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Promoting sustainable development in less developed regions: an empirical study of old revolutionary base areas in China

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Abstract

Using the panel data of 19 old revolutionary base areas in China from 2003 to 2020, this study measures the process of sustainable development and the coupling and coordination of economic, environmental, and social systems in less developed regions and investigates the influencing factors of sustainable development. The results show that the sustainable development of the old revolutionary base areas has generally shown an upward trend, while in recent years, it has fluctuated and declined. The coupling coordination degree of the system has similar characteristics, and the sustainable development and coupling coordination degree of the eastern region are higher than that of other regions. The regression results show that both effective government and efficient markets can promote the sustainable development of the old revolutionary base areas. Government factors play a more vital role in the eastern region, and market mechanisms play a greater role in the central and western regions. Nevertheless, the interaction term between the market and government is negative, indicating that the coordination between government factors and the market mechanism needs to be improved in revitalizing the old revolutionary base areas.

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Funding

Huwei Wen acknowledges financial support from the National Statistical Science Research Project of China (Grant No. 2022LY075).

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  1. Research Center of the Central China for Economic and Social Development, Nanchang University, Nanchang, 330031, China

    Huwei Wen

  2. School of Economics and Management, Nanchang University, Nanchang, 330031, China

    Huwei Wen & Lijun Jiang

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Wen, H., Jiang, L. Promoting sustainable development in less developed regions: an empirical study of old revolutionary base areas in China. Environ Dev Sustain 26, 12283–12308 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-023-03786-w

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