Does the Urban Agglomeration Policy Reduce Energy Intensity? Evidence from China

Rui Ding, Tao Zhou (), Jian Yin, Yilin Zhang, Siwei Shen, Jun Fu, Linyu Du, Yiming Du and Shihui Chen
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Rui Ding: College of Big Data Application and Economics (Guiyang College of Big Data Finance), Guizhou University of Finance and Economics, Guiyang 550025, China
Tao Zhou: College of Big Data Application and Economics (Guiyang College of Big Data Finance), Guizhou University of Finance and Economics, Guiyang 550025, China
Jian Yin: West China Modernization Research Center, Guizhou University of Finance and Economics, Guiyang 550025, China
Yilin Zhang: College of Big Data Application and Economics (Guiyang College of Big Data Finance), Guizhou University of Finance and Economics, Guiyang 550025, China
Siwei Shen: College of Big Data Application and Economics (Guiyang College of Big Data Finance), Guizhou University of Finance and Economics, Guiyang 550025, China
Jun Fu: College of Big Data Application and Economics (Guiyang College of Big Data Finance), Guizhou University of Finance and Economics, Guiyang 550025, China
Linyu Du: College of Big Data Application and Economics (Guiyang College of Big Data Finance), Guizhou University of Finance and Economics, Guiyang 550025, China
Yiming Du: College of Big Data Application and Economics (Guiyang College of Big Data Finance), Guizhou University of Finance and Economics, Guiyang 550025, China
Shihui Chen: College of Big Data Application and Economics (Guiyang College of Big Data Finance), Guizhou University of Finance and Economics, Guiyang 550025, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 22, 1-20

Abstract: With the expansion of the scale of China’s economy and the acceleration of urbanization, energy consumption is increasing, and environmental degradation and other problems have arisen. In order to solve such prominent problems, China proposed the “carbon peak” and “carbon neutral” targets in 2020. Although there are research conclusions about the impact of urbanization on energy intensity ( EI ), conclusions about the impact of the urban agglomeration policy ( UAP ) on EI are still unclear. Therefore, the article studies the impact of the urban agglomeration policy on EI in 279 prefecture-level cities by constructing a Difference-In-Differences (DID) model and mediating effect model. The results show that UAP has a significant effect on reducing EI , but their effects are different with the impact of urban heterogeneity, and the urban agglomeration policy of “Core” cities is less effective than those of “Edge” cities. From the perspective of the influencing mechanism, UAP takes green innovation capability as the intermediary variable to influence EI . The placebo test, PSM-DID regression, counterfactual test, and instrumental variable method all reflect the robustness of the research conclusions. Based on this, the paper puts forward some suggestions for urban agglomeration planning and green technology innovation.

Keywords: the urban agglomeration policy; energy intensity; Difference-In-Differences model; the mediation mechanism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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