Spatial Pattern Evolvement of the Economy in Inner Mongolia at the County Level

Regional economic disparity is a universal phenomenon in regional economic development. To some extent the gap may promote reasonable competition among regions, but if the regional economic difference is too large, it may cause disorder and social unrest. Endowed with a special location, natural resources and ethnic composition, Inner Mongolia's economic development plays a significant role in the socio-economic development and prosperity of the whole region as well as of the country. It has gained tremendous economic development in recent years, the economic growth rate ranked first for 9 consecutive years in China since 2002.However, few studies have been made about Inner Mongolia, especially on the spatial pattern of economic development and growth rate at tiny spatial scales. This article analyzed the regional economic disparities of Inner Mongolia at the county level with panel data from 1980 to 2010 with exploratory spatial data analysis methods, of Moran's I and Getis-Ord G*i, whereby the significance of spatial interactions and geographical location was investigated. With the application of ArcGIS10.0 and GeoDa095 i, the spatial patterns of per capita GDP and economic growth rate of counties over the 30 years were analyzed. It was found that: 1) The overall spatial patterns of economic development level and growth speed of Inner Mongolia at the county level have tremendously changed. The hot spots moved from eastern regions to central and western regions. The golden triangle region composed by Hohhot, Baotou, and Ordos has become the economic growth pole of Inner Mongolia.2) Both the economic development level and the growth rate exhibited significant spatial autocorrelation.While that of the former has become increasingly obvious, that of the latter has increased and then decreased.It revealed that the accumulating of the economic growth rate was slowing down. 3) The development of Inner Mongolia in recent years has fortified the differentiation of three discontinuous economic blocks: the eastern block was less developed, and the western and central blocks became developed. As a result, the regional economic disparities enlarged between the three blocks. The article also analyzed the influencing factors of the evolvement, from perspectives of internal conditions including resources, history and culture, location, and external driving forces such as market and policies.