IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2018i6p2002-d152405.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Diversified Agglomeration, Specialized Agglomeration, and Emission Reduction Effect—A Nonlinear Test Based on Chinese City Data

Author

Listed:
  • Neng Shen

    (College of Public Administration, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China)

  • Yuqing Zhao

    (College of Public Administration, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China)

  • Qunwei Wang

    (College of Economics and Management, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 211106, China)

Abstract

Industrialization and urbanization has rapidly advanced in China. Therefore, clarifying the relationship between industrial agglomeration and environmental pollution resolves questions if intensive or dispersed development should be adopted for the future Chinese industry or not. By distinguishing between specialized and diversified agglomeration, this paper adopts the threshold regression method to investigate the differentiated influence of industrial agglomeration stages on pollution emission reduction. This was based on panel data from 2003 to 2016 on 285 prefecture-level cities in China. The result indicates that moderate degrees of industrial agglomeration and suitable agglomeration modes are conducive for the reduction of pollution emission. From a perspective of environmental protection, the development of diversified agglomeration is superior to that of specialized agglomeration. Specifically, a “U-shaped” relationship was found between specialized agglomeration and environmental pollution, suggesting that the former first mitigated and then worsened environmental pollution. This staged evolution of diversified agglomeration exerts a more-complex influence on environmental pollution. The following policy implications have been proposed: The currently implemented industrial growth pole strategy in China should fully utilize the “self-purification” effect of agglomeration to achieve energy conservation and emission reduction. Furthermore, differentiated agglomeration policies should be formulated in response to various growth poles according to different stages of industrial agglomeration. In addition, efforts should be made towards creating an interactive early warning mechanism for the spatial distribution of both economic activities and pollution.

Suggested Citation

  • Neng Shen & Yuqing Zhao & Qunwei Wang, 2018. "Diversified Agglomeration, Specialized Agglomeration, and Emission Reduction Effect—A Nonlinear Test Based on Chinese City Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-22, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:6:p:2002-:d:152405
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/6/2002/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/6/2002/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Miles M. Finney & Janet E. Kohlhase, 2008. "The Effect Of Urbanization On Labor Turnover," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(2), pages 311-328, May.
    2. Lydia Greunz, 2003. "Geographically and technologically mediated knowledge spillovers between European regions," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 37(4), pages 657-680, December.
    3. Ciccone, Antonio, 2002. "Agglomeration effects in Europe," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 213-227, February.
    4. Marcus Berliant & Shin-Kun Peng & Ping Wang, 2014. "Taxing pollution: agglomeration and welfare consequences," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 55(3), pages 665-704, April.
    5. Martin, Philippe & Mayer, Thierry & Mayneris, Florian, 2011. "Spatial concentration and plant-level productivity in France," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 182-195, March.
    6. Danielle Galliano & Marie-Beno�t Magrini & Pierre Triboulet, 2015. "Marshall's versus Jacobs' Externalities in Firm Innovation Performance: The Case of French Industry," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(11), pages 1840-1858, November.
    7. Yoshihiro Hashiguchi & Kiyoyasu Tanaka, 2015. "Agglomeration and firm-level productivity: A Bayesian spatial approach," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94, pages 95-114, November.
    8. Rosenthal, Stuart S. & Strange, William C., 2001. "The Determinants of Agglomeration," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 191-229, September.
    9. Mario Forni & Sergio Paba, 2002. "Spillovers and the growth of local industries," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(2), pages 151-171, June.
    10. He, Jie & Wang, Hua, 2012. "Economic structure, development policy and environmental quality: An empirical analysis of environmental Kuznets curves with Chinese municipal data," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 49-59.
    11. Feldman, Maryann P. & Audretsch, David B., 1999. "Innovation in cities:: Science-based diversity, specialization and localized competition," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 409-429, February.
    12. Martin Andersson & Hans Lööf, 2011. "Agglomeration and productivity: evidence from firm-level data," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 46(3), pages 601-620, June.
    13. Gilles Duranton, 2015. "Growing through Cities in Developing Countries," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 30(1), pages 39-73.
    14. Henri L.F. de Groot & Jacques Poot & Martijn J. Smit, 2007. "Agglomeration, Innovation and Regional Development: Theoretical Perspectives and Meta-Analysis," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 07-079/3, Tinbergen Institute.
    15. Batisse, Cecile, 2002. "Dynamic externalities and local growth: A panel data analysis applied to Chinese provinces," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 13(2-3), pages 231-251.
    16. Pasquale Pazienza, 2015. "The Environmental Impact of the FDI Inflow in the Transport Sector of OECD Countries and Policy Implications," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 21(1), pages 105-116, March.
    17. Ekpeno L. Effiong, 2018. "On the urbanization-pollution nexus in Africa: a semiparametric analysis," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 445-456, January.
    18. Mi, Zhifu & Zhang, Yunkun & Guan, Dabo & Shan, Yuli & Liu, Zhu & Cong, Ronggang & Yuan, Xiao-Chen & Wei, Yi-Ming, 2016. "Consumption-based emission accounting for Chinese cities," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 1073-1081.
    19. Ron Boschma & Asier Minondo & Mikel Navarro, 2013. "The Emergence of New Industries at the Regional Level in S pain: A Proximity Approach Based on Product Relatedness," Economic Geography, Clark University, vol. 89(1), pages 29-51, January.
    20. Argentino Pessoa, 2014. "Agglomeration and regional growth policy: externalities versus comparative advantages," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 53(1), pages 1-27, August.
    21. Brian R. Copeland & M. Scott Taylor, 1994. "North-South Trade and the Environment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(3), pages 755-787.
    22. Giulio Cainelli & Roberto Ganau & Donato Iacobucci, 2016. "Do Geographic Concentration and Vertically Related Variety Foster Firm Productivity? Micro-Evidence from Italy," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 197-217, June.
    23. Jordi Jofre-Monseny & Raquel Marín-López & Elisabet Viladecans-Marsal, 2014. "The Determinants Of Localization And Urbanization Economies: Evidence From The Location Of New Firms In Spain," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 313-337, March.
    24. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/c8dmi8nm4pdjkuc9g8mc6ihim is not listed on IDEAS
    25. Maryann Feldman, 1999. "The New Economics Of Innovation, Spillovers And Agglomeration: Areview Of Empirical Studies," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(1-2), pages 5-25.
    26. Cécile Batisse, 2002. "Dynamic externalities and local growth," Post-Print hal-02139698, HAL.
    27. Xu, Bin & Lin, Boqiang, 2015. "How industrialization and urbanization process impacts on CO2 emissions in China: Evidence from nonparametric additive regression models," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 188-202.
    28. M. Hartog & R. Boschma & M. Sotarauta, 2012. "The Impact of Related Variety on Regional Employment Growth in Finland 1993--2006: High-Tech versus Medium/Low-Tech," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(6), pages 459-476, August.
    29. Zoltan J. Acs, 2005. "Innovation and the Growth of Cities," Contributions to Economic Analysis, in: Urban Dynamics and Growth: Advances in Urban Economics, pages 635-658, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    30. Hansen, Bruce E., 1999. "Threshold effects in non-dynamic panels: Estimation, testing, and inference," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 345-368, December.
    31. Chauvin, Juan Pablo & Glaeser, Edward & Ma, Yueran & Tobio, Kristina, 2017. "What is different about urbanization in rich and poor countries? Cities in Brazil, China, India and the United States," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 17-49.
    32. Akihiro Otsuka & Mika Goto & Toshiyuki Sueyoshi, 2014. "Energy efficiency and agglomeration economies: the case of Japanese manufacturing industries," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(2), pages 195-212, June.
    33. Henderson, Vernon, 2003. "The Urbanization Process and Economic Growth: The So-What Question," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 47-71, March.
    34. Ryohei Nakamura, 2012. "Contributions of local agglomeration to productivity: Stochastic frontier estimations from Japanese manufacturing firm data," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 91(3), pages 569-597, August.
    35. Forni, Mario & Paba, Sergio, 2002. "Spillovers and the Growth of Local Industries," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(2), pages 151-171, June.
    36. Cole, Matthew A. & Elliott, Robert J.R. & Wu, Shanshan, 2008. "Industrial activity and the environment in China: An industry-level analysis," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 393-408, September.
    37. Martin, Philippe & Mayer, Thierry & Mayneris, Florian, 2011. "Spatial concentration and plant-level productivity in France," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 182-195, March.
    38. Zhijun Feng & Wei Chen, 2018. "Environmental Regulation, Green Innovation, and Industrial Green Development: An Empirical Analysis Based on the Spatial Durbin Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-22, January.
    39. Verhoef, Erik T. & Nijkamp, Peter, 2002. "Externalities in urban sustainability: Environmental versus localization-type agglomeration externalities in a general spatial equilibrium model of a single-sector monocentric industrial city," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 157-179, February.
    40. Zeng, Dao-Zhi & Zhao, Laixun, 2009. "Pollution havens and industrial agglomeration," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 141-153, September.
    41. Edward L. Glaeser & Joshua D. Gottlieb, 2009. "The Wealth of Cities: Agglomeration Economies and Spatial Equilibrium in the United States," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(4), pages 983-1028, December.
    42. Ulrich Wagner & Christopher Timmins, 2009. "Agglomeration Effects in Foreign Direct Investment and the Pollution Haven Hypothesis," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 43(2), pages 231-256, June.
    43. QIN, Bo & WU, Jianfeng, 2015. "Does urban concentration mitigate CO2 emissions? Evidence from China 1998–2008," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 220-231.
    44. Ron Martin & Peter Sunley, 2006. "Path dependence and regional economic evolution," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 6(4), pages 395-437, August.
    45. Wu, F. & Fan, L.W. & Zhou, P. & Zhou, D.Q., 2012. "Industrial energy efficiency with CO2 emissions in China: A nonparametric analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 164-172.
    46. Mads Bruun Ingstrup & Torben Damgaard, 2013. "Cluster Facilitation from a Cluster Life Cycle Perspective," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(4), pages 556-574, April.
    47. Koen Frenken & Frank Van Oort & Thijs Verburg, 2007. "Related Variety, Unrelated Variety and Regional Economic Growth," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(5), pages 685-697.
    48. Siqi Zheng & Matthew E. Kahn, 2013. "Understanding China's Urban Pollution Dynamics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 51(3), pages 731-772, September.
    49. J. Daniel Khazzoom, 1980. "Economic Implications of Mandated Efficiency in Standards for Household Appliances," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4), pages 21-40.
    50. Ron Boschma & Asier Minondo & Mikel Navarro, 2012. "Related variety and regional growth in Spain," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 91(2), pages 241-256, June.
    51. Lin, Boqiang & Zhao, Hongli, 2016. "Technological progress and energy rebound effect in China׳s textile industry: Evidence and policy implications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 173-181.
    52. Melo, Patricia C. & Graham, Daniel J. & Noland, Robert B., 2009. "A meta-analysis of estimates of urban agglomeration economies," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 332-342, May.
    53. Jaakko Simonen & Rauli Svento & Artti Juutinen, 2015. "Specialization and diversity as drivers of economic growth: Evidence from High-Tech industries," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94(2), pages 229-247, June.
    54. Costantini, Valeria & Mazzanti, Massimiliano & Montini, Anna, 2013. "Environmental performance, innovation and spillovers. Evidence from a regional NAMEA," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 101-114.
    55. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/c8dmi8nm4pdjkuc9g8mc6ihim is not listed on IDEAS
    56. Khaled Thabet, 2015. "Industrial structure and total factor productivity: the Tunisian manufacturing sector between 1998 and 2004," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 54(2), pages 639-662, March.
    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. Zhang, Wenxi & Wang, Bo & Wang, Jian & Wu, Qun & Wei, Yehua Dennis, 2022. "How does industrial agglomeration affect urban land use efficiency? A spatial analysis of Chinese cities," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    2. Chang Zhao & Boya Zhou, 2021. "Impact of Express Delivery Industry’s Development on Transportation Sector’s Carbon Emissions: An Empirical Analysis from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-21, August.
    3. Zhidong Liu & Yang Cai & Xiaojing Hao, 2020. "The Agglomeration of Manufacturing Industry, Innovation and Haze Pollution in China: Theory and Evidence," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-28, March.
    4. Dong Feng & Jian Li & Xintao Li & Zaisheng Zhang, 2019. "The Effects of Urban Sprawl and Industrial Agglomeration on Environmental Efficiency: Evidence from the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Urban Agglomeration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-12, May.
    5. Batara Surya & Agus Salim & Hernita Hernita & Seri Suriani & Firman Menne & Emil Salim Rasyidi, 2021. "Land Use Change, Urban Agglomeration, and Urban Sprawl: A Sustainable Development Perspective of Makassar City, Indonesia," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-31, May.
    6. Jiaoping Yang & Shujun Wang & Shan Sun & Jianhua Zhu, 2022. "Influence Mechanism of High-Tech Industrial Agglomeration on Green Innovation Performance: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-20, March.
    7. Yu Pei & Yingming Zhu & Suxia Liu & Menglu Xie, 2021. "Industrial agglomeration and environmental pollution: based on the specialized and diversified agglomeration in the Yangtze River Delta," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 4061-4085, March.
    8. Lu Zhang & Renyan Mu & Shuhua Hu & Quan Zhang & Song Wang, 2021. "Impacts of Manufacturing Specialized and Diversified Agglomeration on the Eco-Innovation Efficiency—A Nonlinear Test from Dynamic Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-27, March.
    9. Changhui Hu & Weidong Liu & Yuqiu Jia & Yaya Jin, 2019. "Characterization of Territorial Spatial Agglomeration Based on POI Data: A Case Study of Ningbo City, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-16, September.

    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. Meihong Dai & Xianneng Li & Yuduo Lu, 2017. "How Urbanization Economies Impact TFP of R&D Performers: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-17, September.
    2. Hui Peng & Yifan Wang & Yisha Hu & Hong Shen, 2020. "Agglomeration Production, Industry Association and Carbon Emission Performance: Based on Spatial Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-18, September.
    3. Xiaohu Li & Xigang Zhu & Jianshu Li & Chao Gu, 2021. "Influence of Different Industrial Agglomeration Modes on Eco-Efficiency in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-23, December.
    4. Shen, Neng & Peng, Hui, 2021. "Can industrial agglomeration achieve the emission-reduction effect?," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    5. Giulio Cainelli & Andrea Fracasso & Giuseppe Vittucci Marzetti, 2015. "Spatial agglomeration and productivity in Italy: A panel smooth transition regression approach," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94, pages 39-67, November.
    6. Carlos Carreira & Luís Lopes, 2016. "Collecting new pieces to the regional knowledge spillovers puzzle: high-tech versus low-tech industries," GEMF Working Papers 2016-06, GEMF, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra.
    7. Carlos Carreira & Luís Lopes, 2016. "Collecting new pieces to the regional knowledge spillovers puzzle: high-tech versus low-tech industries," GEMF Working Papers 2016-06, GEMF, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra.
    8. Matthias Firgo & Peter Mayerhofer, 2015. "Wissens-Spillovers und regionale Entwicklung - welche strukturpolitische Ausrichtung optimiert des Wachstum?," Working Paper Reihe der AK Wien - Materialien zu Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft 144, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik.
    9. Grace Carolina Guevara-Rosero & Stéphane Riou & Corinne Autant-Bernard, 2019. "Agglomeration externalities in Ecuador: do urbanization and tertiarization matter?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(5), pages 706-719, May.
    10. Junsong Wang & Xinyue Ye & Yehua Dennis Wei, 2019. "Effects of Agglomeration, Environmental Regulations, and Technology on Pollutant Emissions in China: Integrating Spatial, Social, and Economic Network Analyses," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-20, January.
    11. Matthias Firgo & Peter Mayerhofer, 2015. "Wissensintensive Unternehmensdienste, Wissens-Spillovers und regionales Wachstum. Teilprojekt 1: Wissens-Spillovers und regionale Entwicklung – Welche strukturpolitische Ausrichtung optimiert das Wach," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 58342, April.
    12. Nicola Cortinovis & Frank Oort, 2015. "Variety, economic growth and knowledge intensity of European regions: a spatial panel analysis," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 55(1), pages 7-32, October.
    13. Carlos Carreira & Luís Lopes, 2018. "Regional knowledge spillovers: a firm-based analysis of non-linear effects," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(7), pages 948-958, July.
    14. Frank Van Oort, 2013. "Agglomeration Economics Beyond the Specialisation-Diversity Controversy," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1313, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Aug 2013.
    15. Niccolò Innocenti & Luciana Lazzeretti, 2018. "Relatedness and growth: The impact of creative industries to the wider economy," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1819, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Apr 2018.
    16. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Gobillon, Laurent, 2015. "The Empirics of Agglomeration Economies," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 247-348, Elsevier.
    17. S. Stavropoulos & F. G. Oort & M. J. Burger, 2020. "Heterogeneous relatedness and firm productivity," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 65(2), pages 403-437, October.
    18. Giulio Cainelli & Sandro Montresor & Giuseppe Vittucci Marzetti, 2014. "Spatial agglomeration and firm exit: a spatial dynamic analysis for Italian provinces," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 213-228, June.
    19. Jean Dubé & Cédric Brunelle, 2014. "Dots to dots: a general methodology to build local indicators using spatial micro-data," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 53(1), pages 245-272, August.
    20. Han, Feng & Xie, Rui & Fang, Jiayu, 2018. "Urban agglomeration economies and industrial energy efficiency," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 45-59.

    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:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:6:p:2002-:d:152405. 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.