Exploring the Influence Mechanisms of New Quality Productive Forces on the High-Quality Development of the Sports Industry

Exploring the Influence Mechanisms of New Quality Productive Forces on the High-Quality Development of the Sports Industry | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Exploring the Influence Mechanisms of New Quality Productive Forces on the High-Quality Development of the Sports Industry Guo Shuqing, Lin Lixin, Yang Xiaoming This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8254915/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 7 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background This study investigates the linkage between the emergent category of new quality productive forces and the high-quality development trajectory of China’s sports industry. As innovation-oriented and technology-intensive productive elements increasingly redefine the drivers of industrial upgrading, they have become a pivotal mechanism shaping the restructuring of the sports industry. Nevertheless, systematic empirical research capable of elucidating their concrete developmental impacts remains insufficient, leaving the internal pathways through which these forces promote high-quality industrial outcomes largely underexamined. Methods Using panel data from 17 Chinese provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities covering the period 2014–2022, this research constructs two comprehensive analytical frameworks: one for evaluating new-quality productive forces (NQPF), characterized by new-type labor, labor objects, and labor materials, and another for assessing high-quality development in the sports industry, reflected in economic performance, social impact, and coordination level. Composite indices for both systems were generated using the entropy-weight method to capture their relative development status. To explore the relationship between NQPF and sports industry development, multiple empirical approaches were applied, including baseline regression, mediation testing, threshold analysis, and the Spatial Durbin Model (SDM) to account for spatial dependencies. Results The empirical analysis reveals that NQPF exert a statistically robust and positive influence on the high-quality development of the sports industry (β = 0.6601, p < 0.001). Further decomposition shows that this relationship operates partly through mediating mechanisms, in which technological innovation and the scale of sports-related enterprises serve as intermediate transmission channels. Among them, technological innovation constitutes the more substantial pathway, generating a mediating contribution of 0.2847. In addition, the level of regional economic development presents a single-threshold characteristic (threshold value = 9.0511); once this threshold is exceeded, the marginal contribution of NQPF rises by approximately 30.6%. Spatial econometric results further demonstrate that these productive forces are not confined to local effects: an incremental increase within a given province yields notable spatial spillovers, enhancing the high-quality development of adjacent regions by an estimated 0.2803 units. Conclusions NQPF constitute a fundamental driver of the sports industry's transition toward high-quality development. Their influence is manifested not only through their direct contribution to industrial upgrading, but also through the enhancement of technological innovation capabilities and the diffusion of positive effects across regional spaces. The results of this study thus offer conceptual grounding and empirical evidence that can inform policy formulation and strategic planning aimed at promoting the modernization and sustainable evolution of China’s sports industry. Physical sciences/Engineering Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences New Quality Productive Forces Sports Industry High-Quality Development Technological Innovation Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files SportsIndustryBulletinofEachProvince.xlsx SportsIndustryDataAfterConversion.xlsx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviews received at journal 06 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 18 Jan, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 16 Jan, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 26 Dec, 2025 Editor invited by journal 19 Dec, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 17 Dec, 2025 First submitted to journal 17 Dec, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8254915","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":576299008,"identity":"bdbb579f-43d9-418e-99a3-ec3f73384959","order_by":0,"name":"Guo Shuqing","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Physical Education College of Jiangxi Normal University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Guo","middleName":"","lastName":"Shuqing","suffix":""},{"id":576299010,"identity":"77f7f49e-7ed4-4c13-b2fc-4709c9f2e9d3","order_by":1,"name":"Lin Lixin","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Putian 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Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Nature AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"New Quality Productive Forces, Sports Industry, High-Quality Development, Technological Innovation","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8254915/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8254915/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003ch2\u003eBackground\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis study investigates the linkage between the emergent category of new quality productive forces and the high-quality development trajectory of China\u0026rsquo;s sports industry. As innovation-oriented and technology-intensive productive elements increasingly redefine the drivers of industrial upgrading, they have become a pivotal mechanism shaping the restructuring of the sports industry. Nevertheless, systematic empirical research capable of elucidating their concrete developmental impacts remains insufficient, leaving the internal pathways through which these forces promote high-quality industrial outcomes largely underexamined.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eMethods\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eUsing panel data from 17 Chinese provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities covering the period 2014\u0026ndash;2022, this research constructs two comprehensive analytical frameworks: one for evaluating new-quality productive forces (NQPF), characterized by new-type labor, labor objects, and labor materials, and another for assessing high-quality development in the sports industry, reflected in economic performance, social impact, and coordination level. Composite indices for both systems were generated using the entropy-weight method to capture their relative development status. To explore the relationship between NQPF and sports industry development, multiple empirical approaches were applied, including baseline regression, mediation testing, threshold analysis, and the Spatial Durbin Model (SDM) to account for spatial dependencies.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eResults\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe empirical analysis reveals that NQPF exert a statistically robust and positive influence on the high-quality development of the sports industry (β\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.6601, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001). Further decomposition shows that this relationship operates partly through mediating mechanisms, in which technological innovation and the scale of sports-related enterprises serve as intermediate transmission channels. Among them, technological innovation constitutes the more substantial pathway, generating a mediating contribution of 0.2847. In addition, the level of regional economic development presents a single-threshold characteristic (threshold value\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;9.0511); once this threshold is exceeded, the marginal contribution of NQPF rises by approximately 30.6%. Spatial econometric results further demonstrate that these productive forces are not confined to local effects: an incremental increase within a given province yields notable spatial spillovers, enhancing the high-quality development of adjacent regions by an estimated 0.2803 units.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eConclusions\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eNQPF constitute a fundamental driver of the sports industry's transition toward high-quality development. Their influence is manifested not only through their direct contribution to industrial upgrading, but also through the enhancement of technological innovation capabilities and the diffusion of positive effects across regional spaces. The results of this study thus offer conceptual grounding and empirical evidence that can inform policy formulation and strategic planning aimed at promoting the modernization and sustainable evolution of China\u0026rsquo;s sports industry.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Exploring the Influence Mechanisms of New Quality Productive Forces on the High-Quality Development of the Sports Industry","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-01-20 09:55:32","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8254915/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-03-07T00:54:02+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"268719248423284907280018735558241417947","date":"2026-01-18T13:17:07+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-01-16T11:32:20+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-12-26T07:26:50+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2025-12-19T08:55:55+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-12-17T16:16:26+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Humanities and Social Sciences Communications","date":"2025-12-17T16:00:11+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"humanities-and-social-sciences-communications","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"palcomms","sideBox":"Learn more about [Humanities \u0026 Social Sciences Communications](http://www.nature.com/palcomms/)","snPcode":"41599","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/41599/3","title":"Humanities and Social Sciences Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Nature AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"6542a479-8502-4314-bd2b-85f097692720","owner":[],"postedDate":"January 20th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":61317709,"name":"Physical sciences/Engineering"},{"id":61317710,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-01-20T09:55:32+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-01-20 09:55:32","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8254915","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8254915","identity":"rs-8254915","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}