IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i16p7185-d1720468.html

How Do National Key Development Zones Affect Land-Use Eco-Efficiency? Evidence from Counties in the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River

Author

Listed:
  • Keyi Zhang

    (School of Economics and Management, Zhengzhou University of Light Industry, Zhengzhou 450000, China)

  • Ke Zhang

    (School of Economics and Management, Zhengzhou University of Light Industry, Zhengzhou 450000, China)

  • Qian Zhou

    (School of Economics, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Nanhu Avenue 182, Wuhan 430073, China)

Abstract

Against the backdrop of coordinated development of national land use and ecological conservation, national key development zones (NKDZs), as the core carriers of China’s main functional zone planning, provide important reference models for regional development through their pathways to improving ecological efficiency of land. A double-difference model (DID) was used to evaluate the effects of the NKDZ policy on the eco-efficiency of land use, utilizing county-level governing bodies of the upper Yangtze River region in China as a sample from 2005 to 2020. The findings indicate that (1) when the NKDZs were established, the counties’ eco-efficiency in land use in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River considerably improved by 2.6%; this conclusion holds after several robustness checks, including counterfactual tests. (2) Mechanistic analysis reveals that NKDZs promote the enhancement of eco-efficiency in land use, mainly through the technical effect, the structural effect, and the “two processes” effect of promoting the coordinated development of industrialization and urbanization. (3) Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the policy effects on land-use eco-efficiency in municipal districts and cities at the county level are much greater than those in regular counties. Concerning subdistricts, the policy significantly promotes Sichuan, Guizhou, and Chongqing, whereas the effect on Yunnan is not significant. In light of the aforementioned findings, this study makes policy recommendations in terms of technological innovation, structural optimization, and differentiated land control to offer a practical foundation and theoretical justification for the effective use of land and ecological pressure alleviation within NKDZs.

Suggested Citation

  • Keyi Zhang & Ke Zhang & Qian Zhou, 2025. "How Do National Key Development Zones Affect Land-Use Eco-Efficiency? Evidence from Counties in the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-23, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:16:p:7185-:d:1720468
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/16/7185/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/16/7185/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Su, Yi & Fan, Qi-ming, 2022. "Renewable energy technology innovation, industrial structure upgrading and green development from the perspective of China's provinces," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    2. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "How Much Should We Trust Differences-In-Differences Estimates?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(1), pages 249-275.
    3. Ming Wei & Wen Chen & Yi Wang, 2024. "Assessment of the Implementation Effects of Main Functional Area Planning in the Yangtze River Economic Belt," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-17, June.
    4. Zheng, Guo & Barbieri, Elisa & Di Tommaso, Marco R. & Zhang, Lei, 2016. "Development zones and local economic growth: zooming in on the Chinese case," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 238-249.
    5. Beltrán-Esteve, Mercedes & Picazo-Tadeo, Andrés J., 2017. "Assessing environmental performance in the European Union: Eco-innovation versus catching-up," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 240-252.
    6. Romer, Paul M, 1990. "Endogenous Technological Change," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages 71-102, October.
    7. Sun, Yeran & Wang, Shaohua & Zhang, Xucai & Chan, Ting On & Wu, Wenjie, 2021. "Estimating local-scale domestic electricity energy consumption using demographic, nighttime light imagery and Twitter data," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    8. Liu, Jingming & Hou, Xianhui & Wang, Zhanqi & Shen, Yue, 2021. "Study the effect of industrial structure optimization on urban land-use efficiency in China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    9. Long-Hao Yang & Biyu Liu & Jun Liu, 2021. "Research and Development Talents Training in China Universities—Based on the Consideration of Education Management Cost Planning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-17, August.
    10. Alkon, Meir, 2018. "Do special economic zones induce developmental spillovers? Evidence from India’s states," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 396-409.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Du, Yan & Yan, Jie & Cao, Fangzhou & Li, Yifei & Zhou, Mao, 2023. "Higher education expansion and domestic value added in exports: Theory and evidence from China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    2. Tania Babina & Sabrina T. Howell, 2018. "Entrepreneurial Spillovers from Corporate R&D," NBER Working Papers 25360, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Jianmin You & Xiqiang Chen & Jindao Chen, 2021. "Decomposition of Industrial Electricity Efficiency and Electricity-Saving Potential of Special Economic Zones in China Considering the Heterogeneity of Administrative Hierarchy and Regional Location," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-22, September.
    4. Huang, Hongyun & Mbanyele, William & Wang, Fengrong & Song, Malin & Wang, Yuzhang, 2022. "Climbing the quality ladder of green innovation: Does green finance matter?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    5. Xin Li & Chunlei Huang & Shaoguo Zhan & Yunxi Wu, 2022. "The Carbon Emission Reduction Effect of City Cluster—Evidence from the Yangtze River Economic Belt in China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-14, August.
    6. Liu, Qing & Lu, Ruosi & Lu, Yi & Luong, Tuan Anh, 2021. "Import competition and firm innovation: Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    7. Madsen, Jakob B. & Raschky, Paul A. & Skali, Ahmed, 2015. "Does democracy drive income in the world, 1500–2000?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 175-195.
    8. Iddrisu, Abdul Malik & Danquah, Michael, 2024. "The financial inclusion agenda: Examining the role of conventional banks in deepening access to formal credit," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 48(2).
    9. Yunqing Zhao & Debao Dai & Wei Shao & Liang Ye, 2024. "Can the Carbon Trading Policy Enhance Resource Allocation Efficiency?—An Analysis of the Synergistic Effect of Market Mechanism and Government Intervention," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-24, November.
    10. Cui, Yi, 2024. "Place-based policies and capital misallocation: Evidence from Chinese cities," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 48(4).
    11. Shilong Han, 2025. "The Effect of High-Speed Rail Connectivity on Capital Market Earnings Forecast Error: Evidence from the Chinese Stock Market," Papers 2512.03709, arXiv.org.
    12. Andrzej Cieślik & Mehmet Burak Turgut, 2021. "Estimating the Growth Effects of 2004 Eastern Enlargement of the European Union," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-15, March.
    13. Zhu, Lu & He, Yong & Chen, Chunfeng & Liao, Nuo, 2026. "A Coal in the Snow or the Icing on the Cake? China’s development zone upgrading and regional economic resilience," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    14. Lamei Wu & Guifu Chen & Shuijun Peng, 2021. "Human Capital Expansion and Global Value Chain Upgrading: Firm‐level Evidence from China," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 29(5), pages 28-56, September.
    15. Fabrizio, Kira R. & Poczter, Sharon & Zelner, Bennet A., 2017. "Does innovation policy attract international competition? Evidence from energy storage," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(6), pages 1106-1117.
    16. Contigiani, Andrea & Testoni, Marco, 2023. "Geographic isolation, trade secrecy, and innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(8).
    17. Zi Hui Yin & Wei Ping Zeng, 2024. "Path to sustainable development: Can industrial intelligence and technological innovation balance economic growth and environmental quality in China?," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(5), pages 4486-4504, October.
    18. Yuheng Wang & Sihan Chen & Zhicheng Zhou & Shen Zhong, 2025. "Has the Construction of National Intellectual Property Model Cities Reduced PM 2.5 Concentration and Standard Deviation? New Evidence from Counties in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-29, September.
    19. Caroline Flammer & Aleksandra Kacperczyk, 2016. "The Impact of Stakeholder Orientation on Innovation: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(7), pages 1982-2001, July.
    20. Zehong Wang & Shaojian Wang & Jieyu Wang & Yuqu Wang, 2022. "Development zones and urban economic performance in China: Direct impact and channel effects," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(4), pages 1762-1782, December.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:16:p:7185-:d:1720468. 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 The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask MDPI Indexing Manager to update the entry or send us the correct address (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.