Does ecological economic zone policy affect pollutant emission: Evidence from a case study of Dongting Lake

Environmental pollution affects human health, reduces work motivation, and addressing environmental pollution is a common challenge faced by the world. The Chinese government has recently implemented a new environmental policy - the national-level ecological economic zone - to develop a green economy and reduce environmental pollution. This study utilizes the difference-in-difference method to analyze the impact of the Dongting Lake ecological economic zone on environmental pollution. The results show that: policy led to a 68 % reduction in sulfur dioxide emissions. This impact was more pronounced in economically developed areas, regions with a high concentration of foreign-invested, and areas with greater economic openness. Mechanism tests indicate that the policy reduces environmental pollution by promoting technological progress. Robustness checks show that the policy also resulted in a 37 % reduction in industrial wastewater emissions. The results offer new insights to advance the development of the ecological economic zone more effectively. The ecological economic zone should focus on enhancing technological advancement and green total factor productivity to amplify the policy's positive effects.

The impact of the free trade zones construction on green technological innovation efficiency --evidence from 288 cities in Chinese

We measure the green technology innovation efficiency of 288 cities in China from static and dynamic dimensions using the super - SBM model and Malmquist - Luenberger index, and employ "Difference in Difference" (DID) model to evaluate the impact of FTZs construction on green technology innovation efficiency using panel data from 288 prefecture-level cities from 2008 to 2020. The findings show: (1) The FTZs significantly improve green technology innovation efficiency. The decomposition indexes promote the green technology innovation efficiency more from the dynamic productivity dimension (GTFP) functioning on technological advancement. (2) The FTZs can boost the efficiency of green technology innovation through industrial agglomeration, digital economy, and government financial support; (3) The effect of FTZs on the efficiency of green technology innovation differs based on the size and location of the city. Green technology innovation will reach maximum potential when promoting FTZ policy in less developed central, western, and interior regions. This study addresses whether FTZ policies can genuinely support regional green innovation and policy insights to expand opening up and enhance high-quality economic growth.

Research on the impact of the national ecological demonstration zone on green total factor productivity: Evidence from China

China is currently confronted with the dilemma of achieving its green development goals while maintaining economic growth. The National Ecological Demonstration Zones (NEDZs) represent an innovative attempt by local governments to balance economic development with ecological civilisation, potentially offering a solution to this issue. This study calculated the Green Total Factor Productivity (GTFP) for 1925 districts and counties from 1999 to 2018. Using the selection of NEDZs as a quasi-natural experiment, a difference-in-differences model was employed to empirically analyse the impact of NEDZs on GTFP. The results indicated that the establishment of NEDZs led to an average increase in GTFP of 0.2175 compared to the control group. The primary mechanisms involved are innovation, structure, and enforcement. Moreover, the green development effects of the NEDZs exhibited regional heterogeneity. Compared to the western regions, the central and eastern regions showed limited green development effects. Areas with smaller populations, lower human capital, and lower administrative levels demonstrated significant improvements after the implementation of the NEDZ. Further analysis reveals a significant spatial agglomeration pattern of GTFP and the NEDZs exert a strong 'siphon effect' on the GTFP of neighbouring areas. This study provides a new perspective on the GTFP research and offers theoretical and practical evidence for assessing the impact of NEDZs.

Has environmental protection tax reform promoted green transformation of enterprises? Evidence from China

Facing the increasingly stringent constraints of resources and the environment, the green transformation of enterprises is imperative. This study selects A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2014 to 2021 as samples, using the difference-in-differences method to examine the impact of the environmental protection tax reform (EPTR) on the green transformation of enterprises. The results indicate that the EPTR can promote the green transformation of enterprises, achieving this through three channels: raising the cost of pollution, strengthening the rigidity of law enforcement, and breaking the collusion between the government and enterprises. Notably, this promotional effect is more significant in non-state-owned enterprises, companies in the eastern and western regions, firms with low financing constraints, and those with high media attention. Further analysis shows that the EPTR has a positive impact on the green total factor productivity (GTFP) of enterprises, which implies that enterprises are not only proactively pushing for a green transformation at the strategic level but also taking practical actions. This study responds to the problem of the greening of tax system to promote the green development of enterprises from two aspects of enterprise strategic implementation and productivity and explores the impact mechanism from the perspective of institutional logic. It enriches the research on the effectiveness of the EPTR at the micro-level and broadens the research perspective on the impact mechanisms of environmental regulation. The findings of this study provide references for further optimising relevant policies and regulations and also offer insights for other countries and regions seeking sustainable development.

Spatial coupling coordination and interactive response between green finance and green total factor productivity: geographical analysis based on Chinese provinces, 2010-2020

Based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2010 to 2020, this study uses the coupling coordination degree model (CCDM), spatial autocorrelation analysis, and the panel vector autoregression (PVAR) model to quantitatively examine the dynamic coordination and interactive response of green finance (GF) and green total factor productivity (GTFP). The results show that the coupling coordination degree (CCD) between GF and GTFP during the study period shows an overall increasing trend and significant regional differentiation and remains at the medium level, indicating large room for improvement. The CCDs of provinces fluctuate between the low and high types. The distribution gradually shifts from a "high in the south and low in the north" pattern to a "high in the east and low in the west" configuration. The spatial difference of coupling development continues to expand and presents a significant spatial positive correlation. In addition, GF and GTFP in China exhibit significant self-reinforcing characteristics, but the reinforcing effect gradually decreases. There is only a unidirectional interaction relationship between GF and GTFP, which is GF actively fosters the advancement of GTFP, while the influence of GTFP on GF appears less pronounced. This research provides comprehensive insights into the dynamic interaction between GF and GTFP.

Do renewable energy, environmental regulations and green innovation matter for China's zero carbon transition: Evidence from green total factor productivity

Rapid developments in environmental infrastructure have contributed to significant improvements in green total factor productivity, but further investigation is required to provide a detailed assessment to understand the policy mechanisms involved. This paper analyzes environmental progress in China through MMQR, CCEMG, and AMG as empirical strategies for 30 provinces in China. Our empirical results reveal that energy optimization through renewable energy is the most effective channel to improve green total factor productivity, though it is not the only available option. Since environmental regulations, infrastructure development, and green technology innovation also directly impact energy efficiency, adopting these within policy channels will positively impact environmental sustainability. Our empirical approach helps suggest novel environmental policy suggestions. In particular, policymakers must introduce structural changes within energy developments to foster renewable energy. Furthermore, China must increase environmental spending to upgrade its energy infrastructure further and solve ecological issues. These insights offer valuable policy guidance for decision-makers in China and globally, aiming to foster economic and environmental sustainability and achieve zero-carbon transition goals.

Going green while getting lean: Decomposing carbon and green total factor productivity

While research on carbon productivity is growing rapidly, the role of structural change in green transition remains unexplored due to the scarcity of firm-level emission data. This study addresses this gap by utilizing unique register-based greenhouse gas emission data from Finland's energy-intensive manufacturing firms for 2000-2019. Applying a structural change productivity decomposition, we break down the sector's carbon productivity and green total factor productivity into four components: contributions from non-switching continuing firms, industry-switching continuing firms, the effects of entry and exit, and resource allocation. The findings highlight the important role of structural change in the sector's productivity. Non-switching continuing firms emerged as the key drivers of both carbon and green total factor productivity growth. The contribution of entry and exit was negative during the financial crisis, while inefficient resource allocation significantly hindered productivity growth throughout the study period. These findings emphasize the importance of public subsidies targeted at environmentally efficient firms to enhance their competitiveness under challenging market conditions. Furthermore, the establishment of a stable yet positive carbon price would incentivize less-productive firms to adopt environmentally friendly technologies.

How does artificial intelligence affect the transformation of China's green economic growth? An analysis from internal-structure perspective

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been proved to be an important engine of green economic development, yet how it will affect the internal structure of green economy is unknown. The aim of this study is to examine the impact and its mechanism of AI on green total factor productivity (GTFP) from the internal-structure perspective, by using provincial panel data of China from 2009 to 2021 and global Malmquist index. The main research results show that: (1) the development of AI contributes to China's GTFP growth. And this effect is more significant in undeveloped areas; (2) AI promotes China's GTFP growth mainly by improving resource allocation efficiency, while it exerts little impact through the paths of technological progress and scale efficiency; (3) the transmission mechanism of AI on GTFP varies greatly among China's three main regions. In the eastern region, AI improves GTFP mainly by both advancing technological progress and improving resource allocation efficiency, while in central region AI contributes to GTFP growth mainly through technological progress. Compared with the eastern and central regions, AI in the western region plays a stronger impact on GTFP through the channel of improving scale efficiency. This study helps to understand the pathways of artificial intelligence affecting the transformation of green economic growth and formulate differentiated regional policies in light of local conditions.

Population agglomeration in Chinese cities: is it benefit or damage for the quality of economic development?

This paper explores the impact of population agglomeration on urban economic development quality in various cities of China. The results show that population agglomeration significantly contributes to the improvement of urban green total factor productivity by increasing population diversification, promoting knowledge spillovers, and reducing pollution emission intensity. Moreover, we find that population agglomeration in type II big cities and type I large cities significantly improves green total factor productivity, while the impact of population agglomeration in metropolises and mega-cities on green total factor productivity is not significant. On the one hand, type II big cities and type I large cities are in the period of rising economic development, the population has not yet reached saturation, and there is still a large demographic dividend space. On the other hand, excessive population agglomeration also brings about "urban diseases" such as population congestion and traffic congestion, especially in the metropolises and mega-cities. Finally, using data on producer services and its sub-sectors, we identify a more significant driving effect of high-end talent agglomeration on green total factor productivity.

Influence of local governments on the greening of the manufacturing sector: A perspective on environmental governance objectives

The green development of manufacturing industries is significantly impacted by local governments. In this study, we focus on assessing the environmental governance effectiveness by examining the tasks assigned by the central government to each province under the Comprehensive Work Program for Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction. By utilizing panel data from 30 provinces and cities in China from 2011 to 2020, we employ the super-efficient SBM model to evaluate China's manufacturing industry's green total factor productivity. Through various models, including the double-fixed effect and the mediation effect, we investigate the influence of environmental governance targets on the green total factor productivity of the manufacturing industry. Our findings reveal a U-shaped relationship between the environmental governance target and the green total factor productivity of the manufacturing industry. When the pressure of environmental governance targets is below a certain critical value, the green total factor productivity decreases as the target pressure increases. However, once the target pressure surpasses this critical value, the green total factor productivity experiences a positive correlation with the target pressure. Further analysis demonstrates that this U-shaped relationship is observed in regions with low and medium marketization, while regions with high marketization remain unaffected. Moreover, the impact of environmental governance target pressure on green total factor productivity in manufacturing is facilitated by the promotion of green innovation. Furthermore, the relationship between environmental governance target pressure and green total factor productivity in manufacturing is moderated by local government fiscal expenditures. In regions where fiscal expenditures are higher, the influence of environmental governance target pressure on green total factor productivity in manufacturing is more pronounced.

Enhancing green total factor productivity through manufacturing output servitization: A case study in China

In the context of the growing environmental pollution and resource depletion caused by traditional manufacturing industries, the need for sustainable and eco-friendly practices has become a critical issue for the upgrading and transformation of the manufacturing industry worldwide. Based on data from listed manufacturing companies in China, which is the world's largest manufacturing country and exhibits significant diversity regarding the ownership, scale and level of enterprises, the impact of manufacturing output servitization on green total factor productivity (GTFP), which is a measurement of economic efficiency that takes into account environmental impacts, is analyzed in this article. The results show that manufacturing output servitization can improve the GTFP of enterprises, and this can be achieved through mechanisms such as increased profitability and innovation capabilities. The positive effect on the GTFP of enterprises in less developed regions is greater than that in developed regions and is more significant for private and foreign-funded enterprises than for state-owned enterprises. The companies that adhere to the Global Reporting Initiative framework for environmental, social and governance reporting experience a more significant positive impact on GTFP as a result of their manufacturing output servitization efforts. This research offers valuable insights into the potential of servitization as a strategy for enhancing GTFP and provides actionable guidance for policy-makers and industry stakeholders seeking to align manufacturing practices with sustainability goals.

Does smart city pilot improve green total factor productivity? Evidence from Chinese cities

In recent years, the construction of smart cities has gradually become an effective means of addressing urban economic and environmental challenges. Based on panel data of 249 Chinese cities from 2005 to 2020, this study uses a super-efficiency epsilon-based measure model and a Malmquist-Luenberger index to calculate the urban green total factor productivity (GTFP). Using the smart city pilot as a quasi-natural experiment, the time-varying difference-in-difference (DID) method is applied to determine the causal effect of smart city pilot on GTFP. Results show that smart city pilot increases urban GTFP in China, and a series of robust analyses have verified the reliability of the results. The heterogeneity analysis results show that the smart city pilot policy has a more significant positive effect on urban GTFP in the eastern and central regions, the high population group, and the high per capita GDP group. The mediating analysis further suggests that smart city pilot positively affects technological innovations and human capital which promotes urban GTFP. These findings are of great significance for smart city construction and coordinating the relationship between urban economic development and environmental protection.

Revisiting the porter hypothesis within the economy-environment-health framework: Empirical analysis from a multidimensional perspective

The question of whether environmental regulation fosters technological innovation and green development, as a nuanced extension of the Porter hypothesis, constitutes a focal point in contemporary research. Despite this attention, the literature often omits a multifaceted evaluation framework for green development and fails to consider multiaspectual environmental regulation and technological innovation. This study develops a comprehensive model of green total factor productivity (GTFP), situating the Chinese economy within an economy-environment-health nexus. The extended Crépon-Dugeut-Mairesse model is employed to revisit the "strong", "weak", and "narrow" Porter hypotheses. The analysis reveals that formal environmental regulation exerts a crowding-out effect on research and development (R&D), whereas informal environmental regulation exhibits a facilitating effect, corroborating the narrow version of the Porter hypothesis. Both categories of regulation contribute to substantial innovation. Following the incorporation of R&D factors, heterogeneity in the "weak" Porter hypothesis emerges in the Chinese context, contingent upon specific types of environmental regulation and technological innovation. Environmental regulation positively influences GTFP, affirming the "strong" Porter hypothesis, primarily through the vector of technical progress change. A developmental trajectory to enhance GTFP is thus articulated: judicious environmental regulation leads to R&D, which in turn fosters innovation quality, subsequently affecting the technical progress change index and ultimately GTFP. Correspondingly, policy recommendations are delineated across three dimensions: judicious environmental regulation, targeted innovation support, and regional coordination.

The carbon reduction effect of "Going Global" strategy: an empirical perspective on the carbon emission efficiency of OFDI in China

Under the constraints of the "dual-carbon" objectives, how China can sustain economic development while concurrently achieving carbon emission reduction has become a pressing issue. With the rapid expansion of China's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI), elucidating its impact on carbon emission efficiency (CEE) assumes pronounced significance. Employing the systematic generalized method of moments (GMM) approach, based on panel data spanning the years 2006 to 2019 for China, this study primarily delves into the influence of OFDI on China's CEE. Furthermore, it probes into the mechanisms and asymmetries underpinning the relationship between OFDI and CEE. The principal findings are as follows: (1) augmentation of OFDI exerts a constructive effect on domestic carbon emission reduction, concomitantly yielding a discernible enhancement in CEE. A 1% increase in the magnitude of OFDI flow gives rise to a 0.009% improvement in CEE. (2) Mechanism verification reveals that heightened levels of OFDI operate through elevating green total factor productivity (GTFP), fostering optimal industrial structural adjustments, and invigorating green technological innovation, thereby elevating the CEE of the home country. (3) Asymmetry characterizes the impact of OFDI on domestic CEE, signifying a significant enhancement in regions with lower CEE while exhibiting less conspicuous effects in areas with higher CEE. This study furnishes policymakers with insights into leveraging OFDI to enhance CEE, thereby facilitating the attainment of the "dual-carbon" objectives.

Does environmental protection tax improve green total factor productivity? Experimental evidence from China

Enhancing green total factor productivity (GTFP) is essential for achieving the objective of green development, and the effect of environmental protection tax (EPT), a crucial instrument for addressing environmental challenges, on green TFP is crucial. Based on provincial panel data from 2004 to 2020 in China, this study uses inter-provincial differences in environmental protection tax rates as a quasi-natural experiment and utilizes a synthetic control method to assess the impact of the "changing sewage charge to tax" on regional GTFP. The empirical results suggest that EPT can help enhance GTFP, a finding that still holds after regional placebo tests, time placebo tests, and difference-in-differences robustness tests. The mechanism test demonstrates that EPT influences GTFP via the industrial structure impact and the green technological innovation effect. According to heterogeneity research, regions with a high level of marketization and financial growth are more significantly affected by environmental protection tax policy. This paper offers crucial empirical data for assessing the efficacy of environmental protection tax policy and enhancing the environmental tax system.

Does healthy city construction facilitate green growth in China? Evidence from 279 cities

In the face of the challenge of balancing urban economic development and environmental protection, the concept of a healthy city has emerged as a promising model for sustainable urban development. This study empirically investigates the impact of healthy city construction on green growth by utilizing a difference-in-difference model estimation on a panel dataset of 279 Chinese prefecture-level cities from 2007 to 2019. The findings reveal that healthy city construction significantly contributes to green growth, particularly in pilot cities, and this effect is observed across cities of different sizes and economic bases. Additionally, we identify two channels through which healthy city construction promotes green growth: enhancing innovation capacity and enriching human resources. These findings have implications not only for Chinese cities navigating the path towards green growth but also for other developing nations striving for economic transformation and environmentally sustainable development.

Unleashing the power of informatization: How does the "information benefiting people" policy affect green total factor productivity?

Information development is a necessary means for China to achieve technology force and an effective path toward sustainable development. Regarding the "information benefiting people" policy led by the Chinese government as a quasi-experiment of information technology, this study builds an analysis framework for the impact of informatization on green total factor productivity (GTFP). Based on panel data at the Chinese city level from 2006 to 2019, this study further empirically evaluates the mechanism path, heterogeneity, and spatial spillover effects between informatization and GTFP by using a difference-in-difference (DID) model, a mediating model, and a spatial DID model. The results show that (1) the information benefiting people policy contributes considerably to greater GTFP levels in the pilot cities; (2) the policy also promotes the rapid growth of GTFP by fostering the advancement of education, the share of the number of ICT employees, and green technology innovation; (3) the information benefiting people policy raises GTFP in the eastern cities, small cities, and non-old industrial based cities; and (4) the policies lead to a large rise in local GTFP levels, but a decline in GTFP in surrounding cities. This paper offers valuable reference suggestions for the Chinese government to implement informatization-policies to support green development.

Understanding the spatial spillover effect of land finance on China's green development: does the moderating role of industrial structure matter?

Since the 1994 China's tax-sharing reform, land finance has far-reaching influence on fiscal system and has critical implications for green development and industrial structure optimization. Previous studies have largely focused on the environmental aspect of land finance by considering carbon emissions as environmental indicator only and ignored social and economic aspects. To fill the research gaps, this study analyzed spatial and moderating effects of land finance on green development through rationalized industrial structure, quantity of advanced industrial structure, and quality of advanced industrial structure in 246 Chinese cities from 2006 to 2019. The results document that local and surrounding land finance have negative effect on China's green development. Local land finance inhibits green development in western and large cities, while surrounding land finance deteriorates in eastern and large cities. Through mediation of industrial structure optimization, land finance accelerates green development in national, eastern, and large cities. In western cities, land finance promotes green development through quantity and quality of industrial structure upgrading. In small- and medium-sized cities, quantity of industrial structure upgrading plays a positive role.

Innovation, global competitiveness, and green total factor productivity: evidence from the Belt and Road Initiative region?

In the context of intensifying global competition, the Belt and Road Initiative is increasingly becoming an important choice for countries to achieve green development. Therefore, this study selected 116 countries worldwide as samples to empirically test the green development situation of Belt and Road Initiative countries from 2013 to 2020. Additionally, a simultaneous equation model was used to study the impact and mechanism of innovation capability on green total factor productivity (GTFP) in Belt and Road Initiative countries. The results show that he average annual growth in green total factor productivity was 2.9% between 2013 and 2020 in Belt and Road Initiative countries. Innovation is an effective means of promoting the improvement of GTFP, mainly relying on the single-track drive of green technical progress. Furthermore, global competitiveness has a significant moderating effect on this result, with market size, financial market, and labor market efficiency being the main regulating factors for efficiency enhancers, while infrastructure and macro-economic environment are the main regulating factors for basic requirements. In addition, developing countries rely more on innovation types that involve technology imports to promote the improvement of GTFP. Finally, in the analysis of regional heterogeneity, we found that the results of the four continents were more consistent with the regression results of the total sample, but the mechanisms of action between regions were different.

The heterogeneity impact of factor market distortions on GTFP: from the view of resource-based cities

Improving the efficiency of factor allocation, breaking the resource curse, and achieving high-quality economic development are an urgent concern in resource-based cities. Using the panel data of 116 prefecture-level resource-based cities in China from 2005 to 2020, this paper constructs the data envelopment analysis-Malmquist index model to measure the level of high-quality economic development; to construct a resource misallocation growth accounting model based on the total production function to measure the distortion coefficient, the threshold panel model is employed to explore the threshold effect of factor market distortion on high-quality economic development. The results yielded three important findings: (1) The green total factor productivity of resource-based cities in China presents spatial heterogeneity and type heterogeneity. (2) Factor market distortion gradient standards are proposed innovatively, and the factor market distortion level shows the spatial heterogeneity and type heterogeneity. (3) The influence of factor market distortion on high-quality economic development in resource-based cities presents a double threshold effect. According to the above research conclusions, this paper gives several policy recommendations to promote the factor marketization allocation and high-quality economic development of resource-based cities.

How does digital inclusive finance affect the ecological environment? Evidence from Chinese prefecture-level cities

Digital inclusive finance (DIF) is playing an increasingly prominent role in green development. This study analyses the ecological effects generated by DIF and its mechanism of action from the perspectives of emission reduction (pollution emissions index; ERI) and efficiency gains (green total factor productivity; GTFP). Using panel data from 285 cities in China from 2011 to 2020, we empirically test the effects of DIF on ERI and GTFP. The results reveal a significant dual ecological effect of DIF in terms of ERI and GTFP, but there are differences in the various dimensions of DIF. Influenced by national policies, DIF produced more substantial ecological effects after 2015, which are more pronounced in developed eastern regions. Human capital significantly enhances the ecological effects of DIF, and human capital and industrial structure are critical paths for DIF to reduce ERI and increase GTFP. This study provides policy insights for governments to leverage digital finance tools to advance sustainable development.

The impact of investor sentiment on firms' green total factor productivity-facilitator or inhibitor?

Investor sentiment does not only have negative impacts. It may also improve green total factor productivity by invigorating funds. This research constructs a new indicator at the firm level to measure the green total factor productivity of firms. We research the effect of investor sentiment on firms' green total factor productivity using a sample of Chinese heavy polluters listed on Shanghai and Shenzhen A-shares between 2015 and 2019. Through a series of tests, the mediating role of agency costs and financial situations is confirmed. It is discovered that the digitization of businesses facilitates the effect of investor sentiment on the green total factor productivity of businesses. And when managerial competence reaches a certain threshold, the impact of investor sentiment on green total factor productivity is amplified. Tests for heterogeneity reveal that high investor sentiment has a larger impact on green total factor productivity in firms with superior supervision.

How does agricultural production agglomeration affect green total factor productivity?: empirical evidence from China

Economic growth in agriculture is often accompanied by environmental pollution. To overcome this dilemma, agricultural green total factor productivity is essential. The role of agricultural production agglomeration has been studied extensively; however, there is no apparent association between agricultural production agglomeration and agricultural green total factor productivity. We use the non-angular and non-radial super-efficiency slacks-based measure model and the global Malmquist-Luenberger productivity model to assess the agricultural green total factor productivity in 30 Chinese provinces from 2001 to 2019. In addition, we investigate the evolutionary trend, influence relationship, and internal mechanism between agricultural production agglomeration and agricultural green total factor productivity. The results show an inverted U-shaped relationship between agricultural production agglomeration and agricultural green total factor productivity. Heterogeneity analysis finds that this role is more pronounced in provinces located in the Yangtze River economic zone with strong fiscal support for agriculture and high levels of regional economic development. Regarding the mechanism analysis, enhancing green technology progress and the quality of rural human capital leads to an increase in agricultural green total factor productivity. Therefore, this study provides a new perspective on global carbon emission reduction and a theoretical and practical reference for realizing global agricultural green development.

Green finance: how can it help Chinese power enterprises transition towards carbon neutrality

China's power sector must cut its carbon emissions by 90% by 2060 to become carbon neutral. Green finance, as a crucial link in sustainable development, is garnering attention for its role as a mechanism for the green transformation of power enterprises. The process of green transformation development is highly challenging and requires a lot of financial support. This paper discusses the design of schemes for fiscal and financial support mechanisms for the green transformation of power enterprises, financing mechanisms to strengthen green finance, and financial support mechanisms to promote carbon trading. The utilization of green finance by power enterprises is assessed after defining the impact routes of green finance on clean energy power firms and highly polluting power firms. Using the SBM-GML model with variable returns to scale, the dynamic change of the use efficiency of green finance in power enterprises is calculated. At the same time, the enterprises are classified by power generation methods, and the changes in the power generation structure of power enterprises are analyzed. Compared with 2014, the total power generation in 2021 increased by 59.14%, wind power generation increased by 170.78%, and photovoltaic power generation increased by 974.31%. Hydropower, by contrast, grew by 94.14% and thermal power by only 45.09%. The results show that the evolution of total factor productivity and green total factor productivity of the 24 listed electric power enterprises is "M" shaped, that the main cause of the fluctuation is the serious phenomenon of "Triple Abandonments" of wind, light, and water in China's power industry, and that the main means to improve total factor productivity and green total factor productivity of the power industry is to improve green power production technology. Classified by power generation mode, it is found that hybrid power generation enterprises have the highest average efficiency value, followed by wind power generation. China's power enterprises are still dominated by thermal power generation; before the "Double Carbon" target, green power generation enterprises have not significantly improved the efficiency of green finance. The series of green finance mechanisms of action described in this study have a beneficial impact on the green transition of energy, according to a predictive analysis that combines existing policy objectives and practical mechanisms. Even without green financial support, the composition of China's major clean energy sources will account for 86.85% of total electricity generation by 2060, while with green financial support, coal generation will fall to 0% around 2056, with hydroelectric, wind, and photovoltaic generation accounting for 11.81%, 50.00%, and 38.19% of electricity sources, respectively, and green finance will drive important technological changes, and the "Triple Abandonments" phenomenon will be fundamentally corrected. Finally, countermeasures and suggestions for the healthy development of green finance in power enterprises are proposed based on the findings of the study.

How does mandatory energy conversion affect sustainable development: Perspectives of regional heterogeneity and efficiency decomposition

Clean energy conversion is a core approach and development trend to tackle climate change, while the severe drawbacks such as supply deficiency and cost increase restrict regional sustainable development. This paper employs a natural experiment of coal-to-gas conversion of the Chinese government to study the effect of such policy on regional sustainable development, as well as the underlying mechanism. Based on a city-level dataset from 2006 to 2019, this paper measure green total factor productivity (GTFP) using data envelopment analysis (DEA) combined with the Malmquist‒Luenberger productivity index. Then, this paper evaluates the impact of the CTG policy in pilot cities using the Difference-in-Difference (DID) with Propensity Score Matching (PSM) approach. This paper finds that the CTG policy increased the GTFP of the pilot cities by 2.25% (0.0229/1.02). A series of robustness tests confirmed the findings. Subsequent mechanism analysis shows that the CTG policy increases the GTFP of pilot cities mainly by increasing technical efficiency. In addition, the mechanism of the CTG policy's impact differs between central and noncentral cities. In particular, the CTG policy increases the technological innovation indicator (TC) of provincial capital cities by 2.35% while it increases the technical efficiency indicator (EC) of other cities by 1.89%, which proves the Porter effect in provincial capital cities. Finally, several implications are provided for policymakers to promote other types of renewable energy.

Digital economy and green total factor productivity-based on the empirical research on the resource-based cities

Green economy is the core content of the high-quality economic development, and the digital economy is the new driving force to accelerate the realization of high-quality economic development. In this regard, this paper selects 248 resource-based cities in China from 2011 to 2019 as the research objects and uses the fixed effect model and mediation effect model to test the relationship between digital economy and regional green total factor productivity. We get the following conclusions: First, there is the nonlinear relationship between digital economy and regional green total factor productivity, and this relationship shows the inverted U-shape. Secondly, digital economy can influence regional green total factor productivity through the path transmission mechanism of regional technological innovation, industrial structure, and environmental regulation. Finally, the effect of digital economy on regional green total factor productivity is heterogeneous, especially in the eastern region and cities with high human capital level. Based on the digital economy, the findings of this paper provide theoretical basis and reference suggestions for promoting the green development of regional economy. The government should attach importance to regional green development, actively guide the digital economy to promote green development, accelerate the development of the digital economy, and achieve high-quality economic development finally.

The driving influence of multidimensional urbanization on green total factor productivity in China: evidence from spatiotemporal analysis

China is experiencing a swift transformation from a rural to an urban society. This societal transition is the result of a country's ambition toward economic development. Rapid urbanization impacts on human wellbeing, environment, and infrastructure. Unlike many cases of urban extension, China's urbanization has led to increase in environmental issues, rather than to contain, and posed serious challenges to achieve sustainable development. To date, nevertheless, there is a little empirical enquiry on the spatiotemporal effects of multidimensional urbanization on green total factor productivity. Taking this into account, this article constructs a spatial panel data model based on 283 Chinese cities during 2006-2019. The results showed that the three types of urbanization (i.e., population, land, and economic) have positive effect on green total factor productivity (GTFP). Population urbanization has indirect positive effect on GTFP. Local land urbanization inhibits while surrounding land urbanization promotes GTFP. Economic urbanization has positive direct effect on GTFP. Considering regional heterogeneity, population and economic urbanization have positive effect on GTFP in eastern region. In central region, land urbanization significantly promotes GTFP, while economic urbanization has significant negative effect on GTFP. In the western region, the three types of urbanization are not conducive to GTFP. Considering sized heterogeneity, population and economic types of urbanization have significant negative effect on GTFP in small- and medium-sized cities. In large cities, the three types of urbanization have significant positive effects on GTFP. Considering temporal heterogeneity, the three types of urbanization significantly promote GTFP before 2014, but economic urbanization deteriorates GTFP after 2014. Our results recommend loosening Hukou system, improving land use efficiency, and developing technology and knowledge-intensive industries.

Have public environmental appeals inspired green total factor productivity? empirical evidence from Baidu Environmental Search Index

Literatures focus on whether formal environmental regulatory policies can effectively stimulate green total factor productivity (GTFP), but generally ignore the role of informal institutions such as public environmental appeals. This paper uses inter-provincial panel data and Non-Radial Slacks-Based Measure (SBM) model to measure GTFP. With the Baidu Environmental Search Index presenting the public environmental appeals, the dynamic panel System Generalized Method of Moments (SYS-GMM) and Differenced Generalized Method of Moments (DIFF-GMM) methods are used to explore the effect, transmission mechanism and conditions of the public's environmental demands on green total factor productivity. The study concludes that public environmental appeals are beneficial to improve GTFP, and this result still holds after endogenous and robustness tests. The mechanism results show that the green technology innovation effect is an important mechanism for public environmental appeals to improve GTFP. In addition, public environmental appeals of different pollutants and different locations have heterogeneous effects on GTFP. In addition, the public wealth level, human capital level, and government institutional environment play an important role in the impact of public environmental appeals on GTFP.

North-south regional differential decomposition and spatiotemporal dynamic evolution of China's industrial green total factor productivity

"Green development" has become the way for countries around the world to strengthen industries, and it is an important part of China's high-quality economic development. The key for China to strike a balance between economic growth and environmental management is to optimize green total factor productivity (GTFP). This paper measures the GTFP of industry in 30 provinces of China from 2003 to 2019, based on the perspective of energy and carbon emission constraints. It empirically examines the spatial disequilibrium and dynamic evolution of industrial GTFP in China using Dagum Gini coefficients, Kernel density estimation, and Markov chain analysis. The study finds that, (1) although China's industrial GTFP is not high, it shows an increasing trend. The industrial GTFP in the southern region is higher than that in the northern region. (2) Technical efficiency is the shortcoming of China's industrial GTFP improvement. Technological progress is the main driving force of China's industrial GTFP improvement. (3) The relative and absolute differences in China'' industrial GTFP, technical efficiency, and technological progress have all shown a widening trend. Regional differences between the southern and northern regions are the main source of relative differences in industrial GTFP, technical efficiency, and technological progress. (4) China's industrial GTFP shows a clear "club convergence" phenomenon and the "Matthew effect." However, after the introduction of the spatial factor, the "club convergence" phenomenon and the "Matthew effect" have weakened. The driving effect of industrial GTFP on neighboring provinces is stronger in the south than in the north. This paper enriches the analysis of industrial GTFP and provides an important basis for the coordinated regional development of Chinese industry.

Does farmland inflow improve the green total factor productivity of farmers in China? An empirical analysis based on a propensity score matching method

Promoting the "double security" of agricultural economy and ecology is the key to the agricultural modernization strategy, and the large-scale development of agriculture is an essential way for modern agriculture. Based on the micro-survey of 697 corn growers from August to September 2020 in China, the super-efficiency SBM model was used to calculate farmers' green total factor productivity. We further used the propensity score matching method to identify the impact of farmland inflow on farmers' green total factor productivity and dissect the internal mechanism. The study found that: firstly, compared with the non-inflowed households, the green total factor productivity of the inflowed households increased by 14.66%; secondly, farmland inflow can significantly improve farmers' green total factor productivity through the marginal output leveling effect, transaction benefit effect, and technology adoption effect; thirdly, the influence of farmland inflow on the green total factor productivity of farmers has heterogeneity in age, identity, and geographical location. Therefore, governments should establish a differentiated farmland inflow mechanism according to local conditions, enhance factor mobility and soil fertility monitoring capabilities, and drive a "win-win" between economic development and ecological protection.

Outward foreign direct investment, green financial development, and green total factor productivity: evidence from China

Prevailing research suggests reverse green technology spillovers from outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) significantly impact the green total factor productivity (GTFP) of the home country. However, the contribution of OFDI may depend on the home country's absorptive capacity. Based on panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2005 to 2019, this study constructs a generalized method of moments (GMM) model and a dynamic threshold panel model to empirically investigate how green financial development influences the impact of OFDI on the GTFP of the home country. We found that green financial development plays a positive moderating role in the impact of OFDI on GTFP in home country. The results also show the impact of OFDI on GTFP has a significant single-threshold effect on green financial development. Only when green financial development reaches a certain level can OFDI significantly promote GTFP of the home country. Moreover, regional heterogeneity exists in the moderating effect of green financial development. Given the ongoing growth of China's OFDI, it is vital to decide on a proper green financial development policy to improve the reverse spillover effect of OFDI firms on the nation's GTFP. The empirical analysis suggests that policymakers should build a multilevel green financial system to allocate financial resources and maximize the reverse spillover effect of OFDI.

Regional green total factor performance analysis of China's construction industry based on a unified framework combining static and dynamic indexes

It has an important meaning to improve green total factor performance in the construction industry for China's green and high-quality development. In addition to the traditional desirable economic output and undesirable CO₂ emission output, the indicators representing social welfare of China's construction industry were incorporated into the total factor framework. On this basis, a global non-radial DEA approach was employed to explore the sources and the key factors leading to changes in regional green total factor performance of China's construction industry from both static and dynamic perspectives. The results were concluded as follows: (1) The lower energy efficiency and CO₂ emission efficiency were the main reasons for low level of green total factor efficiency. During the sample period, energy efficiency increased rapidly while capital efficiency remained almost unchanged. (2) The green total factor productivity demonstrated an increasing trend, which was driven by technological progress rather than technical efficiency. An in-depth decomposition revealed that the deterioration of technical efficiency was mainly caused by the negative effect of CO₂ emissions. (3) Regional green total factor performance of China's construction industry demonstrated obvious spatial heterogeneity. Each province should comprehensively consider its own characteristics of green development in the construction industry to formulate the corresponding optimization strategy. These findings can help decision makers design specific policies on regional-oriented green development of China's construction industry.

The role of high-speed rail on green total factor productivity: evidence from Chinese cities

Compared with other transportation facilities, high-speed rail (HSR) may be more beneficial to "green development." Based on a sample of 276 cities in China over 2005-2019, this study calculates the actual and change values of green total factor productivity (GTFP) with the stochastic frontier approach (SFA) and investigates the effect of HSR on GTFP using the time-varying difference-in-difference model and propensity score matching analysis. Our research results show a significantly positive effect of HSR on GTFP through reducing energy consumption and environmental pollution, as well as improving technological innovation. HSR-connected cities are found to have outperformed non-HSR-connected cities by 12.8% regarding GTFP in the sample period, and the effect is stronger for the eastern region and/or the central cities compared with the rest of the country. The research findings of this paper have important policy implications regarding China's HSR development and its impact on economic growth as well as the natural environment.

How does digital economy affect green total factor productivity? Evidence from China

To date, digital economy has become an emerging driving force of economic growth in various countries. To further explore the green value of digital economy, full array polygon graphic index method and Global Malmquist productivity index are used to evaluate China's digital economy development and green total factor productivity respectively. Based on a comprehensive explanation of the influence mechanism, spatial econometric model and intermediary effect model are constructed to test the spatial spillover effect and transmission mechanism between digital economy and green total factor productivity. The results show that digital economy has a positive direct impact and spatial spillover effect on green total factor productivity with the significant U-shaped characteristics, and these effects mainly come from the promotion of green technology progress by digital economy. Industrial structure upgrading and factor market distortion respectively account for 22 % and 5.875 % of the impact of digital economy on green total factor efficiency, which means that they are the two primary channels for digital economy to influence green total factor productivity. Results of heterogeneity analysis show that digital economy is the key factor for resource-based cities to break the "resource curse", but the unbalanced development of digital economy leads to the "digital gap" between the central and peripheral cities.

Research on the impact mechanism of environmental regulation on green total factor productivity from the perspective of innovative human capital

Green total factor productivity (GTFP) improvement is an important way to achieve sustainable development, and how to improve GTFP has become the focus of attention of governments and scholars. This paper constructs a GTFP evaluation index system to characterize social, economic, ecological, cultural, and politically sustainable development, and analyzes the impact of environmental regulations on GTFP in the context of increasing innovative labor force. The results of the study are as follows: Firstly, China's GTFP continues to improve, with a decrease in low-value provinces and an increase in high-value provinces; there is an agglomeration effect of GTFP in the eastern and western regions. Secondly, under the role of innovative human capital, the threshold effect of China and the eastern and western regions is significantly positive in the first stage and insignificant in the second stage. The threshold effect of the central region is not significant in the first stage, but significantly negative in the second stage (- 11.650); the effect of environmental regulation in the eastern region is the strongest. Thirdly, the control variables in the upper period GTFP, national and eastern R&D investment, level of foreign openness, local fiscal expenditure, central and western information construction, western tertiary industry development, urbanization, foreign direct investment, level of foreign openness, and local fiscal expenditure can increase GTFP. In this regard, the government should adhere to innovative talent cultivation and investment in science and technology to build a talent ecological environment for regional sustainable development, adjust environmental regulations in time to meet the demand for sustainable development to realize the GTFP regional linkage enhancement.

Environmental regulation effect on green total factor productivity in the Yangtze River Economic Belt

As a typical watershed ecological economy in China, the Yangtze River Economic Belt has two equally important objectives, namely ecological protection and economic development. Improving green total factor productivity is an essential approach to achieve these two objectives and promote sustainable growth in this area as well as the whole country. Therefore, this study explores the impact of environmental regulation on green total factor productivity with a panel data of 108 cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt between 2003 and 2019. We first adopt the super slacks-based measure model to estimate city-level green total factor productivity. With kernel density curve, we find that green total factor productivity shows a downward pressure, and its absolute difference among cities shows a narrowing trend. Trend surface analysis displays an inverted U-shaped as well as a U-shaped spatial structures of green total factor productivity in the north-south as well as east-west directions, respectively. By using Spatial Durbin Model, we find a U-shaped direct impact of environmental regulation on green total factor productivity for the entire sample and three subsamples. For an indirect effect, environmental regulation has a positive spatial spill-over impact in the entire area; an insignificant effect in upstream and midstream areas; and an inverted U-shaped spatial spill-over in downstream area. Besides, we utilize threshold effect analysis to explore the impacts of technology innovation. The results show a single-threshold effect of technology innovation and the promotion effect decreases when technology innovation expenditure exceeds the threshold value. Based on our research findings, we suggest that the authorities should adhere to implementing and increasing the intensity of environmental regulation, so as to achieve better policy results. Moreover, local governments should keep technological innovation expenditure at a reasonable level to maximize the promoting effect of environmental regulation on green total factor productivity.

Can green finance promote urban green development? Evidence from green finance reform and innovation pilot zone in China

This study aims to evaluate the effect of the green finance reform and innovation pilot zone (GFPZ) policy on urban green development. Based on city-level panel data in China from 2012 to 2019, a difference-in-differences model was employed to examine the effects of China's GFPZ policy on the city's green total factor productivity (GTFP). Results show that (1) the GFPZ policy has promoted the GTFP of pilot cities, a conclusion that still holds after performing multiple robustness tests. (2) Compared to non-pilot cities, the GFPZ policy can increase urban GTFP by promoting urban green innovation and reducing urban energy intensity. (3) The GFPZ policy had a more significant impact on mega cities and resource-based cities than on medium and big-sized cities and non-resource-based cities. This study provides new empirical evidence on how green finance influences urban green development and offers China's experience to policymakers worldwide to develop green finance in top-level policy design and practice.

A spatial effect study on digital economy affecting the green total factor productivity in the Yangtze River Economic Belt

With the advent of the Industry 4.0 era, the digital economy (DE) has become a new driver of sustainable development. This paper focuses on DE's green and environmental value. Based on the panel data of 108 cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2011 to 2019, we evaluated the temporal and spatial evolution of DE and green total factor productivity (GTFP). The spatial Durbin model analyzes the direct and spatial spillover effects of DE on GTFP, the green efficiency change (GEC), and the green technical change (GTC). The results show that the DE maintains a stable growth trend. GTFP and GTC show a similar fluctuating upward trend, while GEC shows a fluctuating downward trend. Both DE and GTFP show a clustering trend of "high in the lower reaches and low in the upper and middle reaches" and a typical center-periphery pattern over time. Second, for the direct effect, DE has a significant positive impact on GTFP, mainly on GTC rather than GEC. The promotion effect is stronger at the new normal stage, in the lower reaches, and the three major urban agglomerations. Third, for the spatial spillover effect, DE has a trickle-down effect on GTFP and GTC and a siphon effect on GEC, more potent at the new normal stage and in the lower reaches. Compared with peripheral cities, DE has significant trickle-down effects on GTFP, GTC, and GEC in the three major urban agglomerations.

The effect of social sphere digitalization on green total factor productivity in China: Evidence from a dynamic spatial Durbin model

Digitalization has been the new engine of development that drives the regional economy, but scant empirical studies investigate the linkage between the social sphere digitalization and green total factor productivity (GTFP). Based on the quantitative and comprehensive index of digitalization development, the study calculates the digital economy from the social sphere in China's 279 cities between 2011 and 2019. Besides, the impact of social sphere digitalization on GTFP is examined using the dynamic spatial Durbin model (SDM). The basic results show that the development of the digital economy in the social sphere positively influences the growth of GTFP, and there is a spatial spillover effect. Specifically, the 1% increase in social sphere digitalization will bring a 0.0705% increase in GTFP. Furthermore, influencing mechanisms of the digital economy on GTFP are examined, namely industrial structure upgrading, human capital, and technological invention effects. Last, the heterogeneity analyses show that the influencing intensity is different in Eastern, Middle, and Western cities as well as in resource-based and non-resource-based cities. Our findings provide new evidence for the relationship between the social sphere digitalization and green development, and also give managerial implications for other cities or countries that are seeking energy and emission-reduction measures.

Do pilot free trade zones improve the green total factor productivity? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China

China's pilot free trade zone (PFTZ) is an important national strategy to achieve high-quality development, so it is necessary to discuss the effect of PFTZ implementation on green total factor productivity (GTFP). Based on the data from 279 cities in China from 2004 to 2018, this study takes the establishment of PFTZ as a quasi-natural experiment and uses the difference-in-differences (DID) method to systematically evaluate the effect of PFTZ on urban GTFP. The empirical results of this paper are shown as follows: Firstly, the construction of PFTZ has a significant effect on urban GTFP, and this effect has increased gradually over time. Secondly, the construction of PFTZ mainly promotes the urban GTFP by increasing the level of science and technology innovation, reducing government intervention and improving the level of human capital. Thirdly, the effect of PFTZ construction on GTFP is more pronounced in regions with earlier waves of PFTZ and in western regions where environmental concerns are higher. In addition, there is a significant positive linkage between the construction of the PFTZ and the Belt and Road Initiative to improve the urban GTFP. The findings of this paper enrich the relevant literature on PFTAs and sustainable development and provide a theoretical basis for further promotion of PFTZ construction.

Sustainability performance of global chemical industry based on green total factor productivity

The sustainability of the chemical industry is crucial for achieving global sustainable production. The sustainability performance of global chemical industry is influenced by many issues synergistically and has not been fully quantified. Systematic analysis from multiple perspectives, such as resource savings, economic growth, and environmental improvement, is urgently needed to support effective macro-policy decisions. This study quantifies the variation trend of the sustainability of the global chemical industry during 2004-2014 and identifies the driving forces under the framework of green total factor productivity (GTFP). Results show that most developed countries performed efficiently (with GTFP values equal to 1) in sustainable production of the chemical industry, while the least developed countries usually performed inefficiently (with GTFP values lower than 1). Notably, a polarization of sustainability in the chemical industry has been confirmed among countries with different production capacities. From 2004 to 2014, the sustainability performance of the global chemical industry has generally improved. It was mainly driven by technological progress (resulting from independent technological innovation) rather than efficiency catching-up (derived from technological learning). Furthermore, technological progress was manifested mainly as the improvement in CO₂ reduction performance and capital saving performance, while technological learning was manifested mainly as the improvement in labor saving performance. Based on the conclusions of this study, the international world is suggested to take action to strengthen international technology cooperation, and governments should make prioritized and focused policies to effectively promote the sustainability of global chemical industry.

Measuring China's agricultural green total factor productivity and its drivers during 1998-2019

Improving agricultural green total factor productivity (AGTFP) is essential to China's agricultural sustainable development. Although several studies have focused on China's AGTFP, its measurement and drivers are not fully investigated yet. More specifically, the published research examining the drivers of China's AGTFP at both the production and factor levels is still scarce. To fill this gap, this study constructs two different data envelopment analysis models combined with green Luenberger productivity indicator (GLPI), the biennial weight modified Russell model and the biennial bounded adjusted model, to measure China's AGTFP as well as check the robustness. We further decompose the AGTFP growth at both production and factor levels to investigate its drivers. The main findings are as follows. First, during 1998-2019, the central region with its GLPI at 0.0377 had the largest AGTFP growth, followed by the western (0.0281) and eastern regions (0.0254). Second, in terms of production-decomposition, technical progress was crucial driver to AGTFP growth, energy conservation and emission reduction (ECER) and market performance. Third, in terms of factors-decomposition, the contributions of these factors to the AGTFP growth were positive and the contribution rates ranged from 1.01% (pesticide) to 38.51% (agricultural carbon emissions). Additionally, ECER performance was the primary driver of AGTFP, accounting for about 51.35% of the growth. Finally, according to the decompositions, Porter effect was discovered in China's agricultural sector. ECER drove China's agriculture to achieve win-win development between the environment and economic production.

Impact of environmental regulation on green total factor productivity: a new perspective of green technological innovation

Green total factor productivity (GTFP) is an essential indicator to measure economic and environmental efficiency. Moreover, formulating a reasonable environmental regulation system and promoting green technological innovation is a systematic way to improve GTFP. However, previous related studies lack to investigate the impact of environmental regulation on GTFP from the perspective of green technological innovation. For this purpose, this paper aims to examine the specific impact of environmental regulation on GTFP based on the perspective of green technology innovation, so as to provide some policy insights for the formulation of more effective implementation of environmental regulation, improve green technology innovation level, and achieve a win-win situation for both economic growth and environmental protection. Furthermore, epsilon-based measure (EBM), which includes both radial and non-radial distance functions, is used to measure the GTFP. The spatial autoregressive method is also employed to quantify the impact of environmental regulation on GTFP from the perspective of green technological innovation using panel data of 269 prefecture-level cities in China from 2004 to 2018. The main findings indicate that there is a significant spatial autocorrelation between environmental regulation and GTFP. Environmental regulation has a significant positive effect on GTFP. Environmental regulation in the local regions also significantly contributes to GTFP in neighboring regions. Besides, environmental regulation indirectly promotes GTFP by enhancing green technological innovation level. Regional heterogeneity results show that environmental regulation can not only directly promote GTFP but also indirectly significantly promote GTFP through green technological innovation in the eastern and central regions, but insignificant in the western region. Based on the above findings, we conclude that policymakers should not only develop differentiated environmental regulation standards and steadily improving the intensity and rationality of environmental regulation but also add green innovation funds supply, enhance green innovation factor allocation efficiency, and strengthen R&D talents, funds, and policies to green technology innovation, so as to drive GTFP improvement.

Can FDI facilitate green total factor productivity in China? Evidence from regional diversity

The development of foreign direct investment conforms to the theoretical principles of green total factor productivity and is key to promoting regional industry upgrading. Using three-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) based on city-level data, this paper investigates the effect of foreign direct investment on regional green total factor productivity (GTFP) across China. The results show that foreign direct investment affects regional GTFP through technology spillover effect and human capital spillover effect. Under different environmental regulation intensity and marketization, the relationship between FDI and green total factor productivity is non-linear. The phenomena of "pollution paradise" and "bottom line race" survived at low marketization regional and foreign direct investment will inhibit the improvement of regional green total factor productivity in China.

Environmental regulation, innovation capability, and green total factor productivity: New evidence from China

Given China' rapid transformation, its economy is currently experiencing a change from a rugged development style to a sustainable development style with green development being critical to this transformation. Increasing green total factor productivity (GTFP) is now considered one of the significant signs of economic growth. With increasingly stricter environmental laws and regulations and a broad application of innovation capability (ICY) in modern life, this research investigates the impact mechanisms of both environmental regulations (ER) and ICY on GTFP, offering robust empirical results from panel data of 30 provinces in China covering the period 2006-2017. The results indicate that both ICY and ER effectively promote GTFP, but compared to ER, ICY has a heterogeneous effect on GTFP. Moreover, ICY plays a mediating role in ER and GTFP, while ER promotes GTFP through ICY. Accordingly, the paper puts forward some suggestions, such as to optimize and improve the ER policy, enact an innovation-driven development strategy, widely use ICY technology, and strengthen monitoring and supervision.

The impact and mechanisms of the Shanghai pilot free-trade zone on the green total factor productivity of the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration

Free-trade zones are highlands of regional development that have a radiating effect on surrounding cities. This paper uses Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration (YRDUA) data from 2003 to 2018, to examine the impact of the China (Shanghai) pilot free-trade zone (SPFTZ) on green total factor productivity (GTFP) in the YRDUA. It uses the regression discontinuity (RD) method and analyzes the influence mechanism with the help of the mediating effect model. The paper presents the following major findings. The establishment of the SPFTZ significantly promoted GTFP in the YRDUA, with technological progress being the main driving force. An analysis using the mediating effect model found that financial efficiency and industrial structure upgrading play a complete mediating role in GTFP growth in the YRDUA. Therefore, the SPFTZ should make use of its policy advantages, take full advantage of the effect of the green growth pole, and promote green mutual development with the YRDUA.

Measurement of green total factor productivity on Chinese pig breeding: from the perspective of regional differences

China has a vast territory and abundant resources, and there are significant differences in the development of pig breeding in different regions. Chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) produced in the process of pig breeding will affect China's environmental quality. In view of this, based on the Minimum Distance to Weak efficient frontier model, this paper constructs Metafrontier-Malmquist-Luenberger (MML) index considering negative output under the common frontier to comprehensively evaluate the green total factor productivity of Chinese pig breeding (GTCP). This has guiding significance for improving China's pork production and reducing pollution emissions. The results manifest that (1) no matter under the common frontier or the group frontier, GTCP presents large temporal and spatial differentiation characteristics. Compared with the central region and the western region, the eastern region has obvious advantages in GTCP. (2) GTCP has shown an upward trend as a whole, which is mainly due to the technical progress. (3) Compared with small-scale and medium-sized GTCP, large-scale GTCP has apparent superiorities. Based on the above outcomes, this paper finally raises policy recommendations for improving GTCP: (1) give full play to the advantages of pig breeding in different regions, (2) increase the research and introduction of pig breeding clean technology and improve the application efficiency, and (3) give full play to the scale effect and vigorously develop large-scale pig breeding.

The role of innovation investment and institutional quality on green total factor productivity: evidence from 46 countries along the "Belt and Road"

Based on the panel data of 46 countries in "Belt and Road" (B&R) from 2004 to 2016, this paper studies the impact of innovation investment and institutional quality on green total factor productivity (GTFP). Firstly, the ICRG database, World Bank WDI database, Traditional Foundation database, and Wind database are matched to obtain the balanced panel data of 46 countries along the B&R from 2004 to 2016. Secondly, the Malmquist-Luenberger index, which can be included in the unexpected output, is used to calculate the GTFP of countries along B&R. Thirdly, the evaluation system of national institutional quality of B&R is constructed from three dimensions (political institutional quality, economic institutional quality, and legal institutional quality), and the overall system quality of different countries is measured by entropy method. Finally, an empirical study is made on the relationship among innovation investment, institutional quality, and green total factor productivity. The results show that innovation investment has significantly promoted the GTFP of the B&R countries. It is worth noting that there is a non-linear relationship between innovation investment and GTFP in the B&R countries. With the improvement of overall system quality, political system quality, economic system quality, and legal system quality, the promotion effect of innovation investment on GTFP is further enhanced. In addition, the heterogeneity regression results show that the impact of innovation investment on GTFP is significantly heterogeneous in different regions of the B&R countries. Specifically, innovation investment has the greatest impact on GTFP in South Asia, followed by East Asia and Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, Middle East, and North Africa.

Spatial-temporal evolution and influencing factors of total factor productivity in China's logistics industry under low-carbon constraints

Behind the rapid development of China's logistics industry, there are problems of high energy consumption and high pollution. Under the dual constraints of resources and environment, promoting the low-carbon transformation of the logistics industry is the key to achieving sustainable development of the logistics industry. This paper applies the epsilon-based measure (EBM) model which considers undesirable output and global Malmquist-Luenberger (GML) index to measure the logistics efficiency under the low-carbon constraints of 30 provinces in China from 2005 to 2017, that is, the green total factor productivity (GTFP), and characterizes its temporal and spatial evolution characteristics through visualization and spatial analysis methods. Then, this paper uses the geographically weighted regression (GWR) model to analyze the influence of industrial agglomeration level, informatization level, foreign direct investment, logistics energy intensity, traffic network density, and technological innovation capability on the GTFP of the logistics industry. The findings of this paper show that (1) during the inspection period, the overall average GTFP of the logistics industry was 0.992, which did not reach the effective level, and the spatial differentiation showed that the average GTFP of eastern was greater than that of in central, and that of in central was greater than that of in western. (2) The GTFP of the logistics industry has experienced an alternating process of rising and falling in time, with large fluctuations. Also, in terms of spatial dimension, there is a trend that high-level areas gradually gather to the southeast, and there is significant spatial autocorrelation. (3) For the logistics industry, high-efficiency areas and high-output areas show significant spatial homogeneity. (4) The estimation results of the GWR show that the direction and intensity of the multi-dimensional driving factors on the GTFP of the logistics industry are different in different regions, showing obvious spatial non-stationary characteristics.

The positive role of trade openness in industrial green total factor productivity-provincial evidence from China

The sustainable development of the economy is a key issue of global concern. Green total factor productivity (GTFP) combining economic growth with resources and the environment can evaluate the quality of economic development comprehensively and accurately. In this paper, super slack-based measure (Super-SBM) model and Malmquist-Luenberger (ML) index were used to calculate GTFP. The trend of industrial GTFP in China's 30 provinces from 2006-2015 was analyzed. Furtherly, a dynamic panel model was used to discuss the impact of trade openness on GTFP. The results showed that (1) the growth rate of GTFP rose from 2007 to 2011 and declined significantly from 2011 to 2015, and GTFP only achieved positive growth in 2011; (2) the growth rate of GTFP in the eastern region was higher than that in the central and western regions; (3) the trend of technical progress change (MLTECH) index was highly consistent with that of ML index. That was, technical progress played a major role in the variation of GTFP; (4) trade openness could significantly improve China's GTFP. Every 1% increase in trade openness could increase GTFP by 0.097% on average. It is advisable to implement differentiated economic development and environmental policies in different regions. Meanwhile, relevant measures can be taken to promote import and export trade, such as encouraging companies to increase investment in green technology research and development, optimizing the trade environment.