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Do regional integration policies matter? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment on heterogeneous green innovation

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  • Li, Lei
  • Ma, Shaojun
  • Zheng, Yilin
  • Ma, Xiaoyu
  • Duan, Kaifeng

Abstract

In recent years, the governance crisis represented by air pollution, climate warming, and resource and environmental degradation has restricted the sustainable development of cities. Green innovation, characterized by low carbon intensity and efficiency, is an important way to solve the dilemma of resource constraints and ecosystem degradation. This paper constructs a quasi-natural experiment with China's regional integration policies as the shock, and studies the policy effects of heterogeneous green innovation from 2005 to 2019. The results show that: the impact of regional integration policies on total green innovation is dynamic and sustainable; regional integration policies can positively promote exploitative green innovation, but have no significant impact on exploratory green innovation; and the effects of regional integration policies on green innovation in cities of different sizes, locations, and pollution levels is heterogeneous. Future policy design should therefore pay more attention to the incentive effect of exploratory green innovation.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Lei & Ma, Shaojun & Zheng, Yilin & Ma, Xiaoyu & Duan, Kaifeng, 2022. "Do regional integration policies matter? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment on heterogeneous green innovation," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:116:y:2022:i:c:s0140988322005552
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2022.106426
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    Cited by:

    1. Long, Dengjie & Du, Junhua & Xin, Yongrong, 2023. "Assessing the nexus between natural resource consumption and urban sprawl: Empirical evidence from 288 cities in China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PB).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Regional integration policies; Exploitative green innovation; Exploratory green innovation; Difference-in-differences method; Policy effect; Heterogeneity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O2 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy
    • O3 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights

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