Search

This study systematically analyses the nonlinear relationship between China's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) and reverse green technological progress (RGTP) using fixed effects (FE) model based on panel data for 31 Chinese provinces from 2001 to 2020. We find that the link between China's OFDI and RGTP is an inverted U-shaped curve. In addition, environmental regulation and technology gaps all reduce the height of the inverted U-shaped inflection point. Environmental regulation prolongs the "climb" stage while technology gaps compress the "climb" stage of the inverted U-curve relationship significantly. This result is verified in further robustness tests. The four transmission mechanisms of China's OFDI on RGTP play a positive role: these findings may help policymakers to design more flexible and effective OFDI policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The total amount of carbon emissions is limited by a fixed-sum constraint in the context of China's dual carbon target, a factor ignored in previous studies on carbon productivity. To address this gap, this study proposes a bootstrapped Malmquist-Luenberger productivity index approach with fixed-sum undesirable outputs. The proposed method not only considers the fixed-sum feature of undesirable outputs; it also reduces the calculation error caused by small samples and improves the accuracy of the measurement. We then apply the proposed approach to measure the carbon productivity growth of the thermal power industry in 30 provincial regions in China from 2011 to 2020 and analyze the driving forces of carbon productivity growth. The empirical results show that during the study period, China's overall carbon productivity increased with an annual average growth rate of 0.61 % due to CO 2 emission efficiency improvement and technological progress. Additionally, 18 provincial thermal power industries had average carbon productivity growth rates between 0.06 % and 4.86 %, while the remaining 12 provinces showed carbon productivity declines at rates ranging from 0.03 % to 2.90 %. The driving forces of such growth differ among the 30 provinces. Policy suggestions are given for improving the carbon productivity of China's thermal power industry. • This study proposes a novel Malmquist-Luenberger productivity index approach. • The proposed approach considers the fixed-sum CO 2 emission constraint. • The proposed approach integrates the bootstrap technique. • We measure the carbon productivity growth of China's thermal power industry. • Targeted countermeasures are provided to improve the carbon productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green energy transition from fossil fuels to wind and solar is inevitably driven by environmental and climate policy. How the emission trading scheme (ETS) influences energy transition in China deserves to be analyzed in the context of carbon neutrality. This study analyzes the impact of ETS on neutral and biased technological progress of China's power generation sector by decomposing the power sector by generation technology in a translog cost function. It then analyzes how the ETS pilot policy brings about biased technological progress between different generation technologies using difference-in-differences and synthetic control methods. The results show that ETS pilot policy contributes to green energy transition by bringing about neutral technological progress of China's power generation sector, utilization rate decrease of thermal power capacity and stimulating generation units' upgradation of the thermal power sector. Although China's energy transition is remarked by substitution of thermal power sector with variable renewable energy sector, there is no evidence that ETS pilot policy has contributed to this trend. However, it inhibits innovation of variable renewable energy in pilot regions. It is necessary for the government to take measures to strengthen ETS policies' impact on energy transition through supporting innovation and expansion of the VRE sector. • ETS pilot policy leads to neutral technological progress of power sector in China. • ETS is biased to save input cost of solar and wind power generation. • ETS stimulates investment and upgradation of thermal power generation sector. • Pilot regions with higher carbon prices are inhibited in green innovation due to profit loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2020, China pledged at the United Nations General Assembly to achieve carbon peaking by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060, and so far, China has made remarkable achievements in actively realizing carbon emission reduction and maintaining the international ecological environment. Among them, the role played by the technological progress bias of different elements is worth paying attention to. In addition, according to the current situation of energy consumption in China, based on the capital-labor technological progress bias, considering the introduction of the direction of technological progress of the energy factor plays a key role in analyzing the carbon productivity of China. This study utilizes panel regression to explore the paths and effects of capital-labor and factor-augmenting technological progress biases on carbon productivity. We also closely examine the regional heterogeneity and spatial spillover effects of technological progress biases. This study is based on inter-provincial panel information from China from 2006 to 2020. The study found that: (1) When the technological progress bias favors the capital factor among capital and labor, it will significantly increase the level of carbon productivity; The introduction of energy factor innovations,energy-enhanced technological progress, base on the technological progress bias of capital and labor will significantly reduce the level of carbon productivity. (2) Through the threshold model analysis, it is found that there is a nonlinear effect of technological progress bias on carbon productivity. Among them, in capital-biased and energy-enhanced provinces, the impact of capital-technology progress bias on carbon productivity shows an inverted "U" trend of first increasing and then decreasing. (3) In capital-labor technological progress, when technological progress is biased toward capital, it will significantly increase carbon productivity in the Northeast, East and West regions, while the opposite is true in the Central region, and the spillover effect of capital-labor technological progress is not significant; energy-enhanced technological progress bias has a negative impact on carbon productivity in all four major regions, and there is a significant spillover effect in all four major regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The green effect of urban agglomeration spatial structure was explored. • Monocentricity in urban agglomerations is not conducive to improving GDE. • The improvement of GDE mainly comes from technological progress. • The influence of urban agglomeration spatial structure on GDE has significant heterogeneity. • Monocentricity in urban agglomerations will widen the gap between inter-group GDE. Increasing attention has been paid to optimizing the spatial structure of urban areas and transitioning them toward green development. Quantitatively analyzing the influence of spatial structure on green development efficiency (GDE) can help solve scientific problems related to urban agglomerations (UAs). Using panel data for 19 UAs in China from 2007 to 2020, this study investigates spatial structure's effect on GDE based on the spatial structure morphology dimension and constructs a mechanism based on technological progress. Considering variance in GDE growth among clusters, the effect of spatial structure on the GDE gap between UAs is examined in terms of unbalanced growth. The results indicate that: (1) A negative correlation exists between the monocentric UA spatial structure and GDE. (2) Technological progress is the main mechanism, while efficiency improvement does not show a significant path. (3) Increased monocentricity will widen the gap in intergroup GDE. These findings can help inform coordinated regional green development in terms of urban planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ever-changing global economy and sudden global public health events have posed challenges to financial resilience worldwide. As its important role in maintaining domestic economic stability, safeguarding national security, and enhancing international status, financial resilience has long been widely studied. However, few studies have empirically explored how technological progress affects financial resilience. Based on data from 30 provinces in China, this study adopts a panel two-way fixed effect model to identify the impact of technological progress on financial resilience and the underlying mechanisms. Results show that technological progress can significantly enhance financial resilience, and this impact is stronger in provinces with large population size, high employment proportion in the tertiary sector, high social consumption capacity, and provinces located in Central China. Further, technological progress have a positive impact on financial resilience through increased asset liquidity and government intervention. • Technological progress can significantly promote financial resilience. • This impact has heterogenetiy in provinces with different population, employment, consumption and geographical location. • Technological progress can enhance financial resilience through increased asset liquidity and government intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Calculate the land ecological security (LES) index at the city level. • Analyze the relationship between green finance (GF) and LES. • Synthetic DID is applied to assess the impact of the GF on LES. • Examine the transmission mechanisms of GF effects on LES As the phenomenon of ecological degradation increases, there is a growing body of research related to green finance, but no papers evaluating the link between it and land ecological security. Thus, this research calculates land ecological security using data from 158 cities in China's major grain-producing regions from 2012 to 2020. Taking China's green finance policy as an example, it applies the synthetic difference-in-difference method to analyze green finance's impact on land ecological security. The conclusions show that, first, green financial policy implementation has contributed to the improvement of land ecological security by 0.154 units. This result still holds after a series of robustness tests such as parallel trend tests, dynamic effects tests, and placebo tests. Second, mechanism analysis finds that green finance affects land ecological security through three paths: agricultural scale management, agricultural technological progress, and eco-industrialization. Third, in terms of the sub-dimension of eco-industrialization, green finance promotes domestic tourism revenues, agriculture, forestry, and animal husbandry, while its impact on international tourism revenues and fisheries is not significant. The results herein confirm the role of green finance in securing ecological security of land. Future research will further enrich the indicator system of land ecological security as well as excavate the boundary conditions for green finance in order to promote land ecological security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transport infrastructure is an important source of carbon emissions, and different transport infrastructure have varying impacts on urban carbon emissions, which has been lacking in previous research. This study selects 273 cities in China from 2005 to 2020 and applied the spatial Durbin model and mediation effect model to empirically examine the direct impact effects, spatial spillover effects, scale and regional heterogeneity, and indirect pathways of highways, high-speed railways, and urban rail on urban carbon emissions. The results shows that: (1) Overall, high-speed railways have a significant reducing effect on carbon emissions, while highways and urban rail have the opposite effect. (2) Considering spatial spillover effects, highways and high-speed railways can promote carbon emissions reduction in neighboring areas, while urban rail has the opposite effect. (3) For scale heterogeneity, urban rail can reduce carbon emissions in mega-cities, while highways and high-speed railways have the opposite effect. For regional heterogeneity, all three types of transport infrastructure can reduce carbon emissions in western cities, but increase urban carbon emissions in eastern and central regions. (4) Industrial upgrading, technological progress, and population agglomeration are all pathways through which transport infrastructure indirectly affects carbon emissions, but their effects vary for different transport infrastructure. • Urban rail can reduce carbon emissions in mega-cities, while highways and high-speed railways have the opposite effect. • Transportation infrastructure has a significant spatial spillover effect on urban carbon emissions. • Transportation infrastructure has significant differences in carbon emissions across cities of different scales and regions. • The indirect impact path is industrial structure upgrading, technological progress, and population agglomeration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a zero-carbon energy, hydrogen energy is widey recognized as playing an important role in reducing carbon emissions and addressing climate change. Considering the resource and industrial conditions in China, the coal-to-hydrogen coupled with carbon capture and storage (CTHCCS) may be a necessary choice in the early stage of low-carbon hydrogen energy development. This study used real option models to analyze the investment benefits of the representative CTHCCS technology at the national and regional levels in the current and future development scenarios in China, and discusses the impact of uncertainties in carbon price, technological progress, and policy incentives on the CTHCCS investment. The results show that (1) The opportunity for immediate investment in the CTHCCS is not available in China unless the cost of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology decreases and the carbon price increases significantly. (2) The current CTHCCS investment critical carbon price is 353.3 RMB/t, which will decrease by 45.0%, 73.9% and 57.3% when using the initial investment subsidy, carbon emission reduction subsidy and clean fuel subsidy, respectively. (3) The CTHCCS presents a relatively high investment benefit in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Shaanxi, highlighting that these areas are key pioneers for "blue hydrogen" production in China. • The real option model is used to evaluate investment decisions for CTHCCS projects. • Uncertainty of carbon price, technology progress and policy subsidy are considered. • Carbon price of 353.3 RMB/t could trigger immediate investment for CTHCCS projects. • Policy incentives lead to a 45–74 % reduction in the CTHCCS critical carbon price. • Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia could be priority areas for blue hydrogen production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial Intelligence (AI), as the core driving force of industrial and technological innovation, has brought technological advances that profoundly affect energy conservation and carbon emission reduction in China. This study constructs a dynamic spatial Durbin model to empirically analyze AI's mechanism path using Chinese inter-provincial panel data as a sample. The findings show the following: (1) Spatial and temporal variations exist in AI development levels and energy conservation and carbon emission reduction. (2) AI has a significant negative impact on energy consumption efficiency and a significant negative spatial spillover effect on carbon emission efficiency, and the effects of AI development level on energy conservation and carbon emission reduction are mainly dominated short term. (3) Green technological progress on both the input and output sides has not played a determinant role in the effects of AI on energy conservation and carbon emission reduction. (4) Given the moderating effect of the degree of factor market development, the improvement of green technological advances can play a positive role in the impact of AI on energy and carbon reduction. These findings suggest the need to provide policy support for energy conservation and carbon emission reduction by improving the spatial and regional linkage mechanism to narrow spatial and temporal differences in development levels, formulating AI policies addressing regional heterogeneity to promote the full transformation of AI's short-term effects into long-term effects as well as emphasizing the negative role of green technological advances and accelerating the transformation of green technological achievements, among other measures. [Display omitted] • A dynamic indicator system for regional AI development in China is constructed. • AI effects on energy conservation and emission reduction are explored. • A dynamic spatial Durbin model shows regional and temporal heterogeneity. • Green technological progress has negative effects that should be emphasized. • Mature market element development can realize the positive green effects of AI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's oil prices have been supervision for a long time, which has led to oil price distortion (OPD) to some extent. To figure out whether OPD will impede the sustainability of energy, economy, and environment (measured by green economic efficiency (GEE)), this research first estimates OPD from 2003 to 2019. Then, using a non-radial direction distance function under nonconvex technology assumptions, this research calculates the provincial GEE by incorporating capital, labor, energy, and environment efficiencies into a unified framework. Furthermore, the OPD-GEE nexus and their influencing channels are analyzed using the spatial Durbin model. The results indicate that there are serious OPD and the average GEE in the transportation is relatively low. Local OPD correction can improve local GEE but OPD correction in spatially related regions will cause local GEE loss. The heterogeneity analysis implies that the GEE promotion effect resulting from local OPD correction is greater in oil-rich regions, new energy vehicle pilot regions, and regions with water transport. Furthermore, the mechanism analysis implies that OPD correction can improve local GEE through optimizing energy structure, mitigating resource mismatch, and promoting green technological progress; meanwhile, OPD correction in spatially adjacent regions can cause local GEE losses by exacerbating their resource mismatch. This study offers a new understanding of the impact of OPD on GEE and contributes to the promotion of sustainable development through market-oriented price reforms. [Display omitted] • Oil price distortions from 2003 to 2019 in China are estimated. • Green economic efficiency in the transportation is explored via a unified framework. • The effect of oil price distortion on green economic efficiency is explored. • We reveal the impact channels of oil price distortion on green economic efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study introduces three production technology shocks (Energy manufactures, Brown enterprises, and Green enterprises) by constructing different models, namely, the environment sector (baseline) model, the carbon emissions trading scheme (ETS) model, and the carbon emissions rights trading mechanism. The fluctuation trend of China's macroeconomic and environmental quality before and after the establishment of carbon market is compared and analyzed. Additionally, the study examines the welfare of the implementation of carbon market policies. The carbon trading market policy can promote the synergistic efficiency of China's pollution reduction and carbon reduction using energy and green production technologies. From the perspective of social welfare, the optimal range of the initial carbon quota ratio issued by the government to enterprises is [0.7,0.8]. The findings of this study provide theoretical support and contribute toward understanding the impact mechanisms of carbon market and technological progress on synergizing the reduction of pollution and carbon emissions in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we assess the sustainability of the electricity sector and explore the correlation between government environmental policies and the sector's sustainability. We find that at the national level, the sustainability of the electricity sector has exhibited a notable upward trend in recent years. However, this trend has not been evenly distributed across different regions of the country. Second, government environmental policies have a significant positive impact on promoting the sustainability of the electricity sector. Third, the impact of government environmental policies on the sustainability of the electricity sector is more pronounced in the western region of China. • We explore the impact of government environmental policy on the sustainability of China's electricity sector. • Government environmental policies can significantly promote the sustainability of China's electricity sector. • Technological progress is an effective channel between government environmental policies and the sustainability of the electricity sector. • The sustainability of the electricity sector is most significantly impacted by the environmental policies of the government in western China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green transformation is currently a major challenge for both developed and developing economies, while the role of environmental insurance (EI) in green productivity in developing economies remains unclear. Using firm-level data from Chinese A-shape listed companies, this study investigates the relationship between EI on green total factor productivity (GTFP) along the period 2010–2019. To do so, a slack-based measurement model integrated with Global Malmquist-Luenberger approach (SBM-GML) is applied in GTFP calculation, and then a time-varying difference-in-difference (DID) setup is employed for empirical analysis, as well as its combination with propensity score matching method (PSM-DID) to overcome the sample self-selection bias. We find that EI significantly promotes firm's GTFP by about 0.22 units, which is mainly driven by the improvement of technical efficiency rather than technological progress. Further analysis exploring channels suggests that EI promotes GTFP by alleviating financing constraints and stimulating green innovation. However, the heterogeneity analysis shows that both financing constraint mechanism and technological innovation mechanism are mainly observed in heavily polluting and non-state-owned enterprises (non-SOEs). Our findings provide a new insight for policy-makers that utilizing environmental insurance can promote green productivity, but which should be focused more on those enterprises who are difficult to absorb external financing and technological innovation resources. • The relationship between EI and GTFP in the context of China was investigated for the first time. • The promoting effect of EI on GTFP is mainly reflected in the improvement of technical efficiency. • EI promotes GTFP by alleviating financing constraints and simulating technological innovation. • Both financing constraints and technological innovation mechanisms exist in non-SOEs and heavily polluting enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As cities face escalating resource and environmental challenges, advancing green economic performance (GEP) emerges as a critical pathway for sustainable urban development. While China's urban new energy transition strategy presents a promising paradigm shift in the realm of green energy, there exists a knowledge gap regarding its tangible impact on green economic grown. Drawing on city-level panel data from 2006 to 2020, this research assesses the GEP of 260 Chinese cities utilizing the non-radial distance function methodology. Subsequently, the difference-in-differences method is applied to offer quasi-experimental insights into the effects of the New Energy Demonstration City (NEDC) policy on urban GEP. Our findings indicate that the NEDC policy has both economically and statistically significant ramifications for urban GEP, leading to an enhancement effect of approximately 2.0 %. This outcome remains consistent even after rigorous robustness checks. A heterogeneity analysis reveals that the NEDC policy exerts a more pronounced influence on the GEP of central, western, and non-resource cities. Mechanism analysis suggests that the positive policy effect is primarily driven by the advancement of technological innovation, industrial upgrading, and green finance development. The NEDC policy holds the potential for a symbiotic balance between environmental and economic outcomes, setting a precedent for urban green growth. • The impacts of New Energy Demonstration City policy are evaluated. • Use the non-radial distance function method to calculate green economy performance. • The NEDC policy improves urban green economy performance by a significant 2.0 %. • Three specific impact mechanisms are proposed and quantitatively analyzed. • The policy impacts vary greatly among cities with different characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimizing the green use efficiency of cultivated land in the karst region of southwest China is crucial for promoting sustainable development of land resources and achieving harmony between humans and nature. Based on the epsilon-based measure model and geographically and temporally weighted regression methods, this paper investigated the spatio-temporal variation and influencing factors of cultivated land green utilization efficiency. The results indicated that: i) Cultivated land green utilization efficiency had slightly increased from 0.842 in 2000 to 0.866 in 2020. ii) The spatial pattern of cultivated land green utilization efficiency showed a significant positive correlation, with a "hotspot-not significant-coldspot" from north to south. iii) Its spatial heterogeneity had increased during the observation period, with high-efficiency areas shifting from northeast to north. iv) The proportion of agricultural economy, general public budget revenue, per unit cultivated land value had a positive impact on the cultivated land green utilization efficiency, while urbanization rate, per capita cultivated land area, land replanting index, average altitude had a negative impact. Moreover, the driving factors exhibited significant spatiotemporal heterogeneity. Therefore, it is necessary to promote technological progress and scientific research, implement funds and policies, leverage the leading role of high-efficiency areas, formulate differentiated development strategies, and thereby improve the green use efficiency of cultivated land. • Cultivated land green utilization efficiency had slightly increased. • The high-efficiency area distribution changed from northeast to due north. • The driving factors exhibited significant spatiotemporal heterogeneity. • The differentiated policies promote the effective use of cultivated land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the deepening of economic globalization and regional economic integration, as well as the emergence of "black swan" events such as the novel coronavirus epidemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, marine fisheries is increasingly linked to national strategic interests and economic lifeblood. Under the new situation, it is necessary to explore the synergistic evolution of marine fisheries economic development, environmental protection and fisheries technological progress, so as to help the sustainable and healthy development of marine fisheries. Based on the panel data of 11 coastal provinces and cities in China, from 2006 to 2020, this study constructs an integrated framework of a marine fisheries economy–environment–technology system and utilizes methods such as entropy method, Tapio decoupling index, coupling coordination degree model, and panel vector autoregressive model to analyze its comprehensive development, collaborative evolution, and dynamic correlation mechanism. Results show the following: (1) The comprehensive development index of the fisheries economy and technology subsystems was generally on the rise, but that of the marine environment subsystem was on the decline and fluctuating. (2) The development of the marine fisheries economy–technology subsystem was relatively coordinated, but the decoupling of marine environment from fisheries economy and technology was relatively obvious. The three marine fisheries subsystems reached reluctant coordination, but most of the regions shifted from being driven by economy–environment coupling to leading by economy–technology coupling, which indicates that the deteriorating marine environment hindered the marine fisheries system from achieving high-level coordinated symbiosis. (3) The three marine fisheries subsystems possessed self-reinforcing mechanisms, but the positive effect was relatively limited in long-term development. Moreover, the marine fisheries environment subsystem has yet to achieve sustainable and benign interaction with the economy and technology subsystems. Therefore, it is urgent to take quality and efficiency improvement as the core, facilitating the leap of marine fisheries economy, adopt green environmental protection as the key, consolidating the bearing foundation of marine environment, and employ scientific innovation as the sail, effectively playing the leading role of fisheries technology. • Continuous deterioration of the marine environment were the main reasons hindering the marine fisheries system from achieving high-level coordinated symbiosis. • There is positive interaction between the development of the marine fisheries economy and marine fisheries technological progress. • The marine fisheries environment subsystem did not achieve sustainable and benign interaction with the economy and technology subsystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]