The agricultural products processing industry agglomeration in Shandong Province: pattern and motivations

The processing of agricultural products serves as a crucial pillar of modernization in the agricultural sector and represents a vital component of the national economy. On the basis of systematically sorting out the policy drivers and evolution of the agglomeration development of the agricultural products processing industry, this study analyzes the agglomeration status of the agricultural products processing industry in Shandong Province using 2011–2022 Shandong municipal panel data. It then discusses in depth the driving factors of agricultural products processing industry agglomeration in Shandong Province from four aspects: resource endowment, digital finance level, agricultural products processing industry activity, and macro tax burden. This study finds that the agglomeration level of the agricultural products processing industry in Shandong Province exhibited a downward and then upward trend, whereas the number of agglomerations showed a downward trend. The resource endowment, digital finance level, and the agricultural products processing industry activity serve to promote the agglomeration of the agricultural products processing industry in Shandong Province. Conversely, the macro tax burden has an inhibitory effect on the agglomeration of the agricultural products processing industry in Shandong Province. Consequently, this study proposed a set of countermeasures and suggestions.