Abstract: Based on the data of China’s cities from 2003 to 2012, this paper makes use of the instrumental variable method and the threshold panel model to test the impact of financial aggregation on urban economic performance. The results show that the financial aggregation has been playing a significant role in promoting the urban economic performance and this effect has obvious features of the threshold effect. The cities whose economic gross has stepped over the threshold scale can improve their efficiency from better matching of the financial industry with other industries. The larger the urban economic gross, the stronger the promoting effect of financial aggregation on urban economic performance. Meanwhile, with the improvement of the level of financial aggregation, the earnings of financial aggregation is showing an inverted U-shape change, first rising then dropping. This indicates that the excessive financial aggregation will lead to information asymmetry and the rising of monitoring costs. Therefore, governments at all levels should focus on the appropriate degree of financial aggregation to match the urban scale and the economic gross.

Key words: financial aggregation; economic performance; instrumental variables; threshold effect; urban heterogeneity