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The Impact of Innovative and Low-Carbon Pilot Cities on Green Innovation

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  • Song Wang

    (School of Business Administration, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110167, China)

  • Yuyao Cao

    (School of Business Administration, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110167, China)

  • Yifan Wang

    (School of Business Administration, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110167, China)

  • Chaoquan Wang

    (School of Business Administration, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110167, China)

Abstract

Green innovation has emerged as a crucial strategy for reconciling economic development with environmental protection. While numerous policies target various aspects of innovation or green development individually, fewer policies address green innovation specifically. This raises the question of whether individual policies alone are sufficient to advance green innovation or whether a combination of policies is required. To address this, we analyze data from Chinese cities at the prefectural level or higher, focusing on the intersecting policies of innovative cities and low-carbon pilot cities as key explanatory variables. Using a longitudinal difference-in-differences model, our study examines the effects of these concurrent policies on green innovation and investigates the mechanisms underlying their effectiveness. Our findings reveal that the dual-pilot policy significantly promotes green innovation through four key pathways: regional economy, financial level, employment conditions, and education level. After confirming the efficacy of each policy individually, we rule out the impact of single or non-overlapping policies. This confirms that the observed enhancement in green innovation results from the combined effect of the two policies rather than from either policy in isolation. The study concludes with recommendations for further enhancing green innovation, based on the empirical evidence obtained.

Suggested Citation

  • Song Wang & Yuyao Cao & Yifan Wang & Chaoquan Wang, 2024. "The Impact of Innovative and Low-Carbon Pilot Cities on Green Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-29, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:16:p:7234-:d:1461903
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