Impact of Industrial Agglomeration on China’s Residents’ Consumption
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The manuscript has a really good flow - clear introduction, extensive literature review, and detailed and well set methodology.
There are just few things that I would like to point to - text in lines from 87 to 91 is not necessary; give a source for Figure 1 and indicate the meaning of RMB (I'm not sure everyone will know that the acronym refers to the official currency); indicate in the introduction or in the methodology source for used data (for the period 2003-2019). My only and the biggest complaint goes to the lack of real discussion. Although the section 4 is named Results and Discussion, there is no discussion. Please, compare your results with similar research. If existing presentation stays, it will be more like a case study applicable to China or similar countries, but not worldwide.
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
The aim of the reviewed article was to determine the impact of China's manufacturing industrial agglomeration on residents' consumption. It is a relatively narrowly defined research goal, although the authors also analyze other determinants of the value of consumer spending. This issue is particularly important from the point of view of conducting an effective economic policy aimed at increasing the dynamics of economic growth in the conditions of a collapse in external demand.
The presented article has a clear, logical structure, is based on appropriate research methods and extensive literature review, the conclusions correspond to the content of the previous analyzes. This is an unquestionable advantage of the presented text and influences its high evaluation.
The relatively narrow research goal, however, means that the presented conclusions have a rather limited reference to other spatial units and / or economies operating under different conditions. Thus, in the future, it is worthwhile for the authors to assess the strength of the relationship between industrial agglomeration and residents' consumption also in relation to other economies. Perhaps it would give rise to a more in-depth discussion on the factors influencing the level of consumption.
The smaller drawbacks of the work include the use of relatively strong ratings in the description of the Moran index value (page 9, line 337). It seems that the obtained values ​​do not allow for such a fundamental assessment ("obvious spatial autocorelation") of the studied autocorrelation relationships. In addition, using quoted scientific publication numbers instead of authors' names in a literature review is quite burdensome for the reader. It is suggested to add the names of their authors to the source descriptions, in addition to the publication numbers.
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
The scholarship and logical progression predicated upon the posited suppositions are quite good. However, some of the underlying assumptions are potentially specious. For example, it states that "due to the unbalanced development of manufacturing agglomeration in the east, central and west regions of China, the effects of industrial agglormeration on residents' consumption vary across regions." However, the paper does not discuss the transportation density bottlenecks, such as from western inland to eastern coastal regions, thereby impacting consumption. Furthermore, the eastern coastal areas have, traditionally, received more Foreign Direct Investment than western inland areas, and Special Economic Zones have, historically, been concentrated in the eastern areas. This has stimulated development and consumption, as contrasted to "industrial agglomeration," which, in some cases, have led to empty cities (e.g., the classic case of Ordos).
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 4 Report
This manuscript has conducted a study about the effect of industrial agglomeration on residents’ consumption. This is a quite interesting topic. However, I have some concerns which need to be addressed before it can be accepted.
- Personally, I do not think that “Adopting a Spatial Perspective…” is suitable to be used as an attracting point in the title. Please reconsider it!
- Please polish and reorganize the language through the whole paper, especially pay attention to Section 1 and Section 2. There is no logic in many places.
- The citation format is incorrect, and the numbering should be placed at the end of the sentence.
- Figure 1, please add axis title and use thousands separator.
- The interpretation and discussion of the results are insufficient, while the section of Conclusions is too long.
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 3 Report
The response of the first author and co-authors is appreciated. Nice job on the revised paper.
Reviewer 4 Report
The authors have addressed all my concerns, it can be accepted for publication now.
