Study of the Spillover Effect on Sport to Chinese Regional Economic Development

Sports development can lead to the emergence of external economies, which forms part of the spillover effects on regional economic growth under certain conditions. This study uses a sample of 31 provinces in China from 2008–2012 to construct a panel data model to examine the role of sports development in the regional economic growth in the C-D function. The results indicate that sports development indeed brings a good incentive effect to the economy in all areas, which suggests a spillover effect of Chinese sports development that stimulates regional economic growth, but this spillover effect reflects a greater difference between different regions. Overall, Hebei, Jiangxi, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, and Sichuan have the highest coefficient of sports investment on economy, but Jilin is relatively weak.