IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v256y2026ipcs0960148125017434.html

Energy-biased technological progress and green innovation: Evidence from Chinese cities

Author

Listed:
  • Zhao, Xing
  • Hu, Lu
  • Chen, Xinya
  • Ling, Long

Abstract

Compared with other biased technological progress (BTP), energy-biased technological progress (NBT) targets improvements in energy efficiency, enhancing the marginal output of energy inputs more than that of other production factors. Given its knowledge accumulation and cost competitiveness in the energy sector, NBT helps mitigate uncertainty in green technology innovation (GTE) and fosters the transformation of economic and social structures toward sustainability, aiding the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Despite its significance, the relationship between NBT and GTE has not been adequately studied. This paper investigates the impact of NBT on GTE using panel data from 278 Chinese prefecture-level cities over the period 2011–2020. The major findings include: (1) NBT significantly promotes GTE, and this conclusion remains reliable under robustness and endogeneity tests. (2) The positive effect is more pronounced in cities with low energy endowment, high proportions of fossil fuel, and high levels of public environmental concern. (3) NBT enhances GTE through three mechanisms: innovation factor allocation effect, energy transition effect, and green development effect. These findings extend the theoretical framework of GTE and offer valuable policy implications for sustainable policy strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhao, Xing & Hu, Lu & Chen, Xinya & Ling, Long, 2026. "Energy-biased technological progress and green innovation: Evidence from Chinese cities," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 256(PC).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:256:y:2026:i:pc:s0960148125017434
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2025.124079
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148125017434
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2025.124079?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

    for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:renene:v:256:y:2026:i:pc:s0960148125017434. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    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.