The Impact of Sustainable Regional Development Policy on Carbon Emissions: Evidence from Yangtze River Delta of China
Urban agglomerations are becoming an increasingly important factor in advancing regional development and reshaping a new pattern of regional competition. However, few studies are focused on the impact of expanding urban agglomerations on reducing carbon emissions and its possible mechanism. Based on...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Energies |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/24/9492 |
| _version_ | 1797459608155979776 |
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| author | Jinxing Hu Cuiying Shao Zhaolong Zhang |
| author_facet | Jinxing Hu Cuiying Shao Zhaolong Zhang |
| author_sort | Jinxing Hu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Urban agglomerations are becoming an increasingly important factor in advancing regional development and reshaping a new pattern of regional competition. However, few studies are focused on the impact of expanding urban agglomerations on reducing carbon emissions and its possible mechanism. Based on 285 city-level panel data from 2006 to 2017, this paper uses a staggered Difference-in-Differences (DID) model to explore the reduction effect and its possible mechanism of sustainable regional development policy, characterized by urban agglomeration expansion policy in the Yangtze River Delta, on carbon emissions with policy shocks in 2010 and 2013. The results are as follows: (1) The urban agglomeration expansion policy shows a significant marginal contribution to the reduction of carbon emissions, especially for the later joined (new) cities, and the reduction effect is particularly significant in the first and third years after the expansion, indicating that there are significant short-term and long-term reduction effects of the expansion policy. (2) The heterogeneities of reduction effect among three provinces are significant. Zhejiang Province enjoys the largest proportion carbon emission reduction effect, followed by Anhui and Jiangsu provinces. To be specific, urban agglomeration expansion in Zhejiang Province reduced carbon emissions and carbon emissions intensity in the overall, incumbent cities and new cities, while it only increased the total carbon emissions of the incumbent cities in Jiangsu province. (3) The heterogeneities of reduction effect brought by 2010 and 2013 are also significant. The urban agglomeration expansion policy in 2010 reduced carbon emissions on the whole cities and the incumbent cities with later joined cities excluded, while it had a significant reduction effect on the total, incumbent cities, and the new cities in 2013. (4) There are two possible mechanisms of this reduction effect. One is the strengthening of economic ties and enhanced environmental synergy between governments, called the market integration mechanism, which only has a significant effect on carbon emission reduction in the incumbent cities. Another is through the upgrade of the structure of regional industries, which has a significant effect in both the incumbent and new cities. These findings suggest that when formulating urban agglomerations polices, governments must take into account the carbon emissions effect, and advance the upgrading of industrial structure in the urban agglomeration. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:53:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-719c81424d9a43c7b191531a1b5253bf |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1073 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:53:49Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energies |
| spelling | doaj.art-719c81424d9a43c7b191531a1b5253bf2023-11-24T14:37:51ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732022-12-011524949210.3390/en15249492The Impact of Sustainable Regional Development Policy on Carbon Emissions: Evidence from Yangtze River Delta of ChinaJinxing Hu0Cuiying Shao1Zhaolong Zhang2Faculty of Economics and Management, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, ChinaSchool of International Relations & Public Affairs, Fudan University, Shanghai 200062, ChinaFaculty of Economics and Management, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, ChinaUrban agglomerations are becoming an increasingly important factor in advancing regional development and reshaping a new pattern of regional competition. However, few studies are focused on the impact of expanding urban agglomerations on reducing carbon emissions and its possible mechanism. Based on 285 city-level panel data from 2006 to 2017, this paper uses a staggered Difference-in-Differences (DID) model to explore the reduction effect and its possible mechanism of sustainable regional development policy, characterized by urban agglomeration expansion policy in the Yangtze River Delta, on carbon emissions with policy shocks in 2010 and 2013. The results are as follows: (1) The urban agglomeration expansion policy shows a significant marginal contribution to the reduction of carbon emissions, especially for the later joined (new) cities, and the reduction effect is particularly significant in the first and third years after the expansion, indicating that there are significant short-term and long-term reduction effects of the expansion policy. (2) The heterogeneities of reduction effect among three provinces are significant. Zhejiang Province enjoys the largest proportion carbon emission reduction effect, followed by Anhui and Jiangsu provinces. To be specific, urban agglomeration expansion in Zhejiang Province reduced carbon emissions and carbon emissions intensity in the overall, incumbent cities and new cities, while it only increased the total carbon emissions of the incumbent cities in Jiangsu province. (3) The heterogeneities of reduction effect brought by 2010 and 2013 are also significant. The urban agglomeration expansion policy in 2010 reduced carbon emissions on the whole cities and the incumbent cities with later joined cities excluded, while it had a significant reduction effect on the total, incumbent cities, and the new cities in 2013. (4) There are two possible mechanisms of this reduction effect. One is the strengthening of economic ties and enhanced environmental synergy between governments, called the market integration mechanism, which only has a significant effect on carbon emission reduction in the incumbent cities. Another is through the upgrade of the structure of regional industries, which has a significant effect in both the incumbent and new cities. These findings suggest that when formulating urban agglomerations polices, governments must take into account the carbon emissions effect, and advance the upgrading of industrial structure in the urban agglomeration.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/24/9492urban agglomeration expansion policycarbon emissiongreen economysustainable regional developmentYangtze River Delta |
| spellingShingle | Jinxing Hu Cuiying Shao Zhaolong Zhang The Impact of Sustainable Regional Development Policy on Carbon Emissions: Evidence from Yangtze River Delta of China Energies urban agglomeration expansion policy carbon emission green economy sustainable regional development Yangtze River Delta |
| title | The Impact of Sustainable Regional Development Policy on Carbon Emissions: Evidence from Yangtze River Delta of China |
| title_full | The Impact of Sustainable Regional Development Policy on Carbon Emissions: Evidence from Yangtze River Delta of China |
| title_fullStr | The Impact of Sustainable Regional Development Policy on Carbon Emissions: Evidence from Yangtze River Delta of China |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Impact of Sustainable Regional Development Policy on Carbon Emissions: Evidence from Yangtze River Delta of China |
| title_short | The Impact of Sustainable Regional Development Policy on Carbon Emissions: Evidence from Yangtze River Delta of China |
| title_sort | impact of sustainable regional development policy on carbon emissions evidence from yangtze river delta of china |
| topic | urban agglomeration expansion policy carbon emission green economy sustainable regional development Yangtze River Delta |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/24/9492 |
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