Huang Qin, Su Zihan, Yu Jintao
School of Economics, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
School of Economics, Xihua University, Chengdu, China.
J Environ Manage. 2025 May;381:125247. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.125247. Epub 2025 Apr 9.
The low-carbon transition is a systemic change, and entrepreneurship, as an important driving force for unleashing the potential of social innovation and creation, is undergoing profound changes in the process. Based on China's low-carbon city pilot policy (LCCP), we systematically evaluated the entrepreneurial effect and mechanism of LCCP through a quasi-natural experiment. The study found that LCCP significantly promotes entrepreneurship, and this conclusion remains valid after a series of robustness tests. The mechanism analysis shows that technological innovation, talent agglomeration, industrial upgrading, and financing facilitation are important channels through which LCCP stimulates entrepreneurial vitality. Heterogeneity analysis found that LCCP' impact on entrepreneurship is more pronounced in southern regions and in cities with more advanced economies, higher carbon emissions, and less industrial specialization. Further research found that LCCP inhibits entrepreneurship in neighboring cities, but can curb the strategic relocation behavior of polluting enterprises. The research conclusions not only enrich the research on the social impacts of low-carbon transition, but also provide new ideas and perspectives for interregional environmental governance in China from a spatial perspective.
低碳转型是一种系统性变革，而创业作为释放社会创新创造潜力的重要驱动力，在此过程中正在经历深刻变革。基于中国低碳城市试点政策（LCCP），我们通过准自然实验系统评估了LCCP的创业效应及其机制。研究发现，LCCP显著促进了创业，且这一结论在一系列稳健性检验后依然成立。机制分析表明，技术创新、人才集聚、产业升级和融资便利化是LCCP激发创业活力的重要渠道。异质性分析发现，LCCP对创业的影响在南部地区以及经济更发达、碳排放更高、产业专业化程度更低的城市更为显著。进一步研究发现，LCCP抑制了邻近城市的创业，但能遏制污染企业的战略转移行为。研究结论不仅丰富了对低碳转型社会影响的研究，还从空间视角为中国区域间环境治理提供了新的思路和视角。
