IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i7p3137-d1626199.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Dynamic Evolution and Spatiotemporal Convergence Analysis of the Coordinated Development Between New Quality Productive Forces and China’s Carbon Total Factor Productivity

Author

Listed:
  • Xinpeng Gao

    (School of Economics, Hebei GEO University, Shijiazhuang 050031, China)

  • Sufeng Li

    (School of Economics, Hebei GEO University, Shijiazhuang 050031, China)

Abstract

The core hallmark of new quality productive forces (NQPFs) is a substantial increase in total factor productivity. Developing NQPFs tailored to local conditions significantly promote green, low-carbon, and environmentally sustainable development. This paper selects 30 provinces and municipalities in China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and Tibet) as research samples. It employs the super-efficiency Slacks-Based Measure (SBM) model, coupling coordination degree analysis, kernel density estimation, Dagum Gini coefficient, and β-convergence analysis to measure and analyze the coupling coordination degree between NQPFs and carbon total factor productivity (CTFP). The results indicate that CTFP exhibits an upward trend overall. At the same time, the NQPFs show an initial increase, followed by a decline, with significant regional variations observed in both. There is notable regional heterogeneity in the coupling coordination degree between NQPFs and CTFP. The eastern region demonstrates the highest coupling coordination degree, followed by the central, western, and northeastern regions. The primary cause of this differential distribution is inter-regional disparities, particularly widening the gap between the eastern region and others. Further analysis reveals that, except for the eastern region, the dynamic evolution trend of coupling coordination nationwide and in other regions tends to converge. Regarding absolute β-convergence, the northeastern region converges the fastest, while the western region converges the slowest. Regarding conditional β-convergence, the convergence speeds in the central, western, and northeastern regions are consistent, but the convergence results remain unchanged. This study provides important theoretical support for achieving a balanced development of NQPFs and comprehensively enhancing CTFP, ensuring significant contributions to the sustainable development of a low-carbon economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Xinpeng Gao & Sufeng Li, 2025. "A Dynamic Evolution and Spatiotemporal Convergence Analysis of the Coordinated Development Between New Quality Productive Forces and China’s Carbon Total Factor Productivity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-28, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:7:p:3137-:d:1626199
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/7/3137/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/7/3137/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chang, Tzu-Pu & Hu, Jin-Li, 2010. "Total-factor energy productivity growth, technical progress, and efficiency change: An empirical study of China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(10), pages 3262-3270, October.
    2. Yingchao Ma, 2024. "Entrepreneurs’ Spirit and Corporate Green Development: The Mediating Role of New-Quality Productivity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-18, September.
    3. Campiglio, Emanuele, 2016. "Beyond carbon pricing: The role of banking and monetary policy in financing the transition to a low-carbon economy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 220-230.
    4. Frank Levy, 2018. "Computers and populism: artificial intelligence, jobs, and politics in the near term," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 34(3), pages 393-417.
    5. Wang, Linhui & Wang, Hui & Cao, Zhanglu & He, Yongda & Dong, Zhiqing & Wang, Shixiang, 2022. "Can industrial intellectualization reduce carbon emissions? — Empirical evidence from the perspective of carbon total factor productivity in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    6. Shobande, Olatunji A. & Ogbeifun, Lawrence & Tiwari, Aviral Kumar, 2024. "Extricating the impacts of emissions trading system and energy transition on carbon intensity," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 357(C).
    7. Aydin, Mucahit & Erdem, Azad, 2024. "Analyzing the impact of resource productivity, energy productivity, and renewable energy consumption on environmental quality in EU countries: The moderating role of productivity," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    8. Kumar, Surender & Jain, Rakesh Kumar, 2019. "Carbon-sensitive meta-productivity growth and technological gap: An empirical analysis of Indian thermal power sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 104-116.
    9. Chen, Huanyu & Yi, Jizheng & Chen, Aibin & Peng, Duanxiang & Yang, Jieqiong, 2023. "Green technology innovation and CO2 emission in China: Evidence from a spatial-temporal analysis and a nonlinear spatial durbin model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    10. Peihao Lai & Minzhe Du & Bing Wang & Ziyue Chen, 2016. "Assessment and Decomposition of Total Factor Energy Efficiency: An Evidence Based on Energy Shadow Price in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-23, April.
    11. Bo Chen & Dong Tan, 2023. "Industrial Robots and the Employment Quality of Migrant Workers in the Manufacturing Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-21, May.
    12. Charfeddine, Lanouar & Kahia, Montassar, 2019. "Impact of renewable energy consumption and financial development on CO2 emissions and economic growth in the MENA region: A panel vector autoregressive (PVAR) analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 198-213.
    13. Cook, Wade D. & Seiford, Larry M., 2009. "Data envelopment analysis (DEA) - Thirty years on," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 192(1), pages 1-17, January.
    14. Ladu, Maria Gabriela & Meleddu, Marta, 2014. "Is there any relationship between energy and TFP (total factor productivity)? A panel cointegration approach for Italian regions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 560-567.
    15. Zuoyufan Sheng & Chengpeng Zhu & Mo Chen, 2024. "Exploring the Impact of the Digital Economy on Green Total Factor Productivity—Evidence from Chinese Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-13, March.
    16. Jiaran Li & Karia Noorliza & Xiaohan Zhang, 2024. "Enhancing Environmental, Social, and Governance Performance through New Quality Productivity and Green Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-23, June.
    17. Minggui Zheng & Shan Yan & Shiqi Xu, 2025. "Digital Economy, Industry–Academia–Research Collaborative Innovation, and the Development of New-Quality Productive Forces," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-23, January.
    18. Abdul Karim Feroz & Hangjung Zo & Ananth Chiravuri, 2021. "Digital Transformation and Environmental Sustainability: A Review and Research Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-20, February.
    19. Chintrakarn, Pandej, 2008. "Environmental regulation and U.S. states' technical inefficiency," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 100(3), pages 363-365, September.
    20. Xiao Yu & Zhaoteng Zeng, 2024. "Impact of heterogeneous environmental regulation on total factor productivity: an empirical study based on China’s provincial data," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(7), pages 17813-17835, July.
    21. Asafu-Adjaye, John & Mahadevan, Renuka, 2013. "Implications of CO2 reduction policies for a high carbon emitting economy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 32-41.
    22. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Wang, Fuhao & Lou, Runchi, 2022. "Digital financial inclusion and carbon neutrality: Evidence from non-linear analysis," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    23. Duran, Hasan Engin, 2019. "Asymmetries in regional development: Does TFP or capital accumulation matter for spatial inequalities?," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    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. Yulin Lu & Chengyu Li & Min-Jae Lee, 2023. "A Study on the Measurement and Influences of Energy Green Efficiency: Based on Panel Data from 30 Provinces in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-17, October.
    2. Ke Wang & Xueying Yu, 2017. "Industrial Energy and Environment Efficiency of Chinese Cities: An Analysis Based on Range-Adjusted Measure," International Journal of Information Technology & Decision Making (IJITDM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 16(04), pages 1023-1042, July.
    3. Nan Feng & Mingyue Yan & Mingtao Yan, 2024. "Spatiotemporal Evolution and Influencing Factors of New-Quality Productivity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-20, December.
    4. Rath, Badri Narayan & Akram, Vaseem & Bal, Debi Prasad & Mahalik, Mantu Kumar, 2019. "Do fossil fuel and renewable energy consumption affect total factor productivity growth? Evidence from cross-country data with policy insights," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 186-199.
    5. Fernández, David & Pozo, Carlos & Folgado, Rubén & Jiménez, Laureano & Guillén-Gosálbez, Gonzalo, 2018. "Productivity and energy efficiency assessment of existing industrial gases facilities via data envelopment analysis and the Malmquist index," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 1563-1577.
    6. Muntazir Hussain & Ramiz Ur Rehman & Usman Bashir, 2024. "Environmental pollution, innovation, and financial development: an empirical investigation in selected industrialized countries using the panel ARDL approach," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(11), pages 29217-29248, November.
    7. Lee, Chi-Chuan & Zhang, Jian & Hou, Shanshuai, 2023. "The impact of regional renewable energy development on environmental sustainability in China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    8. Bi, Gong-Bing & Song, Wen & Zhou, P. & Liang, Liang, 2014. "Does environmental regulation affect energy efficiency in China's thermal power generation? Empirical evidence from a slacks-based DEA model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 537-546.
    9. Sun, Chuanwang & Khan, Anwar & Liu, Yongzhe & Lei, Ni, 2022. "An analysis of the impact of fiscal and monetary policy fluctuations on the disaggregated level renewable energy generation in the G7 countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 1154-1165.
    10. Meng, Fanyi & Su, Bin & Thomson, Elspeth & Zhou, Dequn & Zhou, P., 2016. "Measuring China’s regional energy and carbon emission efficiency with DEA models: A survey," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 1-21.
    11. Lei, Ming & Yin, Zihan & Yu, Xiaowen & Deng, Shijie, 2017. "Carbon-weighted economic development performance and driving force analysis: Evidence from China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 179-192.
    12. Adel Ben Youssef & Sabri Boubaker & Anis Omri, 2020. "Financial development and macroeconomic sustainability: modeling based on a modified environmental Kuznets curve," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 163(2), pages 767-785, November.
    13. Charfeddine, Lanouar & Hussain, Bilal & Kahia, Montassar, 2024. "Analysis of the Impact of Information and Communication Technology, Digitalization, Renewable Energy and Financial Development on Environmental Sustainability," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    14. Yasmeen, Rizwana & Zhaohui, Cui & Hassan Shah, Wasi Ul & Kamal, Muhammad Abdul & Khan, Anwar, 2022. "Exploring the role of biomass energy consumption, ecological footprint through FDI and technological innovation in B&R economies: A simultaneous equation approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 244(PA).
    15. Wu, Haitao & Hao, Yu & Ren, Siyu, 2020. "How do environmental regulation and environmental decentralization affect green total factor energy efficiency: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    16. Yulei Zhang & Tao Xu & Songqiang Wu, 2024. "The Promoting Effect of Green Bonds on Reducing Carbon Emission Intensity Through Energy Structure Transition," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-18, October.
    17. George S. Chen & Emmanuel Kwaku Manu & Dennis Asante, 2023. "Achieving environmental sustainability in Africa: The role of financial institutions development on carbon emissions," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(5), pages 3272-3290, October.
    18. Alperovych, Yan & Hübner, Georges & Lobet, Fabrice, 2015. "How does governmental versus private venture capital backing affect a firm's efficiency? Evidence from Belgium," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 508-525.
    19. Wang, Zhao-Hua & Zeng, Hua-Lin & Wei, Yi-Ming & Zhang, Yi-Xiang, 2012. "Regional total factor energy efficiency: An empirical analysis of industrial sector in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 115-123.
    20. repec:hal:journl:hal-03650216 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Chen, Ya & Pan, Yongbin & Liu, Haoxiang & Wu, Huaqing & Deng, Guangwei, 2023. "Efficiency analysis of Chinese universities with shared inputs: An aggregated two-stage network DEA approach," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 90(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:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:7:p:3137-:d:1626199. 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.