
Other publicly accessible locations of the data:
- This dataset is original and has not been published elsewhere in its current form. The data were compiled by the authors from the following primary sources。
Data was derived from the following sources:
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China City Statistical Yearbook (2011-2022)
Provincial Statistical Yearbooks (2011-2022)
Local Government Work Reports