IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/asieco/v95y2024ics1049007824001234.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does government-driven infrastructure boost green innovation? Evidence of new infrastructure plan in China

Author

Listed:
  • Zhang, Fan
  • Wang, Feng
  • Yao, Shujie

Abstract

The role of government-driven investment in improving environmental quality has long been an essential concern of environmental research. Using a spatial difference-in-differences model, this study investigates the influence of government-driven new infrastructure investment on green innovation. Based on a panel dataset of 276 Chinese cities from 2005 to 2019, we find a positive effect of high-speed rail (HSR) and smart city (SC) construction on green innovation. Compared with cities that are unconnected to the HSR network, those that are accessible by HSR experienced a 20.6 % increase in per capita green patents. In addition, being a SC planned by the government is associated with 14.8 % more green patents per capita than other cities. Moreover, government-promoted new infrastructure has significant spatial spillover effects on green innovation in adjacent cities. Regional sensitivity is found in promotional and spatial spillover effects. The findings of our study offer essential insights for developing effective policies for advancing infrastructure modernization and environmental protection simultaneously.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Fan & Wang, Feng & Yao, Shujie, 2024. "Does government-driven infrastructure boost green innovation? Evidence of new infrastructure plan in China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:asieco:v:95:y:2024:i:c:s1049007824001234
    DOI: 10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101828
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1049007824001234
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101828?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dave Donaldson, 2018. "Railroads of the Raj: Estimating the Impact of Transportation Infrastructure," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(4-5), pages 899-934, April.
    2. Jacobson, Louis S & LaLonde, Robert J & Sullivan, Daniel G, 1993. "Earnings Losses of Displaced Workers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(4), pages 685-709, September.
    3. Zhang, Zhihe & Hou, Yufei & Li, Zixuan & Li, Mulin, 2024. "From symbolic to substantive green innovation: How does ESG ratings optimize corporate green innovation structure," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    4. Feng, Yuan & Chen, Zhi & Nie, Changfei, 2023. "The effect of broadband infrastructure construction on urban green innovation: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 581-598.
    5. Chun He & Yun-Peng Wang & Kai Tang, 2023. "Impact of Low-Carbon City Construction Policy on Green Innovation Performance in China," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 59(1), pages 15-26, January.
    6. Zhu, Zhaohui & Tan, Yafei, 2022. "Can green industrial policy promote green innovation in heavily polluting enterprises? Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 59-75.
    7. Louis S. Jacobson & Robert J. LaLonde & Daniel G. Sullivan, 1993. "Long-term earnings losses of high-seniority displaced workers," Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, vol. 17(Nov), pages 2-20.
    8. Junjun Tang & Xing Zhao, 2023. "Does the new digital infrastructure improve total factor productivity?," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(4), pages 895-916, October.
    9. Thorsten Beck & Ross Levine & Alexey Levkov, 2010. "Big Bad Banks? The Winners and Losers from Bank Deregulation in the United States," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(5), pages 1637-1667, October.
    10. He, Feng & Hao, Jing & Lucey, Brian, 2024. "Effects of climate risk on corporate green innovation cycles," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    11. Amore, Mario Daniele & Bennedsen, Morten, 2016. "Corporate governance and green innovation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 54-72.
    12. Anselin, Luc & Bera, Anil K. & Florax, Raymond & Yoon, Mann J., 1996. "Simple diagnostic tests for spatial dependence," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 77-104, February.
    13. Guo, Shu & Zhang, ZhongXiang, 2023. "Green credit policy and total factor productivity: Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    14. A. Colin Cameron & Jonah B. Gelbach & Douglas L. Miller, 2008. "Bootstrap-Based Improvements for Inference with Clustered Errors," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(3), pages 414-427, August.
    15. Adam B. Jaffe & Karen Palmer, 1997. "Environmental Regulation And Innovation: A Panel Data Study," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 79(4), pages 610-619, November.
    16. Sun, Pengfei & Yuan, Chunhui & Li, Xiaolong & Di, Jia, 2024. "Big data analytics, firm risk and corporate policies: Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(PB).
    17. Gong, Min & Zeng, Yidi & Zhang, Fan, 2023. "New infrastructure, optimization of resource allocation and upgrading of industrial structure," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    18. Bogart, Dan, 2022. "Infrastructure and institutions: Lessons from history," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    19. Andrew B. Bernard & Andreas Moxnes & Yukiko U. Saito, 2019. "Production Networks, Geography, and Firm Performance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 127(2), pages 639-688.
    20. Razzaq, Asif & Sharif, Arshian & Ozturk, Ilhan & Skare, Marinko, 2022. "Inclusive infrastructure development, green innovation, and sustainable resource management: Evidence from China’s trade-adjusted material footprints," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    21. Bruno Ferman, 2023. "Inference in difference‐in‐differences: How much should we trust in independent clusters?," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(3), pages 358-369, April.
    22. Hengzhou Xu & Xiaoyan Li, 2023. "Effect mechanism of Chinese-style decentralization on regional carbon emissions and policy improvement: evidence from China’s 12 urban agglomerations," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 474-505, January.
    23. Zhao, Li & Zhang, Ling & Sun, Jianxin & He, Pengfei, 2022. "Can public participation constraints promote green technological innovation of Chinese enterprises? The moderating role of government environmental regulatory enforcement," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    24. Cheng, Yuanyuan & Du, Kerui & Yao, Xin, 2023. "Stringent environmental regulation and inconsistent green innovation behavior: Evidence from air pollution prevention and control action plan in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    25. Zhu, Zhaohui & Huang, Yang & Hu, Chao & Yan, Youliang, 2024. "The green effects of competition: administrative monopoly regulation and green innovation," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    26. Min Zhang & Chengrong Li & Jinshan Zhang & Hongwei Chen, 2023. "How Green Finance Affects Green Total Factor Productivity—Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-18, December.
    27. Brunnermeier, Smita B. & Cohen, Mark A., 2003. "Determinants of environmental innovation in US manufacturing industries," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 278-293, March.
    28. Dong, Weijia & Li, Ye & Lv, Xin & Yu, Chang, 2021. "How does venture capital spur the innovation of environmentally friendly firms? Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    29. Chagas, André L.S. & Azzoni, Carlos R. & Almeida, Alexandre N., 2016. "A spatial difference-in-differences analysis of the impact of sugarcane production on respiratory diseases," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 24-36.
    30. Yuchan Wang, 2022. "Development of the Digital Economy: A Case Study of 5G Technology," Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organization, in: Vikas Kumar & Jiewu Leng & Victoria Akberdina & Evgeny Kuzmin (ed.), Digital Transformation in Industry, pages 215-225, Springer.
    31. Zhou, Xiaoxiao & Jia, Mengyu & Li, Wenqing & Zhao, Xin & Gatto, Andrea & Ma, Xiaowei, 2024. "Higher education or scientific research: Which one contributes more to China's green innovation?," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    32. Yu-Shan Chen & Shyh-Bao Lai & Chao-Tung Wen, 2006. "The Influence of Green Innovation Performance on Corporate Advantage in Taiwan," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 67(4), pages 331-339, September.
    33. Hanley, Douglas & Li, Jiancheng & Wu, Mingqin, 2022. "High-speed railways and collaborative innovation," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    34. Dubé, Jean & Legros, Diègo & Thériault, Marius & Des Rosiers, François, 2014. "A spatial Difference-in-Differences estimator to evaluate the effect of change in public mass transit systems on house prices," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 24-40.
    35. Jiekuan Zhang & Yan Zhang, 2023. "Examining the effects of economic growth pressure on green total factor productivity: evidence from China," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 56(6), pages 4309-4337, December.
    36. El-Kassar, Abdul-Nasser & Singh, Sanjay Kumar, 2019. "Green innovation and organizational performance: The influence of big data and the moderating role of management commitment and HR practices," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 483-498.
    37. Gil, Nuno & Miozzo, Marcela & Massini, Silvia, 2012. "The innovation potential of new infrastructure development: An empirical study of Heathrow airport's T5 project," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 452-466.
    38. Shao, Yanmin & Chen, Zhongfei, 2022. "Can government subsidies promote the green technology innovation transformation? Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 716-727.
    39. Sunak, Yasin & Madlener, Reinhard, 2016. "The impact of wind farm visibility on property values: A spatial difference-in-differences analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 79-91.
    40. Hongmin Fan & Nan Zhang & Huihan Su, 2023. "The effects of smart city construction on urban green total factor productivity: evidence from China," Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(1), pages 2181840-218, December.
    41. Tao Kong & RenJi Sun & Guanglin Sun & Youtao Song, 2022. "Effects of Digital Finance on Green Innovation considering Information Asymmetry: An Empirical Study Based on Chinese Listed Firms," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(15), pages 4399-4411, December.
    42. J. Paul Elhorst, 2014. "Matlab Software for Spatial Panels," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 37(3), pages 389-405, July.
    43. Yang, Hao-Chang & Feng, Gen-Fu & Zhao, Xin Xin & Chang, Chun-Ping, 2022. "The impacts of energy insecurity on green innovation: A multi-country study," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 139-154.
    44. Ai, Hongshan & Wang, Mengyuan & Zhang, Yue-Jun & Zhu, Tian-Tian, 2022. "How does air pollution affect urban innovation capability? Evidence from 281 cities in China," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 166-178.
    45. Deng, Haiyan & Zhang, Wenjia & Liu, Dan, 2023. "Does carbon emission trading system induce enterprises’ green innovation?," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    46. Awan, Usama & Shamim, Saqib & Khan, Zaheer & Zia, Najam Ul & Shariq, Syed Muhammad & Khan, Muhammad Naveed, 2021. "Big data analytics capability and decision-making: The role of data-driven insight on circular economy performance," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    47. Gan, Tian & Jiang, Yan & Wu, Xi & Zhang, Mingxin, 2024. "Digital government and regional innovation," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 238(C).
    48. Horbach, Jens, 2008. "Determinants of environmental innovation--New evidence from German panel data sources," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 163-173, February.
    49. Feng, Suling & Zhang, Rong & Li, Guoxiang, 2022. "Environmental decentralization, digital finance and green technology innovation," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 70-83.
    50. Jianling Xu & Jiao Hong & Zhiyuan Zhou, 2023. "Local Attention to Environment and Green Innovation: Evidence from Listed Manufacturing Companies in 120 Cities in China," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 59(4), pages 1062-1073, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Huang, Xiaoqi & Liu, Wei & Zhang, Zhan & Zou, Xinyu & Li, Pujuan, 2023. "Quantity or quality: Environmental legislation and corporate green innovations," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(PB).
    2. Rui Ding & Fangcheng Sun, 2023. "Impact of River Chief System on Green Technology Innovation: Empirical Evidence from the Yangtze River Economic Belt," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-22, April.
    3. Tang, Chang & Xu, Yuanyuan & Hao, Yu & Wu, Haitao & Xue, Yan, 2021. "What is the role of telecommunications infrastructure construction in green technology innovation? A firm-level analysis for China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    4. Shiqin Su & Siying Li, 2025. "Energy efficiency suppression and spatial spillover effect: a quasi-natural experiment based on China’s environmental protection tax law," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 27(3), pages 6397-6422, March.
    5. Minxin Zuo & Tao Wu, 2022. "Does Environmental Credit Rating Promote Green Innovation in Enterprises? Evidence from Heavy Polluting Listed Companies in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-15, October.
    6. Fang, Zhenming & Kong, Xiaoran & Sensoy, Ahmet & Cui, Xin & Cheng, Feiyang, 2021. "Government’s awareness of Environmental protection and corporate green innovation: A natural experiment from the new environmental protection law in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 294-312.
    7. Huang, Xiaoqi & Liu, Wei & Zhang, Zhan & Zhao, Zhihui, 2022. "Intensive judicial oversight and corporate green innovations: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    8. Zhou, Peng & Song, Frank M. & Huang, Xiaoqi, 2023. "Environmental regulations and firms' green innovations: Transforming pressure into incentives," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    9. Hao, Xiaoli & Sun, Qingyu & Li, Ke & Li, Peilun & Wu, Haitao, 2024. "Does environmental decentralisation improve ESG performance? Evidence from listed companies in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    10. Ge Zhang & Yuxiang Gao & Gaoyong Li, 2023. "Research on Digital Transformation and Green Technology Innovation—Evidence from China’s Listed Manufacturing Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-23, April.
    11. Zhao, Shikuan & Abbassi, Wajih & Hunjra, Ahmed Imran & Zhang, Han, 2024. "How do government R&D subsidies affect corporate green innovation choices? Perspectives from strategic and substantive innovation," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PA), pages 1378-1396.
    12. Shao, Cuiying & Liu, Zhanyu, 2024. "Advancing green innovation through the establishment of data regulatory bodies: Insights from the Big Data Bureau in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 308-325.
    13. Han Long & Gen-Fu Feng & Chun-Ping Chang, 2023. "How does ESG performance promote corporate green innovation?," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 2889-2913, August.
    14. Pereira, Vijay & Nair, Asha KS. & Bhattacharyya, Som Sekhar, 2025. "Exploring and investigating the complementarity and multidimensionality of innovation for sustainability research: Past present and future," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    15. Bataineh, Mohammad Jamal & Sánchez-Sellero, Pedro & Ayad, Fayssal, 2024. "The role of organizational innovation in the development of green innovations in Spanish firms," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 527-538.
    16. Miaomiao Tao & Pierre Failler & Lim Thye Goh & Wee Yeap Lau & Hanghang Dong & Liang Xie, 2022. "Quantify the Effect of China’s Emission Trading Scheme on Low-carbon Eco-efficiency: Evidence from China’s 283 Cities," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 27(6), pages 1-33, August.
    17. Quan, Xiaofeng & Zhang, Ke & Zhong, Rui & Zhu, Yuxiang, 2023. "Political corruption and green innovation," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    18. Morteza Akbari & Hamid Padash & Zahra Shahabaldini Parizi & Haniye Rezaei & Elmira Shahriari & Ala Khosravani, 2022. "A bibliometric review of green innovation research: identifying knowledge domain and network," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 56(6), pages 3993-4023, December.
    19. Jana Hojnik, 2017. "In Pursuit of Eco-innovation," UPP Monograph Series, University of Primorska Press, number 978-961-7023-53-4.
    20. Yin, Hongying & Qian, Yuting & Zhang, Bin & Pérez, Rebeca, 2023. "Urban construction and firm green innovation: Evidence from China's low-carbon pilot city initiative," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:asieco:v:95:y:2024:i:c:s1049007824001234. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/asieco .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.