Industrial upgrading and new quality productive forces: evidence from Chinese industrial parks

Industrial parks serve as vital platforms for industrial upgrading and the improvement of corporate productivity. This study hence investigates the impact of industrial upgrading driven by industrial park development on new quality productive forces based on a 2012 to 2022 sample concerning industrial parks located across China's prefecture-level cities. The findings reveal that industrial upgrading markedly boosts firm-level new-quality productivity through decreasing the likelihood of informed trading and facilitating corporate R&D investment. Further analysis confirms both the agglomeration function of establishing industrial parks and the heterogeneous magnitudes of industrial upgrading's boosting effect depending on firm ownership, environmental violation incidents, and city characteristics. Regarding practical implications, this study offers guidance for governments to optimize industrial park policies and for enterprises to improve their new quality productive forces.