Impact of Green Development Mechanism Innovation on Total-Factor Environmental Efficiency: A Quasi-Natural Experiment Based on National Pilot Cities

Linbo Zhang, Wenjing Xiang, Dongsheng Shi, Tian Liang, Xi Xiong, Shuyao Wu, Wentao Zhang and Duogui Yang ()
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Linbo Zhang: Qingdao Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China
Wenjing Xiang: School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China
Dongsheng Shi: School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China
Tian Liang: Qingdao Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China
Xi Xiong: College of Economics and Management, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 211106, China
Shuyao Wu: Qingdao Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China
Wentao Zhang: Qingdao Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China
Duogui Yang: Institutes of Science and Development, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 2, 1-24

Abstract: The implementation of green development has become an important choice for countries seeking the harmonious development of the economy and the environment. The National Ecological Civilization Pilot Zone is an innovative institutional mechanism for exploring green development in China. This study utilizes the National Ecological Civilization Pilot Zone policy as a quasi-natural experiment. Adopting data from 290 prefecture-level and above cities in China during 2014–2019 as the research object, this study matches the propensity score and improved differences-in-differences to assess the impact of green development mechanism innovation on regional total-factor environmental efficiency. The results show that this innovation had a significant impact on the improvement of total-factor environmental efficiency. Compared with non-pilot cities, the implementation of pilot zone areas contributed 16.78% to the growth of total-factor environmental efficiency in the experimental group cities. In addition, further analysis shows that mechanism innovation is more effective in areas with high pollution and high resource consumption. This study enriches the research on evaluation of the impact of innovation in green development mechanisms and provides a reference for further promoting pilot national ecological civilization zones.

Keywords: green development; mechanism innovation; total-factor environmental efficiency; propensity score matching; differences-in-differences (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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