Policy Synergies for Advancing Energy–Environmental Productivity and Sustainable Urban Development: Empirical Evidence from China’s Dual-Pilot Energy Policies

Si Zhang and Xiaodong Zhu ()
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Si Zhang: School of Business, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, China
Xiaodong Zhu: School of Business, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 15, 1-36

Abstract: Achieving synergies between government-led and market-based policy instruments is critical to advancing Energy–Environmental Productivity and Sustainable Urban Development. This study investigates the effects of China’s dual-pilot energy policies (New Energy Demonstration Cities (NEDCs) and Energy Consumption Permit Trading (ECPT)) on urban environmental productivity (UEP) across 279 prefecture-level cities from 2006 to 2023. Utilizing a Non-Radial Directional Distance Function (NDDF) approach, combined with Difference-in-Differences (DID) estimation and spatial econometric models, the analysis reveals that these synergistic policies significantly enhance both comprehensive and net measures of UEP. Mechanism analysis highlights the roles of industrial restructuring, technological innovation, and energy transition in driving these improvements, while heterogeneity analysis indicates varying effects across different city types. Spatial spillover analysis further demonstrates that policy impacts extend beyond targeted cities, contributing to broader regional gains in UEP. These findings offer important insights for the design of integrated energy and environmental policies and support progress toward key Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 7, SDG 11, and SDG 12).

Keywords: policy synergies; urban environmental productivity (UEP); dual-pilot energy policies; sustainable development goals; urban sustainability; NDDF; spatial spillover effects (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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