The Impact of Green Industrial Park Policies on Carbon Emissions under the Dual-Carbon Goals: Evidence from Prefecture-Level Cities in China
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62051/jc10tn07Keywords:
Green industrial park, carbon emission reduction, endogenous issues, difference-in-differences model, spatial spillover effects.Abstract
Traditional industrial parks (IPs) are characterized by high energy consumption, significant greenhouse gas emissions, and severe pollution, posing substantial pressure on achieving the dual goals of 'carbon peak and carbon neutrality' and the dual strategy of 'Beautiful China.' Therefore, it is imperative to explore the impact of the green low-carbon transformation of industrial parks, specifically the effects on the 'quantity' and 'quality' of carbon emissions in green industrial parks (GIPs). This study constructs a difference-in-differences (DID) model and a spatial difference-in-differences (SDID) model to analyze the impact of green industrial park policies on carbon emissions and carbon productivity in 277 prefecture-level cities from 2010 to 2021. The results indicate that the green industrial park policies significantly reduce urban carbon emissions while improving carbon productivity. To address endogeneity concerns, the study employs the data on the opening of Railways during the Republic of China era as an instrumental variable, ensuring the robustness of the results. Moreover, the study examines the heterogeneous effects of the policy and its mechanisms, finding significant differences in policy responses between resource-based cities and eastern cities. The policy achieves emission reduction and enhances carbon productivity through mechanisms such as improving energy efficiency, promoting innovation, and facilitating industrial agglomeration, and exhibits positive spatial spillover effects. The research provides empirical support and policy recommendations for China to achieve its 'dual carbon' goals.
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