Does polycentric regional development promote economic resilience? Empirical evidence from urban agglomerations in China

Abstract While the role of movement and exchanges (of goods, people, etc.) between economies, or flows, is underexplored in economic resilience literature, we introduce a flow-based framework incorporating effects of polycentricity and use it to analyse development in China during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. We use individuals’ travel and enterprise registration data to gauge polycentricity and economic resilience, and apply regression models to explore their relationship across pandemic waves. The results demonstrate positive, yet, diminishing and even adverse effects of polycentricity on the regional scale as shocks progress. Policy makers should thus consider implementing targeted polycentricity-related actions aligned with different shock phases.