Does FDI quality boost the city-level green total factor productivity in the Yangtze River Delta, China?

Huiying Zhou ()
Additional contact information
Huiying Zhou: Nanjing Agricultural University

The Annals of Regional Science, 2025, vol. 74, issue 3, No 18, 25 pages

Abstract: Abstract The transformation of developed urban agglomerations in developing countries hinges on the development of green economic performance, especially in the context of substantial foreign investment. Using panel data from 41 prefecture-level cities in the Yangtze River Delta from 2003 to 2018, this study explores the effects of foreign direct investment quantity (SFDI) and quality (QFDI) on green total factor productivity (GTFP) through a dynamic spatial Durbin model. The results show a positive relationship between QFDI and city-level GTFP, along with significant spatial spillover effects, suggesting that high-quality FDI contributes to GTFP growth in neighboring regions with comparable geographic and economic characteristics. Conversely, FDI quantity has negative spatial effects on GTFP in local cities. Decomposition of spatial effect further reveals that both SFDI and QFDI generate stronger long-term benefits for GTFP growth. Heterogeneity analysis with different regional GTFP reveals that the upgrading effect on GTFP of FDI (both SFDI and QFDI) is greater in cities with higher green total factor productivity. Finally, the relationship between FDI and GTFP exhibits a single threshold effect based on human capital and a double threshold effect based on R&D investment. Thus, enhancing FDI-GTFP synergy necessitates not only a strategic approach to FDI quality enhancement but also the establishment of balanced environmental regulations.

JEL-codes: D24 F21 Q51 R11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00168-025-01412-3 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:anresc:v:74:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s00168-025-01412-3

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://link.springer.com/journal/168

DOI: 10.1007/s00168-025-01412-3

Access Statistics for this article

The Annals of Regional Science is currently edited by Martin Andersson, E. Kim and Janet E. Kohlhase

More articles in The Annals of Regional Science from Springer, Western Regional Science Association Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().