Research on the Carbon Reduction Effects of Industrial Structure Upgrading in the Context of a Unified National Market
Shun Han () and
Zefang Liao ()
Additional contact information
Shun Han: College of Economics & Management, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China
Zefang Liao: College of Economics & Management, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China
Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 13, 1-21
Abstract:
Facilitating industrial restructuring and modernization plays a pivotal role in realizing China’s dual-carbon objectives (carbon peaking and carbon neutrality) and advancing sustainable socioeconomic progress. Leveraging panel data from 30 provincial-level administrative units (2005–2022) and adopting the Spatial Durbin Model, this research investigates how industrial structure upgrading influences carbon emission intensity within the framework of a unified national market, while elucidating its operational mechanisms. The key findings include the following: (1) Provincial carbon emission intensity demonstrates pronounced “high-high” and “low-low” spatial agglomeration during the study period. Industrial restructuring exhibits marked carbon abatement effects, accompanied by discernible cross-regional spillover benefits. (2) Industrial structure upgrading can reduce carbon emission levels by promoting the technology diffusion effect, while the competitive demonstration effect of digitalization has not yet manifested. (3) The establishment of an integrated national market enhances the capacity of industrial upgrading to suppress carbon emission intensity. (4) The emission-reducing impacts of industrial restructuring manifest heterogeneous patterns across regions and temporal phases: In Eastern China, industrial upgrading paradoxically elevates emission intensity. Central-western regions experience significant emission reductions. Temporally, the relationship follows an inverted U-shaped trajectory. These insights underscore the necessity for policymakers to refine industrial modernization strategies, expedite nationwide market integration mechanisms, and cultivate region-specific green transition roadmaps.
Keywords: unified national market; market integration; industrial structure upgrading; carbon emission reduction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:
Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/13/5986/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/13/5986/ (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:17:y:2025:i:13:p:5986-:d:1690630
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 ().