Do the Chinese Government’s Efforts to Make a Low-Carbon Industrial Transition Hinder or Promote the Economic Development? Evidence from Low-Carbon Industrial Parks Pilot Policy

Zhengbo Li, Feng Deng (), Qiaoqiao Zhu, Li Cao and Yunyan Jiang
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Zhengbo Li: School of Economics and Management, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, China
Feng Deng: School of Economics and Management, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, China
Qiaoqiao Zhu: School of Economics and Management, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, China
Li Cao: School of Economics and Management, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, China
Yunyan Jiang: School of Economics and Management, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-20

Abstract: Under the background of “peak carbon dioxide emissions” and “carbon neutrality” strategy, it is urgent to explore whether China’s great efforts to continuously promote industrial low-carbon transition can promote high-quality economic development. Taking the implementation of low-carbon industrial parks pilot policy (LIPPP) as a “quasi-natural experiment”, this paper tries to answer this question. The results show that the LIPPP doesn’t significantly promote the sustainable-oriented high-quality development (SHD) of the economy, but mainly boosts the value-oriented high-quality development (VHD), which is characterized by being obviously biased towards the technological progress. The policy effect is more obvious in the central region and cities with a relatively poor natural resource endowment. The mechanism analysis shows that the LIPPP promotes the VHD of the economy through the innovation incentive effect and the capital deepening effect. The technological progress related to the VHD promoted by the LIPPP has a crowding out effect on that of the SHD. In addition, regional innovation, capital deepening, and energy transformation all play a certain role in promoting the SHD, but which is overshadowed by the effect of the VHD promoted by the LIPPP. This paper provides policy implications for China to promote high-quality economic development in the process of low-carbon transition.

Keywords: low-carbon industrial parks pilot policy; low-carbon transition; value-oriented high-quality development; sustainability-oriented high-quality development (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 (1)

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