The impact of regional financial development on economic growth in Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region: A spatial econometric analysis

The Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) integration project in China is ambitious which offers great potential with its promotion of sustainable and inclusive development. This study investigates the impact of regional financial development on economic growth in the BTH region, with panel data collected from 2007 to 2016. Two indicators namely, CREDIT (denoted as regional financial development depth) and BRANCH (denoted as regional financial intermediaries accessibility) are used to construct an integrated regional financial development indicator through the spatial econometrics approach. The spatio-temporal distribution characteristics of regional financial development and economic growth are analyzed. Afterward, the global Moran’s I and local Getis–Ord Gi* statistics are applied to detect the presence of spatial autocorrelation. Finally, a spatial Durbin model (SDM) is utilized to examine spatial distribution and spatial association. The research findings of this study suggest that the CREDIT has a positive effect on regional economic growth, while the BRANCH has no impact on regional economic growth. Moreover, it is found that the spatial autocorrelation of CREDIT and BRANCH are statistically significant. The CREDIT of the neighboring areas has a negative spatial spillover effect on economic growth of one area, while the BRANCH in the neighboring areas has a positive effect on the one area. The results and research findings reported in this article highlight the role of regional financial development in improving the economic growth not only for Chinese policy makers but also for other countries’ researchers and practitioners in this field.