The Rise of Urban Cluster,Economic Performance and Regional Income Disparity Based on the Metropolitan Area of Jing-Jin-Ji,Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta

This paper utilizes the regression discontinuity and quantile regression method to study the effect of metropolitan area on regional economic performance and disparity based on the metropolitan area of Jing-Jin-Ji,Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta.The empirical study shows that during the process of urban cluster in 2003 and 2004,the region which has the lowest initial development status will benefit the most,which implies the regional disparity is decreasing.However,from 2005 to 2007,the region which has the medium initial development status benefits the most and moreover in 2007 the region which has the lowest initial development status benefits the least.Consequently,the urban cluster decreases the disparity between the medium development region and the highest development region.Furthermore,in 2007 such effect increases the disparity between the lowest development region and the others.