Spatial Difference Analysis of County-level Economic Development in Shanxi Province

The healthy development of county economy is of great significance to maintain the sustainability and balance of regional economy.The 107 counties of Shaanxi province were choosen as the research subjects and the per capita GDP and industrial GDP were used as the evaluation indices, the regional Gini coefficient was applied to the study of the county-level economic differences.A comparative analysis is made of the changes in the Gini coefficients in terms of the three major industries in northern, central and southern Shaanxi province from 2002 to 2014.With the support of GeoDa and GIS technology and by use of the explorative spatial analysis technology, a comprehensive probe is made into the county-level economic development pattern.The Global Moran’s I and Getis-Ord Gi*were thus obtained and by aid of GIS cartographics, the economic hotspot map of Shaanxi is worked out, which reveals the global and local spatio-temporal change law of the county-level economy in Shaanxi.The leading causal factors of such differences are investigated.Through the qualitative study of the economic difference between the counties, an effort is made to provide the county-level cities with some scientific grounds for their city orientation and making of long-and middle-term development strategies.