Abstract: The findings of the study of the strategy of the eastern region taking the lead in development are as follows: (1) the eastern region is ahead of other regions in the growth rate of total factor productivity, which relies mainly on the rapid increase of technical progress; (2) the strategy of the eastern region taking the lead in development can improve the total factor productivity by 0.83% annually, and improve the technical progress, pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency by 0.43%, 0.21% and 0.02% respectively; (3) the impact of the strategy has typical regional heterogeneity. Eight provinces have been able to benefit from this strategy and have achieved continual upgrading of their total factor productivity, with eight, seven and six provinces having achieved continual upgrading in technological progress, pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency respectively; (4) the strategy of the eastern region taking the lead in development can promote the total factor productivity through the relative increase of the proportion of foreign direct investment, the proportion of import and export and the degree of marketization, and the relative decline of energy consumption intensity and industrial proportion.

Key words: the strategy of the eastern region taking the lead in development; total factor productivity; propensity score matching—difference in differences method; regional heterogeneity