Search Results (922)

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). Full article

This study endeavors to elucidate the mechanisms and pathways through which the digital economy shapes agricultural green development, providing theoretical underpinnings and practical guidance for the green transformation of regional agriculture. (1) Using panel data from 18 prefecture-level cities in Sichuan Province (2013–2022), a comprehensive evaluation index system for agricultural green development was formulated. Fixed-effects, mediating-effects, and threshold-effects models were employed to systematically analyze the direct effects, transmission pathways, and nonlinear characteristics of the digital economy on agricultural green development. (2) The fixed-effects model shows that the digital economy markedly propels agricultural green development in Sichuan Province. The mediating-effects model verifies two transmission pathways: “digital economy → technological progression → agricultural green development” and “digital economy → industrial structure upgrading → agricultural green development”. The threshold-effects model suggests that when the digital economy is in the low-threshold interval, it exerts a suppressive impact on agricultural green development; however, once the threshold is surpassed, its promoting effect strengthens significantly. (3) The results demonstrate the following findings: First, the digital economy exerts a significant positive effect on agricultural green development. Second, this promoting effect exhibits significant nonlinear characteristics that vary with the level of digital economy development. Third, the impact manifests remarkable regional heterogeneity, necessitating context-specific development strategies. (4) Five optimization recommendations are proposed: promote the categorized development of agricultural digital technologies and industrial upgrading; advance digital infrastructure and technology adaptation in phases; design differentiated regional policies; establish a hierarchical and classified long-term guarantee mechanism; and strengthen the “industry-university-research-application” collaborative innovation and dynamic monitoring system. Full article

Against the backdrop of China’s fast-growing digital economy and its financial inclusion agenda, there is still little city-level evidence on whether the e-CNY pilot accelerates financial deepening at the grassroots. Using a balanced panel of 271 prefecture-and-above cities for 2016–2022, this study employs a staggered difference-in-differences (SDID) design augmented by the synthetic control method (SCM) to rigorously identify the policy effect of the e-CNY pilot. The results show that the pilot program significantly improves urban financial inclusion, contributing to more equitable access to financial services and supporting inclusive socio-economic development. Mechanism analysis suggests that the effect operates mainly through two channels, a merchant-coverage channel and a transaction-scale channel, with the former contributing the majority of the overall effect. Incorporating a migration-based mobility index shows that most studies’ focus on the merchant-coverage effect is amplified in cities under tight mobility restrictions but wanes where commercial networks are already saturated, whereas the transaction-scale channel is largely insensitive to mobility shocks. Heterogeneity tests further indicate stronger gains in non-provincial capital cities and in the eastern and central regions. Overall, the study uncovers a “penetration-inclusion” network logic and provides policy insights for advancing sustainable financial inclusion through optimized terminal deployment, merchant incentives, and diversified scenario design. Full article

As a key engine driving China’s green financial transformation, the Green Financial Reform and Innovation Pilot Zones have demonstrated significant achievements in enhancing the capacity of financial services to support green real economies, preventing and mitigating green financial risks, and bolstering national and urban economic resilience. On this basis, a spatial Markov chain model is applied to further analyze the economic toughness of prefecture-level cities. This study treats the establishment of these pilot zones as a quasi-natural experiment, using panel data from 269 prefecture-level cities in China from 2013 to 2023 and employing a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) model to empirically examine the impact of green financial reform on urban economic resilience and its underlying mechanisms. The results reveal that the establishment of these pilot zones significantly enhances urban economic resilience. Specifically, green financial reforms primarily improve urban economic resilience by increasing credit accessibility and capital allocation efficiency in the pilot cities. Furthermore, the policy effects are more pronounced in large cities and resource-dependent cities compared to small and medium-sized cities and non-resource-dependent cities, with stronger impacts observed in southern and coastal regions than in northern inland areas. Additionally, the policy effects are significantly greater in environmentally prioritized cities than in non-prioritized cities. By integrating green financial reforms and urban economic resilience into a unified analytical framework, this study provides valuable insights for policymakers to refine green financial strategies and design resilience-enhancing policies. Full article

Enhancing market integration levels is crucial for advancing sustainable regional collaborative development and achieving ecological protection and high-quality development goals within the Yellow River Basin, fostering a balance between economic efficiency, social equity, and environmental resilience. This study analyzed the retail price data of goods from prefecture-level cities in the Yellow River Basin from 2010 to 2022, employing the relative price method to measure the market integration index. Additionally, it examined the temporal and spatial evolution patterns and driving factors using the Dagum Gini coefficient and panel regression models. The results indicate the following. (1) The market integration index of the Yellow River Basin shows a fluctuating upward trend, with an average annual growth rate of 9.8%. The spatial pattern generally reflects a situation where the east is relatively high and the west is relatively low, as well as the south being higher than the north. (2) Regional disparities are gradually diminishing, with the overall Gini coefficient decreasing from 0.153 to 0.104. However, internal differences within the downstream and midstream areas have become prominent, and contribution rate analysis reveals that super-variable density has replaced between-group disparities as the primary source. (3) Upgrading the industrial structure and enhancing the level of economic development are the core driving forces, while financial support and digital infrastructure significantly accelerate the integration process. Conversely, the level of openness exhibits a phase-specific negative impact. We propose policy emphasizing the need to strengthen development in the upper reach of the Yellow River Basin, further improve interregional collaborative innovation mechanisms, and enhance cross-regional coordination among multicenter network nodes. Full article

In order to fulfill the commitment to the “dual carbon goal” at an early date, China has implemented a series of carbon control policies. However, the actual impact of these policy combinations on green innovation in Chinese cities remains unknown. Taking the implementation of the low-carbon pilot policy (LCP) and the carbon emission trading pilot policy (CET) as the research opportunity, this paper uses panel data from 276 prefecture-level cities and a multiple-period difference-in-differences (DID) model to explore the impact of carbon control policy combination on green innovation in China and their mechanisms. The results indicate the following: A single LCP or CET can significantly boost green innovation. However, the impact of cross-tool carbon control policy combination on green innovation is notably greater than that of a single policy, with a trend of increasing effectiveness over time. Even after a series of robustness tests, this conclusion remains valid. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the promotion effect is more significant in the eastern region and high-level administrative cities. The policy combination incentivizes green innovation through fiscal technology expenditure and public environmental awareness, focusing more on fostering strategic green innovation. Consequently, the Chinese government should tailor policy combinations to specific contexts, expand their implementation judiciously, and consistently drive forward green innovation. Full article

Rapid urbanization and escalating disaster risks necessitate resilient urban governance systems. Smart city initiatives that leverage digital technologies—such as the internet of things (IoT), big data analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI)—demonstrate transformative potential in enhancing emergency management capabilities. However, empirical evidence regarding their causal impact and underlying mechanisms remains limited, particularly in developing economies. Drawing on panel data from 275 Chinese prefecture-level cities over the period 2006–2021 and using China’s smart city pilot policy as a quasi-natural experiment, this study applies a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) approach to rigorously assess the effects of smart city construction on emergency management capabilities. Results reveal that smart city construction produced a statistically significant improvement in emergency management capabilities, which remained robust after conducting multiple sensitivity checks and controlling for potential confounding policies. The benefits exhibit notable heterogeneity: emergency management capability improvements are most pronounced in central China and in cities at the extremes of population size—megacities (>10 million residents) and small cities (<1 million residents)—while effects remain marginal in medium-sized and eastern cities. Crucially, mechanism analysis reveals that digital technology application fully mediates 86.7% of the total effect, whereas factor allocation efficiency exerts only a direct, non-mediating influence. These findings suggest that smart cities primarily enhance emergency management capabilities through digital enablers, with effectiveness contingent upon regional infrastructure development and urban scale. Policy priorities should therefore emphasize investments in digital infrastructure, interagency data integration, and targeted capacity-building strategies tailored to central and western regions as well as smaller cities. Full article

In the era of “carbon dioxide peaking and carbon neutrality”, low-carbon development of road traffic and transportation has now become a rigid demand in China. Considering the fact that socioeconomic and demographic characteristics vary significantly across Chinese cities, proper city-level transportation development strategies should be established. Using detailed data from cities at prefecture level and above in China, this study investigates the spatially heterogeneous effects of various factors on road traffic CO₂ emissions. Another theoretical issue is concerned with the analytic method for zonal CO₂ emission modeling. We combine the concepts of geographically weighted regression (GWR) and machine learning for nonparametric regression, proposing a modified random forest (RF) algorithm, named “geographically weighted random forest” (GWRF). Our empirical analysis indicates that, when an appropriate weight parameter is applied, GWRF is able to achieve significantly superior performance compared to both the traditional RF and GWR methods. Moreover, the influences of various explanatory variables on CO₂ emissions differ across cities. These findings suggest that low-carbon transportation strategies should be customized to reflect regional heterogeneity, rather than relying on a unified national policy. Full article

Promoting municipal solid waste (MSW) sorting is critical to advancing sustainable and low-carbon urban development. While existing research often focuses separately on external policy tools or internal behavioral drivers, limited attention has been given to their joint effects within an integrated framework. This study addresses this gap by analyzing micro-survey data from 1983 residents across 34 prefecture-level and above cities in China, using a bivariate probit model to examine how policy tools and policy perception—both independently and interactively—shape residents’ active and passive compliance with MSW sorting policies. The findings reveal five key insights. First, the adoption and spatial distribution of policy tools are uneven: environment-type tools dominate, supply-type tools are moderately deployed, and demand-type tools are underutilized. Second, both policy tools and policy perception significantly promote compliance behaviors, with policy cognition exerting the strongest effect. Third, differential effects are observed—policy cognition primarily drives active compliance, whereas policy acceptance more strongly predicts passive compliance. Fourth, synergistic effects emerge when supply-type tools are combined with environment-type or demand-type tools. Finally, policy perception not only directly enhances compliance but also moderates the effectiveness of policy tools, with notable heterogeneity among residents with higher cognitive or emotional alignment. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of compliance mechanisms and offer practical implications for designing perception-sensitive and regionally adaptive MSW governance strategies. Full article

Research on ecosystem carbon sequestration services and ecological compensation is crucial for advancing carbon neutrality. As a public good, ecosystem carbon sequestration services inherently lead to externalities. Therefore, it is essential to consider externalities in the flow of sequestration services. However, few studies have examined intra- and inter-regional ecosystem carbon sequestration flows, making regional ecosystem carbon sequestration flows less comprehensive. Against this background, the research objectives of this paper are as follows. The flow of carbon sequestration services between Henan Province and out-of-province regions is studied. In addition, this study clarifies the beneficiary and supply areas of carbon sink services in Henan Province and the neighboring regions at the prefecture-level city scale to obtain a more systematic, comprehensive, and actual flow of carbon sequestration services for scientific and effective eco-compensation and to promote regional synergistic emission reductions. The research methodologies used in this paper are as follows. First, this study adopts a meta-coupling framework, designating Henan Province as the focal system, the Central Urban Agglomeration as the adjacent system, and eight surrounding provinces as remote systems. Regional carbon sequestration was assessed using net primary productivity (NEP), while carbon emissions were evaluated based on per capita carbon emissions and population density. A carbon balance analysis integrated carbon sequestration and emissions. Hotspot analysis identified areas of carbon sequestration service supply and associated benefits. Ecological radiation force formulas were used to quantify service flows, and compensation values were estimated considering the government’s payment capacity and willingness. A three-dimensional evaluation system—incorporating technology, talent, and fiscal capacity—was developed to propose a diversified ecological compensation scheme by comparing supply and beneficiary areas. By modeling the ecosystem carbon sequestration service flow, the main results of this paper are as follows: (1) Within Henan Province, Luoyang and Nanyang provided 521,300 tons and 515,600 tons of carbon sinks to eight cities (e.g., Jiaozuo, Zhengzhou, and Kaifeng), warranting an ecological compensation of CNY 262.817 million and CNY 263.259 million, respectively. (2) Henan exported 3.0739 million tons of carbon sinks to external provinces, corresponding to a compensation value of CNY 1756.079 million. Conversely, regions such as Changzhi, Xiangyang, and Jinzhong contributed 657,200 tons of carbon sinks to Henan, requiring a compensation of CNY 189.921 million. (3) Henan thus achieved a net ecological compensation of CNY 1566.158 million through carbon sink flows. (4) In addition to monetary compensation, beneficiary areas may also contribute through technology transfer, financial investment, and talent support. The findings support the following conclusions: (1) it is necessary to consider the externalities of ecosystem services, and (2) the meta-coupling framework enables a comprehensive assessment of carbon sequestration service flows, providing actionable insights for improving ecosystem governance in Henan Province and comparable regions. Full article

In the digital economy era, digitalization and intelligent technologies have profoundly influenced regional green development. This study uses data from 277 prefecture-level and above cities in China spanning the years 2011 to 2022 and employs a two-way fixed effects model along with machine learning techniques to explore the effect of digital intelligence on regional green development. We find that digital intelligence primarily drives regional green development. Positive impacts show a steady upward trend from 2011 to 2022 and predominate in eastern regions, large cities, and non-resource-dependent cities, while adverse effects are more prevalent in small and resource-dependent cities. Effect magnitude scales with green development levels, exhibiting monotonic amplification. Mechanism tests indicate that digital intelligence improves regional green development by promoting green technological innovation, advancing the industrial structure, and strengthening environmental protection. Full article

This study investigates the impact and mechanisms of digital inclusive finance (DIF) on high-quality economic development in China. Drawing on panel data from 281 prefecture-level cities between 2011 and 2021, we employ a Spatial Durbin Model (SDM) to analyze both the direct effects and spatial spillovers of DIF. The results indicate that (1) DIF has a significantly positive effect on high-quality development, which remains robust after conducting various stability and endogeneity tests; (2) DIF strongly contributes to economic upgrading in eastern regions, while its impact is weaker or even negative in central and western regions, revealing notable regional disparities exist; (3) a key finding is the identification of a double-threshold effect, suggesting that the positive influence of DIF only emerges when financial and industrial development surpass certain thresholds; (4) results from the two-regime SDM further show that spillover effects are more prominent in non-central cities than in central ones; and (5) mechanism analysis reveals that DIF facilitates high-quality growth primarily by promoting industrial structure upgrading. These findings underscore the importance of region-specific policy strategies to enhance the role of DIF and reduce spatial disparities in development across China. Full article

How to promote sustainable development and deal with the actual development demands in economic transformation through land-use planning is crucial for local governments. The urban sustainable development mainly relies on creativity and talents in the digital era, and talents are increasingly attracted by local people-oriented land use. However, the current planning ideology remains at meeting corporate and people’s basic needs rather than specific needs of talents, especially the increasingly emerging digital creatives. To promote the talent agglomeration and sustainable development through land planning, this paper uses micro-celebrities on Bilibili, an influential creative content creation platform among young people in China, as an example to study the geographical distribution of digital creative talents and its relationship with urban amenities by constructing an index system of urban amenities, comprising natural, leisure, infrastructure, and social and institutional amenities. The concept of borrowed amenities is introduced to examine the effects of amenities of surrounding cities. This study demonstrates that micro-celebrities show a stronger preference for amenities compared with other skilled talents. Meanwhile, social and institutional amenities are most crucial. Furthermore, urban leisure represented by green spaces and consumption spaces is also attractive. At the regional scale, with prefecture-level cities as units, the local talents agglomeration is also influenced by the borrowed amenities in the context of regional integration. It indicates that the local land use should consider the characteristics of the surrounding cities. This study provides strategic inspiration that a happy and sustainable city should first be people-oriented and provide sufficient space for consumption, entertainment, and interaction. Full article

Developing agricultural new productive forces (ANPF) according to local conditions is a key strategy for agricultural modernization. Using panel data from 16 prefecture-level cities in Anhui Province from 2010 to 2022, this study constructed indicator systems for ANPF and the construction of a strong agricultural province (CSAP). The entropy-weight TOPSIS method was used to calculate the levels of ANPF and the SAP index. This study employed a modified gravity model and social network analysis (SNA) to investigate the spatial correlation and evolutionary characteristics of these networks. Geographical detectors were also used to identify the driving factors behind agricultural transformation. The findings indicate that both ANPF and CSAP showed an upward trend during the study period, with significant regional heterogeneity, with Central Anhui being the most prominent. This study revealed spatial spillover effects and strong network correlations between ANPF and CSAP, with the spatial network structure exhibiting characteristics of multi-core, multi-association, and multidimensional connections. The entities within the network are tightly connected, with no “isolated island” phenomenon, and Hefei, as the central hub, showed the highest number of connections. Laborer quality, tangible means of production, and new-quality industries emerged as the core driving forces, working in synergy to propel CSAP. This study contributes new insights into the spatial network dynamics of agricultural development and offers actionable recommendations for policymakers to enhance agricultural modernization globally. Full article

In recent years, studies that examine the relationship between economic development and population change have drawn more attention from the academic community. The intrinsic links between changes in age structure and economic development rates at the macro-national level as well as specific regional aspects have been the subject of extensive theoretical analysis and empirical investigations by numerous academics. Using panel data from 16 prefecture-level cities in Anhui Province between 2010 and 2023, this study investigates the impact of population aging on economic growth and its underlying mechanisms. This is obtained by using benchmark regression, the instrumental variable method (2SLS), mediation effect testing, and regional heterogeneity analysis. The study’s main conclusions are as follows: (1) Anhui Province’s population aging has a negative impact on economic growth; (2) the income gap between urban and rural areas is a significant mediating factor in the relationship between population aging and economic growth; and (3) there is significant regional variation among the 16 prefectural-level cities in Anhui Province. To lessen the negative effects of population aging on economic growth, Anhui Province must implement coordinated and integrated efforts to improve the social security system, accelerate industrial development, and lessen the gap between urban and rural areas. Full article