Does " involutionary competition" affet the growth of urban total factor productivity?: an empirical study based on 239 prefecture-level cities

The new quality productivity is marked by the substantial increase of total factor productivity (TFP), which is the productivity that breaks away from the traditional economic growth mode and the development path of traditional productivity. Since the reform and opening up, China's extensive economic growth mode relying on capital, resources and other factors input has achieved rapid economic growth under the background of the political system of "competition for growth". In recent years, the growth rate of TFP in cities has declined, and the extensive growth mode has encountered severe challenges. Transforming the pattern of economic growth has become a top priority in building a new development pattern and achieving high-quality development. Based on city-level data from 2004–2023, this study demonstrates how "involutionary competition" affects urban total factor productivity growth. It is found that "involutionary competition" has a negative impact on regional technology clustering, innovation quality and innovation results sustainability, but promotes the sustainability of innovation input, and ultimately leads to the slowdown of local total factor productivity growth. This study also found that "involutionary competition" also magnifies the deviation of local governments in setting economic growth targets. Therefore, this paper puts forward countermeasures and suggestions from the perspective of building a national unified domestic market.