Exploring the impacts of high-speed rail on technology-intensive manufacturing: the case of the Yangtze River Delta region, 2007-2016.

High-speed rail (HSR) may influence economic activities that rely heavily on innovation by facilitating skilled labour, face-to-face interactions, and knowledge spillovers. This study explores how HSR development affects the spatial distribution of technology-intensive manufacturing (TIM) in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), China. Using a panel dataset including 24 cities for the period 2007-2016 and employing the output of communications equipment, computers, and other electronic equipment (CCOE) as a proxy for TIM's economic productivity at the city level, we apply the staggered difference-in-differences (DID) and spatial Durbin model (SDM) to measure the impacts of HSR's initial opening and connectivity on CCOE development and capture the spatial spillover effects of HSR connectivity.