School of Economics, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China.
School of Economics and Management, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, China.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Jun 30;19(13):8053. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19138053.
Carbon emissions have become a new threat to sustainable development in China, and local government actions can play an important role in energy conservation and emission reduction. This paper explores the theoretical mechanisms and transmission paths of economic growth targets affecting carbon emissions from the perspective of economic growth targets and conducts an empirical analysis based on 30 provincial panel data in China from 2003 to 2019. The results show that: economic growth targets are positively correlated with carbon emissions under a series of endogeneity and robustness; there are regional heterogeneity, target heterogeneity and structural heterogeneity in the impact of economic growth targets on carbon emissions; after economic growth targets are set, government actions can influence carbon emissions by affecting resource mismatch and industrial restructuring; It is further found that there is a "U" shaped relationship between economic pressure and carbon emissions. Based on the above findings, this paper further proposes that a high-quality performance assessment mechanism should be developed to bring into play the active role of local governments in achieving carbon reduction goals, and thus contribute to high-quality economic development.
碳排放已成为中国可持续发展的新威胁，地方政府的行动可以在节能减排方面发挥重要作用。本文从经济增长目标的角度探讨了经济增长目标影响碳排放的理论机制和传递路径，并基于 2003-2019 年中国 30 个省级面板数据进行了实证分析。结果表明：在一系列内生性和稳健性检验下，经济增长目标与碳排放呈正相关；经济增长目标对碳排放的影响存在区域异质性、目标异质性和结构异质性；在设定经济增长目标后，政府行为可以通过影响资源错配和产业结构调整来影响碳排放；进一步发现经济压力与碳排放之间存在“U”型关系。基于上述发现，本文进一步提出，应建立高质量的绩效评估机制，发挥地方政府在实现碳减排目标方面的积极作用，从而促进高质量的经济发展。
