How Resource-Exhausted City transition program enable green technological innovation: Evidence from county-level macro and micro perspectives in China

As resource-exhausted cities confront the dual challenges of industrial restructuring and sustainable development, green technological innovation has emerged as a crucial driver of their transformation. This paper examines the impact of the Resource-Exhausted City Transition policies on green technological innovation. The empirical results indicate that, at the micro level, support policies significantly promote green technological innovation by increasing corporate R&D expenditures, reducing tax burdens, and enhancing executives' green perceptions. At the macro level, industrial structure rationalization and market integration further enhance the effectiveness of the policies. The effects of these policies vary by city type, innovation category, and spatial characteristics. Specifically, policies have a significant effect on metallurgical and petroleum-based resource-exhausted areas, while the impact is less pronounced for coal and forest industry-based areas. By innovation type, they more effectively promote end-of-pipe control innovations than source- or process-control innovations. Geographically, the policies have a more pronounced impact in the Midwest, South, and densely populated areas, with a smaller effect in the East, North, and sparsely populated areas. The government should enhance multi-level support for enterprises’ green innovation, strengthen macro-control mechanisms, and foster synergies in green development to drive long-term sustainability in these regions.