Does Financial Agglomeration Enhance Urban Economic Resilience? Evidence from Chinese Cities

Amidst escalating global economic instability, urban economic resilience has emerged as a fundamental pillar for sustainable urban development. Using a dataset of 280 prefecture-level cities in China from 2008 to 2021, this study examines the impact of financial agglomeration on urban economic resilience. The entropy weight approach is used to measure urban economic resilience. The main empirical results show that financial agglomeration has a statistically significant positive impact on urban economic resilience, mainly through two mediating channels: the promotion of technical innovation and the optimization of the industrial structure. The beneficial effects of financial agglomeration increase with city size, according to a threshold effect analysis, giving urban sustainable development a stronger boost. Furthermore, compared to resource-based cities, cities in the central and western regions, and cities with low levels of digital finance development, this promotional effect is much more noticeable in non-resource-based cities, cities in the eastern regions, and cities with a high degree of digital finance development. This study underscores the pivotal influence of financial clustering on reinforcing urban economic robustness, offering policy recommendations for fostering sustainable growth and urban development.