Spatio-temporal evolution of regional economic disparities in the Yangtze River Delta since reform and opening-up

Based on the Markov chain and the spatial autocorrelation analysis,it was investigated the spatio-temporal evolution characters of regional disparities of the Yangtze River Delta by analyzing per capita GDP data of 16 cities in the Yangtze River Delta during 1978-2007.By constructing the type of per capita GDP of the Markov transition probability matrix at the city level,it was concluded that the Yangtze River Delta areas existed obvious club phenomenon in economic development,which trended toward low and middle income group and high-income group;By spatial autocorrelation analysis to investigate the spatial relationships between cities and their surrounding neighbors,it was found that regions and its neighbors had a positive relevance,and based on these recommendations,it was put forward for co-ordination of regional development strategies and strengthen the regional interactive mechanism so as to promote regional economy of the Yangtze River Delta to trend toward high-income convergence club.