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The Impacts of Freight Trade on Carbon Emission Efficiency: Evidence from the Countries along the “Belt and Road”

Author

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  • Jiangfeng Hu
  • Haoming Shi
  • Qinghua Huang
  • Yalan Luo
  • Yamei Li

Abstract

Extensive research has been carried out on the “Belt and Road” initiative, most of it focusing on geographical economy and international trade. However, there is a lack of research on the carbon emissions efficiency of the countries along the “Belt and Road,” especially regarding the impact of freight trade. To address this research gap, this paper first employs a metafrontier nonradial directional distance function to measure the carbon emission efficiency of 32 countries along the “Belt and Road” from 1990 to 2014. It then examines the role of freight trade. Our main research findings are as follows. Firstly, the carbon emission efficiency of the countries along the “Belt and Road” is generally low. Among them, Russia and Central Asia are mainly due to the large between-group gap in carbon emission efficiency, while Southeast Asia, Western Asia and North Africa, East Asia, South Asia, and Central and Eastern Europe are mainly due to the large within-group gap. Secondly, freight trade promotes carbon emission efficiency, but it will aggravate the gap between the contemporaneous technology and the group technology. Freight trade mainly promotes the contemporaneous carbon emission efficiency (CTCEI) and group-frontier carbon emission efficiency (ITCEI) of low fossil energy dependent countries, and the metafrontier carbon emission efficiency (GTCEI) of high fossil energy dependent countries. Thirdly, foreign direct investment (FDI) has a significant negative effect on a host country’s ITCEI and GTCEI, and it will decrease the gap between the group technology and the metafrontier technology. However, freight trade can effectively prevent the entry of FDI, thereby indirectly improving carbon emission efficiency and reducing carbon emission gap.

Suggested Citation

  • Jiangfeng Hu & Haoming Shi & Qinghua Huang & Yalan Luo & Yamei Li, 2020. "The Impacts of Freight Trade on Carbon Emission Efficiency: Evidence from the Countries along the “Belt and Road”," Complexity, Hindawi, vol. 2020, pages 1-15, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:hin:complx:2529718
    DOI: 10.1155/2020/2529718
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    Cited by:

    1. Wang, Lianghu & Wang, Zhao & Ma, Yatian, 2022. "Does environmental regulation promote the high-quality development of manufacturing? A quasi-natural experiment based on China's carbon emission trading pilot scheme," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    2. Jiao Wang & Zhenliang Liao & Hui Sun, 2023. "Analysis of Carbon Emission Efficiency in the Yellow River Basin in China: Spatiotemporal Differences and Influencing Factors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-19, May.
    3. Wang, Lianghu & Shao, Jun, 2024. "The energy saving effects of digital infrastructure construction: Empirical evidence from Chinese industry," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 294(C).
    4. Wang, Lianghu & Shao, Jun, 2025. "How does regional integration policy affect urban energy efficiency? A quasi-natural experiment based on policy of national urban agglomeration," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 319(C).
    5. Shao, Jun & Wang, Lianghu, 2023. "Can new-type urbanization improve the green total factor energy efficiency? Evidence from China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(PB).
    6. Lianghu Wang & Jun Shao, 2026. "Digital economy and urban green development: A quasi-natural experiment based on national big data comprehensive pilot zone," Energy & Environment, , vol. 37(1), pages 221-245, February.
    7. Sidong Zhao & Yiran Yan & Jing Han, 2021. "Industrial Land Change in Chinese Silk Road Cities and Its Influence on Environments," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-30, July.
    8. Lianghu Wang & Jun Shao, 2025. "Urban Circulation Network Construction Policy and Carbon Emission Performance: Evidence from the Layout of National Circulation Node Cities," SAGE Open, , vol. 15(4), pages 21582440251, October.
    9. Wang, Lianghu & Shao, Jun, 2023. "Digital economy, entrepreneurship and energy efficiency," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    10. Lianghu Wang & Jun Shao, 2023. "The impact of foreign direct investment on China's carbon emission efficiency through energy intensity and low-carbon city pilot policy," Energy & Environment, , vol. 34(6), pages 1844-1866, September.
    11. Lianghu Wang & Jun Shao, 2024. "Environmental information disclosure and energy efficiency: empirical evidence from China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 4781-4800, February.
    12. Wang, Lianghu & Shao, Jun & Ma, Yatian, 2023. "Does China's low-carbon city pilot policy improve energy efficiency?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 283(C).

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