Influence of Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway on economic growth of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei City Cluster

High-speed railway is a major stimulant for free flow of economic factors, optimal allocation of resources, and upgrading of regional industry. This paper constructs a difference-in-differences (DID) model to analyze the panel data on the 13 cities in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region of 2003-2020, aiming to disclose how the opening of Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway affects the economic growth in BTH city cluster. The results show that the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway clearly improves the level of economic development in the BTH region; the improving effect on Hebei is faster than that on Beijing and Tianjin. Therefore, it is suggested that Hebei should step up the development of high-speed railway, so as to promote the industrial transfer from Beijing and Tianjin and attract outstanding talents to Hebei.