The Determinants and Spatial Interaction of Regional Carbon Transfer: The Perspective of Dependence

Yatian Liu, Hongchang Li () and Qiming Wang
Additional contact information
Yatian Liu: School of Economics and Management, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China
Hongchang Li: School of Economics and Management, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China
Qiming Wang: School of Economics, Shanghai University, Shanghai 201900, China

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 7, 1-27

Abstract: Carbon transfer embodies the spatial redistribution of carbon emissions resulting from interregional economic activities and trade. In recent years, accelerated regional integration and deepening specialization within industrial chains have rendered traditional bilateral analytical frameworks inadequate for capturing the complexity of interregional carbon transfer networks. This evolving context necessitates the incorporation of spatial interaction effects to elucidate the multi-nodal and multi-pathway characteristics inherent in contemporary carbon transfer patterns. Based on the spatial interaction theoretical framework and a multiregional input–output (MRIO) model, we analyze the spatial dependence characteristics of interregional carbon transfer in China. The results reveal that interregional carbon transfer in China exhibited an upward trend from 2012 to 2017, demonstrating statistically significant positive origin dependence, destination dependence, and network dependence. The distance between regions exerts a significantly negative influence on interregional carbon transfer. Interregional carbon transfer is not merely a bilateral phenomenon; its fundamental nature is characterized as a network phenomenon. Our study demonstrates that precise regulation of the allocation of industrial land and transportation infrastructure land, strengthening the decisive role of market mechanisms in resource allocation for regional low-carbon development, and establishing interregional collaboration mechanisms for low-carbon exchange can effectively reduce the occurrence of interregional carbon transfer. These findings provide policymakers with more precise information to achieve equitable carbon emissions distribution across regions.

Keywords: carbon transfer; spatial interaction theoretical framework; spatial dependence; multiregional input–output model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/7/1327/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/7/1327/ (text/html)

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:gam:jlands:v:14:y:2025:i:7:p:1327-:d:1684755

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().