Does energy efficiency make sense in China? Based on the perspective of economic growth quality

How to improve the energy-saving performance of China's transport sector? An input-output perspective

The transport sector proves a major energy consumer in China, but improving energy-saving performance in China's provincial transport sector from the lifecycle perspective remains unresolved. Thus, this study employs the environmentally extended multi-region input-output (MRIO) method, structural path analysis, and the newest MRIO table of China from 2017, to investigate how to improve the energy-saving performance from final demand structure, supply chain, and pathway perspectives. The relevant results are threefold. (1) Regarding the final demand structure level, the embodied energy consumption of China's transport sector is predominantly driven by investment from the production side, while that of the consumption side is primarily caused by exports. (2) At the supply chain level, production-side embodied energy consumption primarily occurs along a three-echelon supply chain, while that from the consumption side mostly occurs via a two-echelon supply chain. (3) At the pathway level, the production-side energy-saving performance of China's provincial transport sector is dominated by two pathways along the construction sector, including transport sector → construction sector → final demands, and transport sector → intermediate inputs → construction sector → final demands, while that of the consumption side is chiefly determined by three pathways along internal transportation chains.

Global production patterns: Understanding the relationship between greenhouse gas emissions, agriculture greening and climate variability

Climate change due to increased greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in the atmosphere has been consistently observed since the mid-20th century. The profound influence of global climate change on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, encompassing carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O), has established a vital feedback loop that contributes to further climate change. This intricate relationship necessitates a comprehensive understanding of the underlying feedback mechanisms. By examining the interactions between global climate change, soil, and GHG emissions, we can elucidate the complexities of CO2, CH4, and N2O dynamics and their implications. In this study, we evaluate the global climate change relationship with GHG globally in 246 countries. We find a robust positive association between climate and GHG emissions. By 2100, GHG emissions will increase in all G7 countries and China while decreasing in the United Kingdom based on current economic growth policies, resulting in a net global increase, suggesting that climate-driven increase in GHG and climate variations impact crop production loss due to soil impacts and not provide climate adaptation. The study highlights the diverse strategies employed by G7 countries in reducing GHG emissions, with France leveraging nuclear power, Germany focusing on renewables, and Italy targeting its industrial and transportation sectors. The UK and Japan are making significant progress in emission reduction through renewable energy, while the US and Canada face challenges due to their industrial activities and reliance on fossil fuels.

The impact of environmental regulations on the upgrading of the industrial structure: Evidence from China

China's economy has transitioned into a phase of high-quality development, with enhancing its industrial structure becoming a critical objective. We gathered panel data from 30 major provinces in China from 2010 to 2020 and employed the fixed effects model to assess the actual influence of environmental regulations on industrial structure upgrading. Our empirical findings show that the impacts of various environmental regulations on industrial structure upgrading in China are significantly different. Mandatory environmental regulation demonstrates an inverted U-shaped nonlinear correlation with the upgrading level of the entire industrial structure. When the intensity of this regulation is low, it significantly accelerates industrial structure upgrading. As the intensity of this regulation rises, its effect on industrial structure upgrading is inhibitory. In contrast, induced environmental regulation exhibits a nonlinear U-shaped relationship with industrial structure upgrading and shows a nonlinear change trend of first decreasing and then rising. When the intensity of induced environmental regulation reaches a certain critical point and continues to increase, it will change from a negative influence on the upgrading of the industrial structure to a promoting effect. The further discussion of threshold regression and the robustness test also led to similar conclusions. The above research is conducive to the Chinese government's rational use of environmental regulation tools to promote industrial structure upgrading. It is also beneficial to developing countries, allowing them to learn from China's experience to improve the effectiveness of environmental regulation and boost their industrial development.

Energy saving effects of digital technologies from a life-cycle-analytical perspective: evidence from China

Digital technology has become a key driver of industrial transformation and resource utilization. However, no consensus has been reached on the exact relationship between digital technology and energy utilization. This study adopted a comprehensive index system to investigate the impact of digital technologies on energy utilization across 30 provinces in China. The results reveal a non-linear relationship between digital technologies and energy efficiency in China (represented by an N-curve), which is validated by robustness tests. This indicates digital technology exerts a fast-slow-rapid impact on improving energy efficiency throughout its initial-rapid-stable developmental stages. Geographically, this effect is more pronounced in eastern and central China, as well as in areas with lower energy efficiency. Furthermore, the impact of digital technology on total energy consumption can be characterized by an inverted N-shaped curve. As regional energy efficiency improves, the energy consumption associated with the development of digital technologies gradually decreases. These findings can contribute valuable insights for enhancing energy efficiency and provide practical guidance for the formulation of energy and digital technology policies.

Evaluating the carbon total factor productivity of China: based on Cobb-Douglas production function

This paper introduces a novel methodology for estimating carbon total factor productivity based on the Cobb-Douglas production function. The research method introduced in this article expands upon the framework for assessing total factor productivity through the Solow residual method. It unifies the conceptual and methodological aspects of carbon total factor productivity with those of single factor productivity. Utilizing panel data from various provinces between 2010 and 2021, we computed carbon total factor productivity to understand its implications for China in combating global climate change. We demonstrate that (i) we have introduced a method to handle negative coefficients in the Cobb-Douglas production function by incorporating productivity in lieu of input factors during calculations. (ii) Carbon total factor productivity, encapsulating the geometric weighted mean of labor, capital, and carbon productivity, holds notable economic relevance. Further, it serves as an integrative metric comprising carbon productivity intertwined with the mean labor and capital carbon factors. And (iii) the influence of carbon total factor productivity growth on economic progression remains relatively subdued, with escalating labor force growth posing detrimental effects on several provincial economies. Enhancing carbon total factor productivity emerges as an imperative to harmonize robust economic growth with strategic carbon curtailment. Our analytical framework provides nuanced perspectives on productivity determinants, accentuating the thrust towards sustainable evolution amidst climatic challenges. This investigation bears profound significance for policymakers endeavoring to sculpt a carbon-conscious economic paradigm in consonance with global climatic ambitions.

Energy Challenges, Green Growth, Blue Indicators, and Sustainable Economic Growth: A Study of Saudi Arabia

In recent years, the international community is struggling to achieve sustainable economic and environmental goals. Despite of the large literature, the impact of blue economy on sustainable growth and environment is missing, for the case of Saudi Arabia. The current study incorporates the energy, green, and blue indicators to examine the impact on sustainable goals of Saudi Arabia. For econometric estimations, we use the nonlinear ARDL approach to estimate the full sample and post-Vision 2030 sample. The findings confirm that blue economic activities are not mature enough to participate its role to achieve sustainable targets of Saudi Vision 2030. The outcomes of current study depict that blue indicators are neglected to attain sustainable economic and environmental goals. In view of econometric outcomes, we propose that Saudi Arabia have to emphasize on sea trade and ocean tourism. Moreover, the findings are useful to estimate the sustainable targets of Saudi Vision 2030.

Digital financial inclusion and quality of economic growth

Recently, digital financial inclusion has experienced rapid growth, introducing transformative changes to the finance industry. Its attributes of low cost, extensive coverage, and efficient cross-temporal and spatial information dissemination have had a significant impact on both economic growth and social development. This study, using China's provincial panel data, measures the quality of economic growth based on technological innovation, coordinated development, environmental protection, opening to the outside world, and people's livelihood. It verifies the impact of digital financial inclusion on the quality of economic growth by utilizing the panel fixed effect model, mediation effect model, panel threshold model, and spatial Durbin model. Digital financial inclusion has a positive impact on the quality of economic growth, particularly in the eastern region and regions with high marketization. It can effectively promote the quality of economic growth by stimulating entrepreneurial vitality, and has had a positive and increasing non-linear effect on the quality of economic growth over the past few years. Moreover, digital financial inclusion can promote the quality of economic growth in neighboring regions. Therefore, the quality of economic growth can be significantly improved by expanding the coverage breadth and usage depth of digital financial inclusion.

Impact of regional energy allocation distortion on carbon emission efficiency: Evidence from China

The free flow of energy cannot be fully achieved in China's energy market because of incomplete market-oriented reform, resulting in energy allocation distortion, which has hampered carbon emissions reduction. However, the extent of energy allocation distortion and its role in carbon emission efficiency remain unexplored. Therefore, this study aims to measure energy allocation distortion and investigate its impact on carbon emission efficiency. For this purpose, first, we derive energy allocation distortion based on a production function and carbon emission efficiency using a meta-frontier non-radial Malmquist index. To effectively address the endogeneity issue, we use a generalized method of moments model to estimate the impact of energy allocation distortion on carbon emission efficiency. Second, we further explore the distortionary mechanism of carbon emission efficiency associated with energy allocation and analyze the asymmetric effect of energy allocation distortion on carbon emission efficiency. The results show a certain degree of energy allocation distortion throughout the country, and disparity exists among different regions. The average value of carbon emission efficiency in the eastern region is 1.0286, well ahead of the national average, demonstrating better performance than other regions. Energy allocation distortion negatively affects carbon emission efficiency, with a 1% increase in energy allocation distortion leading to a 0.251% decrease in carbon emission efficiency. Technological progress, the structure of energy consumption, and industrial structure are important transmission channels through which energy allocation affects carbon emission efficiency. The study contributes to uncovering regional energy allocation distortion and its impacts on carbon emission efficiency and providing strategic policy recommendations for improving energy allocation efficiency.

Can technological finance cooperation pilot policy improve energy efficiency? Evidence from a quasi-experiment in China

Whether the technological finance cooperation pilot (TFCP) policy in China can promote energy efficiency remains under investigated. Using the dataset covering 284 cities in China from 2003 to 2019, this paper adopts the Super-SBM model with undesirable outputs to measure energy efficiency. Based on this efficiency, the Difference-in-Differences model (DID) and Spatial Durbin model (SDM) are employed to discuss the impact of TFCP policy on energy efficiency. Results demonstrate that TFCP policy has significantly promoted energy efficiency. And the conclusion is still valid after the robustness checks and endogenous treatment has been carried out. The impact of the TFCP policy on energy efficiency is heterogeneous, depending on the geographical, administrative, and resource characteristics of cities. To be specific, the promotion effect tends to be pronounced in east-central cities, high-ranking cities, and high-tech cities. Moreover, TFCP policy could significantly improve energy efficiency through the effects of technological innovation, industrial upgrading, and financial development. A further policy spillover analysis shows that TFCP policy has exerted a remarkable incentive influence on energy efficiency locally, while the neighboring cities are inhibitive. To sum up, this research is of important theoretical value and policy-making reference on green economy transformation for cities with differential features and energy utilization capacity, by shedding light on the impacts of such a technological finance cooperation system on energy efficiency.

Green finance, environmental pollution and high-quality economic development-a study based on China's provincial panel data

Under the new normal, green finance is inevitably linked to high-quality economic development in China. Based on 30 province panel data sets from China from 2010 to 2019, this research employs an innovative spatial econometric model to integrate green finance, environmental pollution and high-quality economic development into a unified empirical analysis framework. Regional green finance and high-quality economic development have spatial spillover effects in China, according to spatial auto-regressive and spatial error model tests, with the eastern region leading, the central region running in parallel and the western region chasing, because of a strong moderating effect in the eastern region. Green finance contributes greatly to high-quality economic development, but increased environmental pollution impedes high-quality economic development. Green financing can help to mitigate the detrimental effects of pollution on high-quality economic development. According to the mechanism of action analysis, green finance reduces pollution by modifying the industrial structure and boosting scientific and technological growth. Finally, the green finance threshold test demonstrates a nonlinear impact on economic quality development after passing a specified threshold value and has a strong threshold characteristic. This research has policy implications since it improves understanding of the dynamics of high-quality economic development as well as the benefits, mechanisms and heterogeneity of green finance in reducing pollution and empowering high-quality economic development.

Watershed Horizontal Ecological Compensation Policy and Green Ecological City Development: Spatial and Mechanism Assessment

Green ecological development has become an inevitable choice to achieve sustainable urban development and carbon neutrality. This paper evaluates the level of green ecological city development in the Xin'an watershed as measured by green total factor productivity (GTFP), analyzes the direct and spatial effects of the Watershed Horizontal Ecological Compensation policy on GTFP, and further examines the moderating effect of the Research and Development (R&D) incentives, industrial structure, and income gap. This paper conducts difference-in-differences (DID) and spatial regression analysis on 27 cities from 2007 to 2019. The results show that GTFP progresses to varying degrees across cities over time, especially in the pilot cities. Crucially, the Watershed Horizontal Ecological Compensation policy significantly improved GTFP, although the effect was slight. Interestingly, the increase in GTFP in pilot cities that implemented the policy spatially suppressed the increase in GTFP in cities that did not implement the policy. Our evidence also shows that the positive effect of the policy is higher in regions with higher R&D incentives and industrial structure upgrading, which indicates that R&D incentives and industrial upgrading are crucial. In comparison, the income gap has not made the expected negative adjustment effect under the Chinese government's poverty alleviation policy. However, the positive policy effect is heterogeneous in the downstream and upstream pilot cities. The "forcing effect" of the policy on the downstream cities is more favorable than the "compensating effect" on the upstream cities. Therefore, policymakers should pay more attention to ensuring the effectiveness of the Watershed Horizontal Ecological Compensation policy in enhancing GTFP as a long-term strategy to guarantee the sustainability of green ecological development in Chinese cities.

Synergic emissions reduction effect of China's "Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan": Benefits and efficiency

Large amounts of fossil fuels that are consumed in association with the urbanization process, lead to billions of tons of greenhouse gases and air pollutants. Air pollution control policies have the synergic effects on carbon emissions reduction, but whether they can improve the synergic emission reduction efficiency (SERE) needs to be studied. 279 Chinese cities are selected as research samples. We evaluate the synergic effect of China's "Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan" (APPCAP) from the perspectives of benefits and efficiency with the Difference-in-differences (DID) model. We further decompose the SERE into synergic emission reduction technological efficiency change (SEREEC) and synergic emission reduction technological change (SERETC) to analyze the internal impact mechanisms. The result shows that: (1) SERE has increased by 8 % from 2010 to 2017, for the expansion of the possibility boundary. (2) The APPCAP has co-benefit of carbon emissions reduction by 1.5 %, but inhibits the SERE increase by 1.2 % because of the lack of resource allocation efficiency improvement. (3) The APPCAP has an inhibitory effect on SEREEC and a promoting effect on SERETC. Therefore, the government should emphasize the source control and treatment efficiency, and further strengthen the system innovation for achieving urban sustainable development effectively.

Technological innovation, resource endowment, and green total factor energy efficiency

Technological advancements and resources availability are the main components of green total factor energy efficiency (GTFEE). This study measured GTFEE using the Meta-frontier and Non-radial Directional Distance Function (MNDDF) models and empirically evaluated the effect of technological innovation and resource endowment on GTFEE using dynamic panel and panel threshold models. The following are the primary findings: (1) Throughout the study sample period, the average change trend of China's GTFEE was generally in the shape of a "W," with regional variations. (2) Independent innovation can significantly improve GTFEE, whereas technology introduction has little effect on GTFEE advancement. Similarly, it confirmed the existence of the "Resource Curse." (3) While independent innovation has reduced the severity of the resource curse to a certain extent, the introduction of this technology has no positive effect on the resource curse problem. (4) Heterogeneity research indicates that only large cities' independent innovation has significantly increased GTFEE. There is a particular resource curse phenomenon regardless of the city size, but it is more prominent in small and medium-sized cities. (5) At various phases of economic development, a significant difference was noticed in the impact of independent innovation, technology introduction, and resource endowment on GTFEE.

Impact of Ecological Compensation on Farmers′ Livelihood Strategies in Energy Development Regions in China: A Case Study of Yulin City

Ecological compensation affects farmers′ livelihoods, as well as sustainability and social equity. Yulin City is the core area of the energy “Golden Triangle” in China. The farmers livelihood strategy model was used to analyse data from a household survey and interviews with selected farmers. The paper analyses the current livelihood strategies of farmers and impact of ecological compensation from the perspective of participation and income. The results showed that: (1) the significant difference between the coal resource development and oil and gas resource development was agricultural planting. Migrant work and non-agricultural self-employment in the coal resource development region were higher than that of the oil and gas resource development region. (2) The income from agricultural planting in the coal resource development region was significantly lower than that of the oil and gas resource development region. The labour, non-agricultural self-employment, and transfer incomes were higher in the coal resource development region than that in the oil and gas resource development region. (3) Ecological compensation has a significant negative effect on participation and income from agricultural planting, as well as a positive effect on participation and income from non-agricultural self-employment. We have proposed measures to strengthen ecological compensation mechanisms and improve the farmers′ livelihoods, in order to inform decision-making and high-quality sustainable development in energy development region.

How Does New Infrastructure Investment Affect Economic Growth Quality? Empirical Evidence from China

The current phase of the technological revolution and the accelerated rate of industrial change have encouraged the structural transformation of global infrastructure investment. This study aims to identify and evaluate the impact of new infrastructure investment on economic growth quality. This paper explains the theoretical mechanisms in terms of their effects on technological innovation, industrial structure, and productivity, using the three-dimensional analysis framework of economic growth conditions, process, and results. We then carry out an empirical examination based on provincial panel data for China from 2004 to 2019. The findings demonstrate that new infrastructure investment can significantly improve economic growth quality, and this conclusion still seems valid after conducting endogeneity treatments and robustness tests. Further mechanism evaluations indicate that new infrastructure investments contribute to boosting economic growth quality in terms of the condition, process, and results of economic growth by promoting technological innovation, improving industrial structure, and enhancing production efficiency. Moreover, the magnitude and mechanism of the positive effects differ depending on the heterogeneity of the region examined. In terms of the nonlinear change characteristics, the significant dual-threshold effect reveals that the marginal effects of new infrastructure investment on economic growth quality tend to be incremental under the threshold condition. This study provides a theoretical and factual basis for governments to enforce new infrastructure investments in the digital economy era, and it also has some value as a reference regarding the economic sustainability of developing countries.