School of Business Administration, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110169, China.
School of Humanities and Law, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110167, China.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2023 Nov;30(53):114358-114374. doi: 10.1007/s11356-023-30320-2. Epub 2023 Oct 20.
The low-carbon city pilot policy (LCPP) in China is an active response to climate change, with cities serving as the main agents of action. Enhancing green innovation at a city-wide level can effectively support the promotion of pilot cities' efforts towards sustainable growth. Using panel data from 204 prefectures collected from 2005 to 2019, we adopted the time-varying difference-in-differences (DID) model and the spatial Durbin model combined with time-varying DID (SDM-DID) to determine the impact of the LCPP on urban green innovation and its temporal and spatial heterogeneity. Empirical findings showed that (1) LCPP had a significant positive impact on urban green innovation, and green invention patents had a greater green innovation effect than green utility model patents. (2) Heterogeneity analysis revealed that in terms of geographical location, the pilot policy was more effective in promoting urban green innovation in the eastern and central regions in comparison to the western region. At the city level, the pilot policy had a greater impact on green innovation in first- and second-tier cities. With regard to city scale, large-scale cities showed a greater impact on green innovation than small- and medium-sized cities. (3) Mechanistic testing revealed that LCPPs stimulated urban green innovation by talent aggregation, increasing government support for innovation, and public participation; but the mechanism for alleviating financing constraints has yet to be effectively validated. (4) The LCPP showed a spatial spillover effect, whereby one city's low-carbon governance yielded institutional dividends for neighboring cities both geographically and economically, and the impact was more pronounced in those cities that were not resource-based. This study presents empirical evidence at the urban and spatial levels, supporting the comprehensive promotion of low-carbon city construction and development in China.
中国低碳城市试点政策（LCPP）是应对气候变化的积极举措，城市是行动的主要主体。提高城市层面的绿色创新能力可以有效支持推动试点城市向可持续增长迈进。本文利用 2005 年至 2019 年收集的 204 个地级市的面板数据，采用时变双重差分（DID）模型和时空双重差分模型（SDM-DID）相结合的方法，确定了 LCPP 对城市绿色创新的影响及其时空异质性。实证结果表明：（1）LCPP 对城市绿色创新有显著的正向影响，绿色发明专利比绿色实用新型专利具有更大的绿色创新效应。（2）异质性分析表明，在地理位置方面，与西部地区相比，该试点政策在东部和中部地区更能促进城市绿色创新。在城市层面，该试点政策对一线城市和二线城市的绿色创新影响更大。在城市规模方面，大规模城市的绿色创新比中小城市的影响更大。（3）机制检验表明，LCPP 通过人才聚集、增加政府创新支持和公众参与来刺激城市绿色创新；但缓解融资约束的机制尚未得到有效验证。（4）LCPP 表现出空间溢出效应，一个城市的低碳治理为地理上和经济上相邻的城市带来了制度红利，而对于非资源型城市的影响更为显著。本研究在城市和空间层面提供了经验证据，支持中国全面推进低碳城市建设和发展。
