IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v14y2025i4p686-d1619199.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of Digital–Financial Dual Pilot Policy on Carbon Emission Efficiency: Evidence from Chinese Cities

Author

Listed:
  • Xinchun Zhang

    (School of Finance, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing 102206, China)

  • Dong Liang

    (College of Economics and Management, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China)

  • Shuo Zhang

    (College of Economics and Management, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China)

Abstract

Enhancing carbon emission efficiency is crucial for achieving carbon reduction and economic growth. This paper focuses on the digital–financial dual pilot policy formed by the Broadband China strategy pilot (BCP) policy and the Promoting Science and Technology to Combine with Finance pilot (TFCP) policy. Using the panel data of 284 prefecture-level cities in China from 2007 to 2022 and nighttime light data, this paper adopts the super-efficiency SBM model to calculate urban carbon emission efficiency. Based on this efficiency, this paper employs the staggered difference-in-differences model to discuss the impact of the dual pilot policy on urban carbon emission efficiency. The research results indicate that the dual pilot policy significantly improves urban carbon emission efficiency, and compared to the single pilot policy, the dual pilot policy has a greater effect on improving carbon emission efficiency. This conclusion still holds after the parallel trend test, heterogeneous treatment effects test, and other robustness tests. Mechanism analysis demonstrates that the dual pilot policy enhances urban labor, capital, and credit resource allocation efficiency and green technological innovation by generating resource allocation and collaborative innovation effects, thereby improving urban carbon emission efficiency. Further analysis reveals that implementing the TFCP policy first, followed by the BCP policy, can more effectively maximize the dual pilot policy’s positive impact on urban carbon emission efficiency. The impact of the dual pilot policy on urban carbon emission efficiency exhibits heterogeneity, depending on the resource endowment, digital infrastructure level, administrative hierarchy, economic and financial development level, and intellectual property protection intensity of cities. This paper provides valuable insights for effectively implementing the dual pilot policy and achieving a win–win outcome in carbon reduction and economic development.

Suggested Citation

  • Xinchun Zhang & Dong Liang & Shuo Zhang, 2025. "The Impact of Digital–Financial Dual Pilot Policy on Carbon Emission Efficiency: Evidence from Chinese Cities," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-31, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:14:y:2025:i:4:p:686-:d:1619199
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/4/686/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/4/686/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Per Andersen & Niels Christian Petersen, 1993. "A Procedure for Ranking Efficient Units in Data Envelopment Analysis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 39(10), pages 1261-1264, October.
    3. 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.
    4. Kunpeng Ai & Xiangwu Yan, 2024. "Can Green Infrastructure Investment Reduce Urban Carbon Emissions:Empirical Evidence from China," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-18, February.
    5. Hong, Qianqian & Cui, Linhao & Hong, Penghui, 2022. "The impact of carbon emissions trading on energy efficiency: Evidence from quasi-experiment in China's carbon emissions trading pilot," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    6. Fang, Guochang & Gao, Zhengye & Tian, Lixin & Fu, Min, 2022. "What drives urban carbon emission efficiency? – Spatial analysis based on nighttime light data," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 312(C).
    7. Clément de Chaisemartin & Xavier D'Haultfœuille, 2020. "Two-Way Fixed Effects Estimators with Heterogeneous Treatment Effects," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(9), pages 2964-2996, September.
    8. Tian, Ying & Feng, Chao, 2022. "The internal-structural effects of different types of environmental regulations on China's green total-factor productivity," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    9. Yinlong Li & Jingjing Zhang, 2024. "Research on the Carbon Emission Reduction Effect of the Dual Pilot Policy of Low-Carbon Cities and New Energy Demonstration Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-16, November.
    10. Goodman-Bacon, Andrew, 2021. "Difference-in-differences with variation in treatment timing," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 254-277.
    11. Jiang, Tangyang & Cao, Chi & Lei, Leyuan & Hou, Jie & Yu, Yang & Jahanger, Atif, 2023. "Temporal and spatial patterns, efficiency losses and impact factors of energy mismatch in China under environmental constraints," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    12. Shu, Yunxia & Deng, Nanxin & Wu, Yuming & Bao, Shuming & Bie, Ao, 2023. "Urban governance and sustainable development: The effect of smart city on carbon emission in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    13. Li, Pei & Lu, Yi & Wang, Jin, 2016. "Does flattening government improve economic performance? Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 18-37.
    14. Li, Guoxiang & Wu, Haoyue & Jiang, Jieshu & Zong, Qingqing, 2023. "Digital finance and the low-carbon energy transition (LCET) from the perspective of capital-biased technical progress," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    15. Ying Lu & Mahmood Ahmad & Haotian Zhang & Jingxian Guo, 2024. "Effects of Science and Technology Finance on Green Total Factor Productivity in China: Insights from an Empirical Spatial Durbin Model," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(2), pages 7280-7306, June.
    16. Ma, Li & Li, Xiumin & Pan, Yu, 2024. "Employee allocation efficiency in the context of the digital economy: Evidence from “Broadband China” demonstration cities," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 735-752.
    17. Hong Xu & Baozhen Liu & Kai Lin & Yunyun Zhang & Bei Liu & Mingjie Xie, 2022. "Towards Carbon Neutrality: Carbon Emission Performance of Science and Technology Finance Policy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-22, December.
    18. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Wang, Fuhao, 2022. "How does digital inclusive finance affect carbon intensity?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 174-190.
    19. Lu, Yi & Tao, Zhigang & Zhu, Lianming, 2017. "Identifying FDI spillovers," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 75-90.
    20. Wang, Rui & Luo, Hang (Robin), 2022. "How does financial inclusion affect bank stability in emerging economies?," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(PA).
    21. Fan, Meiting & Li, Mengxu & Liu, Jianghua & Shao, Shuai, 2022. "Is high natural resource dependence doomed to low carbon emission efficiency? Evidence from 283 cities in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    22. Shuangcheng Luo & Yangli Yuan, 2023. "The Path to Low Carbon: The Impact of Network Infrastructure Construction on Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-20, February.
    23. Yang, Mengjun & Zheng, Shilin & Zhou, Lin, 2022. "Broadband internet and enterprise innovation," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jinan Jia & Renhua Zhang & Guangpu Zhao & Feiya Chen & Peng Wang, 2025. "Digital Inclusive Finance and Urban Carbon Intensity Reduction: Unraveling Green Credit Mechanisms and Spatial Heterogeneity Across Chinese Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-26, May.

    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, Xuhui & Zhou, Tao & Zhang, Ning, 2025. "How does the carbon market influence the marginal abatement cost? Evidence from China's coal-fired power plants," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 378(PA).
    2. Dong, Zhanyu & Cai, Jiayi & Li, Xuchao & Luan, Mengna, 2025. "Firm-level impacts and recovery dynamics following a public health crisis: Lessons from China’s SARS experience," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    3. Xufei Zhang & Hongsheng Fang & Lin Guo, 2023. "Corporate Endowment Insurance Fee Reduction and Employee Wages: Evidence from China," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 31(2), pages 192-222, March.
    4. Li, Yuan & Yi, Yuyao & Li, Xiaofan & Tao, Yunqing, 2024. "Do error-tolerance and correction mechanisms enhance the performance of state-owned enterprises in China?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PB).
    5. Liang, Shuzhen & Ye, Yongwei & Yun, Feng, 2024. "Social credit system construction and entrepreneurial activity: A quasi-natural experiment from China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    6. Liang, Dong & Liu, Yu & Zhou, Meifang & Zhao, Luben & Li, Xinbei, 2025. "Does digital infrastructure exacerbate income inequality? Evidence from the Broadband China Strategy," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 360-373.
    7. Wang, Lisha & Pan, Minjie & Qian, Xinlei & Lv, Kangjuan, 2025. "Do specialized courts matter? Environmental judiciary and corporate emissions in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    8. Weicheng Xu & Hanxia Li, 2024. "Can Digital Finance Enable China’s Industrial Carbon Unlocking under Environmental Regulatory Constraints? Joint Tests of Regression Analysis and Qualitative Comparative Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-37, May.
    9. Liao, Hongji & Zhang, Jiarui & Gong, Runze & Zhang, Wen, 2025. "The mitigating effect of digital inclusive finance development on urban environmental pollution: Insights from innovation capacity and financing constraints," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    10. Hu, Wen-Quan & Su, Yunqing & Fang, Hongsheng, 2025. "Constraints and incentives: Promoting air pollution governance through performance evaluation system," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    11. Chen, Shiyi & Jiang, Lingduo & Liu, Wanlin & Song, Hong, 2022. "Fireworks regulation, air pollution, and public health: Evidence from China," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    12. Bas Scheer & Wiljan van den Berge & Maarten Goos & Alan Manning & Anna Salomons, 2022. "Alternative Work Arrangements and Worker Outcomes: Evidence from Payrolling," CPB Discussion Paper 435, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    13. Simon Freyaldenhoven & Christian Hansen & Jorge Perez Perez & Jesse Shapiro, 2021. "Visualization, Identification, and stimation in the Linear Panel Event-Study Design," Working Papers 21-44, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    14. Ling-Yun He & Xiao-Feng Qi, 2021. "Environmental Courts, Environment and Employment: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-16, June.
    15. Zhong, Shen & Zhou, Zhicheng & Gao, Wei, 2025. "Impact of regional finance reform and innovation policies on green innovation in pilot cities: A quasi-natural experiment," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 888-911.
    16. Cui, Yi, 2024. "Place-based policies and capital misallocation: Evidence from Chinese cities," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 48(4).
    17. Xianna Hong & Manxiu Ning & Qiuhua Chen & Chenyong Shi & Nan Wang, 2025. "How does command-and-control environmental regulation impact firm value? A study based on ESG perspective," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 27(5), pages 11477-11508, May.
    18. Li, Lei & Liu, Bocong & Sheng, Bin & Wang, Tianyu, 2025. "“A tale of two rails”: Transportation infrastructure and technological spillovers from R&D center foreign firms," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    19. Dong, Siyuan & Wang, Na & Fan, Chengwei & Chen, Shi & Zhang, Lei, 2024. "E-commerce and rural women entrepreneurship ——Based on the quasi-natural experiment of “comprehensive demonstration policy” for E-commerce in rural areas," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 749-765.
    20. Chen, Hongwen & Cheng, Ken & Zhang, Meiyang, 2023. "Does geographic proximity affect firms’ cross-regional development? Evidence from high-speed rail construction in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 126(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:gam:jlands:v:14:y:2025:i:4:p:686-:d:1619199. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.