Can regional integration reduce carbon intensity? Evidence from city cluster in China

Yi Feng (), Diyun Peng (), Yafei Li () and Shuai Liu ()
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Yi Feng: Nanchang University
Diyun Peng: Nanchang University
Yafei Li: Peking University
Shuai Liu: National Academy of Economic Strategy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, 2024, vol. 26, issue 2, No 96, 5249-5274

Abstract: Abstract The free flow of factors resulting from regional integration affects not only economic and social activities between cities, but also climate and environmental changes. Under the goal of sustainable development, regional integration as a policy pathway to lower carbon intensity has rarely been clarified. In light of this, using panel data of 279 prefecture-level cities in China from 2006 to 2019, this paper treats city cluster planning as a quasi-natural experiment of regional integration and aims to discuss the impact and mechanism of regional integration on carbon intensity through difference-in-differences (DID) method, mediating effect model and moderating effect model. The following results are reached: (1) The implementation of regional integration policy effectively reduces carbon intensity, and the conclusion still holds after a series of robustness tests. (2) Total factor productivity (TFP) is the mediator of regional integration to reduce carbon intensity, and population density, technological innovation and industrial upgrading are the moderators. (3) The effect of regional integration in reducing carbon intensity varies from city location and city features. The proposed theoretical framework of regional integration affecting carbon intensity, containing mediator and moderators, not only enriches the theoretical research in the field of environment and region, but also provides a new policy path for exploring sustainable development. Therefore, it is necessary to build urban agglomerations integrating the concepts of green, low carbon, intensive and efficient.

Keywords: Regional integration; Carbon intensity; City cluster; Difference-in-differences method; Sustainable development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1007/s10668-023-02932-8

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