统一后德国区域政策转变与经济格局演化

Regional development imbalance is a common phenomenon worldwide. Strengthening the competitive advantage of economic growth poles and reducing income and employment gaps between regions are important areas of research in regional economic spatial governance. As a developed country that has achieved remarkable success in its economic development model, Germany's regional economic policies and the evolution of its economic landscape are of great significance for expanding the international perspective of China's regional coordinated development strategy and accumulating valuable experience. This study consolidates Germany's 16 federal states into six major regions, covering the period from 1991, after reunification, to 2020. It traces the transformation of regional economic policies in Germany after reunification, examines the patterns of regional economic development, and classifies the economic growth types of the six major regions during different phases using the deviation-share method. The study identifies the driving forces behind the economic growth of different regions and, finally, draws insights for China's regional economic development. The findings show that: Germany's regional economic policy underwent a marked shift following reunification, moving away from a capital-centric model toward an innovation-driven approach. It went through three major stages: resource transfer to the East, deepened development in the West, and the East's efforts to catch up with change. As a result, the economic gap between East and West narrowed, while the disparity between North and South expanded. The “intervention-feedback-adjustment” spiral evolutionary model has formed between policy and regional economic development, and regions that align with national policies achieve more favorable development. For China, the study suggests that policy formulation should aim for long-term developmental impact by strengthening synergy between government leadership and regional autonomy, seizing opportunities for path creation, and enhancing regional organizational capacity to build structural and competitive advantages.