Environmental Regulation, Financial Pressure and Industrial Ecological Efficiency of Resource-Based Cities in China: Spatiotemporal Characteristics and Impact Mechanism

Curse or blessing? The relationship between sustainable development plans for resource cities and corporate sustainability - Evidence from China

In recent years, the sustainable development of resource cities has become a challenge for all countries. It aims to transform the traditional monolithic economic model and find a way to develop the city's economy and environment in harmony. In this context, we uncover the relationship between sustainable development plan of resource-based cities (SDPRC) and corporate sustainable performance and examine possible pathways for action. Using a difference-in-differences (DID) model and a series of robustness tests, our study reveals the following. First, SDPRC enhances corporate sustainability. Second, possible mechanisms for SDPRC are explored. SDPRC achieves corporate sustainability by optimal resource allocation and increasing green innovation outputs. Third, urban heterogeneity is explored and it is found that SDPRC only has a positive impact on the sustainable performance in growth and mature cities, but not in declining and regenerating cities. Finally, firm heterogeneity was examined, with SDPRC having a more positive impact on the sustainable performance of state-owned firms, large firms and heavily polluting firms. This study sheds light on the impact of SDPRC at the firm level and provides new theoretical insights for urban planning policy reform in developing countries such as China.

The heterogeneous effects of environmental regulation on industrial carbon emission efficiency in China using a panel quantile regression

In order to verify how environmental regulation affects the improvement of urban industrial carbon emission efficiency, this study first measures the balanced panel data of industrial carbon emission efficiency of 282 cities in China from 2003 to 2019, and evaluates the direct and regulating impact of environmental regulation on China's urban industrial carbon emission efficiency. Meanwhile, in order to investigate the potential heterogeneity and asymmetry, the panel quantile regression method is used. The empirical results show that (1) during the period 2003-2016, China's overall industrial carbon emission efficiency showed a upward trend, with a decreasing spatial pattern from the east-central-west-northeast region. At the urban scale in China, environmental regulation has a significant direct effect on industrial carbon emission efficiency, which is lagged and heterogeneous. At the low quantiles, a one-period lag in environmental regulation has a negative effect on the improvement of industrial carbon emission efficiency. At the middle and high quantiles, a one-period lag in environmental regulation has a positive effect on the improvement of industrial carbon emission efficiency. Environmental regulation has a moderating effect on industrial carbon efficiency. With increasing industrial emission efficiency, the positive moderating effect of environmental regulation on the relationship between technological progress and industrial carbon emission efficiency shows a pattern of diminishing marginal benefits. The main contribution of this study is the systematic analysis of the potential heterogeneity and asymmetry of the direct and moderating effects of environmental regulation on the industrial carbon emission efficiency at the city scale in China by using panel quantile regression method.

Construction Land Expansion of Resource-Based Cities in China: Spatiotemporal Characteristics and Driving Factors

Studying construction land expansion (CLE) characteristics and driving factors in resource-based cities (RBCs) is important to promote efficient land use and maintain ecological equilibrium in RBCs. This study explores the CLE and its driving factors in RBCs. The results indicated that (1) the CLE in RBCs became increasingly obvious, and the number of cities with expansion areas exceeding 20 km² increased from 29 to 86. In RBCs in different regions, CLE in eastern, central, and western regions was obvious, while CLE in the northeast region decelerated. The order of CLE degree at different stages of RBCs was mature, growing, regenerative, and declining. (2) Single factors such as gross domestic product, fixed-asset investment, and secondary industry added value, playing a major role. This differs from the dominant role of population and urbanization in existing research. This occurred because population growth is slow, the urbanization rate is low, population contraction prominently occurs, and economic development exhibits notable path dependence in RBCs. (3) Interaction-factor detection demonstrated that the force of two-factor interaction was greater than that of a single factor, and the interactions of total population with fixed-asset investment and economic development level strongly drove CLE in RBCs.