Effects of technology spillover on CO2 emissions in China: A threshold analysis

Technology spillover is crucial to achieving economic development while also reducing CO2 emissions. The success of diffusion depends critically upon advanced intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and the level of infrastructure. Several studies have discussed the relationship between technology spillover and CO2 emissions. However, very few studies have addressed the impacts of socio-economic factors, particularly IPR protection and transportation infrastructure (TI) (the two concepts that are directly related to technology spillover), on this relationship. Therefore, this study used an extended Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) model to explore the relationship between technology spillover and CO2 emissions in China from 1997 to 2018. The study accounted for two threshold variables (IPR protection and TI) in a threshold model to explore the nonlinear effect of technology spillover on CO2 emissions. The findings revealed that: (1) when the IPR protection value was below 8.169, different forms of technology spillover had an optimal effect on CO2 emission reduction; (2) the scale of TI construction should be moderate and below the threshold value; otherwise, greater environmental pressure would occur; and (3) threshold points varied geographically. The results indicated that the level of IPR protection and TI should be adapted to the regional development characteristics to promote economic development and minimize environmental impacts.