Abstract: Population spatial agglomeration is the basis for the economic growth of urban agglomerations in China. A dynamic panel regression model is established on the basis of the theoretical derivation of the relationship between population spatial agglomeration and economic growth in urban agglomerations. The study has three major findings. (1) The spatial concentration of population in urban agglomerations in China has a significant impact on the economic growth of urban agglomerations. (2) The effect of population agglomeration on economic growth in urban agglomerations is a non-linear “inverted U-shaped” relationship. At the initial stage of population agglomeration, the population agglomeration to the core cities within urban agglomerations is conducive to improving the economic efficiency of urban agglomerations, and after the population agglomeration reaches a certain level, the economic efficiency will be weakened. (3) Industrial structure optimization and technological progress are useful for the economic growth of urban agglomerations. Capitalizing on the urban agglomeration dividend, it is important to reduce the negative externalities of excessive spatial concentration of population in urban agglomerations, thus promoting high-quality development of urban agglomerations.

Keywords: Urban Agglomeration, Spatial Agglomeration of Population, Economic Growth

摘要： 人口空间集聚是城市群经济增长的重要基础，研究二者之间的关系对于促进中国城镇化的发展具有重要意义。依据空间经济学理论，在对城市群人口空间集聚与经济增长关系进行理论推导的基础上，建立动态面板回归模型。研究发现，中国城市群人口空间集聚对城市群的经济增长具有显著影响；人口空间集聚对城市群经济增长的影响表现为非线性的“倒U形”关系，即在人口集聚的初期阶段，人口向城市群内部的核心城市集聚有利于提高城市群的经济效益，而当人口集聚达到一定程度之后，城市群的经济效益将会被减弱；产业结构升级、技术进步等因素对城市群经济增长也具有显著的正向影响。建议在发挥城市群人口集聚红利的同时，减少城市群人口空间过度集聚带来的负外部性影响，促进城市群的高质量发展。

关键词: 城市群, 人口空间集聚, 经济增长