The heterogeneous impacts of interregional green technology spillover on energy intensity in China

The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the effects of interregional green technology spillover (GTS) on energy intensity, with a special emphasis on the heterogeneous effect caused by absorptive capacity. Based on the panel data of China's 30 provinces from 2000 to 2016, this paper uses R&D investment intensity (RDI) and intraregional transportation convenience (TRA) to represent regional absorptive capacity and applies a panel smooth transition regression (PSTR) model to investigate how absorptive capacity affect the way interregional GTS have an impact on energy intensity. The linear panel regression model is first estimated, and its results demonstrate that the interregional GTS can decrease energy intensity in China. However, the results of further estimation with PSTR model show that there is a threshold effect of GTS on energy intensity in China. GTS contributes greatly to the reduction of energy intensity for provinces with higher technology absorptive capacity. This effect, however, is insignificant for provinces with lower absorptive capacity. The time-variant individual effects of GTS on energy intensity, which indicates the heterogeneity of the dataset, also are derived. Overall, the effect of GTS on the reduction of energy intensity shows a positive and increasing trend throughout the period; nevertheless, it shows a divergence over the sample provinces, indicating the decreasing effect of GTS on energy intensity depends on the absorptive capacity of each province and the time period. In light of these findings, this paper also provides several policy suggestions.