Agricultural Ecological Efficiency under the Carbon Emissions Trading System in China: A Spatial Difference-in-Difference Approach

Guoyong Wu, Yu Xie, Haoxin Li and Noman Riaz
Additional contact information
Guoyong Wu: China Center of Western Capacity Development Research, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
Yu Xie: School of Economics, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
Haoxin Li: School of Economics, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
Noman Riaz: School of Economics, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 8, 1-13

Abstract: The agriculture sector plays a significant role in the development of the national economy and providing raw materials to the industrial sector. Trying to get more agricultural productivity, most farmers ignored the adverse effects of agricultural chemicals or pesticides that have a negative impact on the environment. So, the importance of agricultural ecological efficiency needs to be understood. This study attempts to explore whether agriculture, as an important source of carbon dioxide production, can have an effective impact on the agricultural ecological efficiency of carbon trading pilot policies in the context of the global implementation of carbon trading. This study evaluated the agricultural ecological efficiency (AEE) and its spatial distribution characteristics of 31 provinces in China, the data period was from 2000 to 2018. By applying the spatial difference-in-difference (SDID) approach, the study investigates the effects of low-carbon policies on agricultural ecological efficiency in pilot areas. The results demonstrate that low-carbon trading pilot policies have a significant impact on agricultural ecological efficiency. At the same time, the effects of regional economic development, population growth, urbanization, and urban innovation on efficiency are also significant. The improvement of agricultural ecological efficiency requires not only the full implementation of low-carbon trading pilot policies but also the development of regional economy and high-quality agriculture. The findings provide further policy recommendations for high-quality agricultural development.

Keywords: agricultural ecological efficiency; non-expected output model; spatial difference-in-difference model; carbon emission trading (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/8/4707/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/8/4707/ (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:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:8:p:4707-:d:793982

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

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