Study on the Low Altitude Economy in the Construction of A Unified National Market

Abstract

This study examines how the low-altitude economy influences the construction of a national unified big market. Using panel data from 263 Chinese prefecture-level cities (2011–2022) and a multi-dimensional index system, results show that the low-altitude economy significantly promotes market integration, with stronger effects in the eastern region (0.352) than in the central (0.214) and western (0.186) regions. Intelligent logistics plays a key mediating role, accounting for 31.75% of the total effect; surpassing the index threshold of 0.2719 sharply boosts the marginal effect by 52.3%, especially in the east (82.3%). In regions with highly developed smart logistics, the manufacturing sector’s elasticity (0.703) exceeds that of agriculture (0.291) and services (0.384). Spatial spillover analysis reveals positive effects on neighboring regions (coefficient 0.203), most pronounced in city clusters. Policy recommendations include hierarchical development of the low-altitude economy, accelerating smart logistics infrastructure, targeted industrial support, cross-regional cooperation, and institutional innovation.