Aug 2026· Sustainability· Vol 18, pp. 8318· 0 citations· 70 references
Abstract
Green Production and Lifestyles (GPL) are essential for advancing green development and sustainable development. However, limited attention has been paid to their integrated transformation and the combined effects of social governance-oriented and environmental technology-oriented policies. This study examines the effects of the Dual Pilot Policy (DP) of the National Civilized City Program and the Low-Carbon City Pilot Policy on urban GPL transition. Using balanced panel data from 276 prefecture-level cities in China during 2002–2023, we employ a staggered difference-in-differences (DID) model. The results show that the DP significantly increases the GPL index by 0.0367 units, equivalent to a 3.67% improvement on a 0–1 scale. The DP generates a stronger additional combined effect than individual policies, while “Civilized City first, followed by Low-Carbon City” produces a stronger effect. The effects are more pronounced in non-resource-based cities, non-old industrial base cities, cities outside the Yangtze River Basin, and coastal cities. Mediation analysis identifies government support, industrial structure upgrading, and public GPL awareness as important channels, while significant spatial spillover effects are also observed. These findings provide empirical evidence for optimizing policy combinations.
To advance its green and low-carbon transition, China has implemented the Low-Carbon City Pilot Policy (LCCPP) as a strategic initiative. A critical question remains unanswered on whether this policy effectively improves urban carbon productivity and facilitates the decoupling of economic growth from carbon emissions. Using the phased expansion of the LCCPP across Chinese cities as a quasi-natural experiment, this study constructs a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) model based on a panel dataset of 276 prefecture-level and above cities from 2007 to 2023. The empirical results show that the LCCPP significantly enhances urban carbon productivity in pilot cities relative to non-pilot counterparts. This finding remains robust across a series of sensitivity checks. Mechanism analysis provides suggestive evidence that the policy may operate through two primary channels: fostering green technological innovation and promoting economic agglomeration. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the policy’s positive effects are more marked in developed cities, innovation-active cities, high-carbon-emission cities, and environmentally prioritized cities. Furthermore, moderation analysis demonstrates that stricter environmental regulations strengthen the policy’s effectiveness. These findings provide empirical evidence for optimizing the design of low-carbon policies and offer actionable insights for tailoring green urban transformation strategies to local conditions.
Lei Wang, Xiaohan Zhao· Sustainability· 0 citations
: Based on the dual context of accelerating comprehensive green transformation of the economy and society and modernizing government governance during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, this study utilizes panel data from 280 prefecture-level cities in China from 2006 to 2023 to systematically examine the impact of public sector personnel size on green total factor productivity (GTFP) and its underlying mechanisms. The study employs a non-radial, non-directional SBM-DDF model to measure GTFP across cities and conducts empirical tests using fixed effects models, mediation effect models, and spatial Durbin models. Results reveal that public sector personnel size exerts a linear inhibitory effect on GTFP, with an inverted "U"-shaped relationship between personnel size and technical efficiency (EC). Heterogeneity analysis indicates that this inhibitory effect is particularly pronounced in central and western regions as well as cities with moderate economic development levels. Spatial effect tests demonstrate that, constrained by administrative boundaries and institutional environments, the impact of public sector personnel size on GTFP exhibits significant local effects without spatial spillover effects. Mechanism tests further reveal that expansion of public sector personnel size distorts regional population mobility patterns through the "institutional internal siphon effect," and indirectly inhibits GTFP growth by crowding out R&D investment and suppressing production organization transformation, thereby hindering the enhancement of new-quality productivity. This study provides crucial micro-level evidence and policy insights for dynamically optimizing government staffing structures during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, mitigating the crowding-out effects of fiscal support scale expansion on green innovation, and achieving efficient green governance.
The green low-carbon transition is crucial not only for mitigating environmental challenges but also for reshaping residents’ consumption patterns.
This study evaluates the impact of the urban low-carbon transition, specifically the Low-Carbon City Pilot (LCCP) policy, on the scale and structure of residents’ consumption. Leveraging the implementation of China’s LCCP policy as a quasi-natural experiment, we employ a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) model and analyze panel data from 281 prefecture-level cities spanning 2007 to 2022.
The findings indicate that the LCCP policy significantly expands the scale and improves the structure of residents’ consumption. These results withstand a series of rigorous robustness checks. Heterogeneity analysis further reveals that the policy’s impacts on residents’ consumption scale and structure vary across different consumption tiers and regions.
Mechanism analysis suggests that the LCCP policy affects consumption primarily by increasing the supply of low-carbon products and strengthening residents’ low-carbon consumption awareness.
Pian Chen, Wei Xi· Frontiers in Environmental S...· 0 citations
Reconciling pollution–carbon reduction with green growth is a central challenge for sustainable urban transition, yet the role of innovation-oriented financial policy in this process remains insufficiently understood. This study uses China’s sci-tech finance pilot policy (STFP) as a quasi-natural experiment and applies a multi-period difference-in-differences model to panel data for 284 prefecture-level cities from 2008 to 2023. The baseline results show that STFP significantly reduces the pollution–carbon synergistic pressure index (PCSP) and improves the green growth efficiency index (GGEI). Specifically, the policy reduces PCSP by approximately 8.10% and increases GGEI by 0.0350 units. These conclusions hold after a series of robustness and endogeneity tests. Mechanism analysis reveals that STFP works through three pathways: stimulating green industrial entrepreneurship, promoting green and digital technological innovation, and inducing the agglomeration of capital, talent, and technology factors. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the policy effect is more pronounced in large cities, cities with stronger collaborative governance capacity, and cities with better innovation environments. Spatial analysis reveals that STFP significantly reduces PCSP in neighboring cities, but has no significant spatial spillover effect on GGEI. Further analysis shows that STFP strengthens the coordinated improvement of pollution–carbon reduction and green growth. Policy-interaction analysis indicates that the Zero-Waste City pilot enhances the effect of STFP, whereas green finance policy exhibits a marginal substitution effect. This study provides city-level evidence on how sci-tech finance can serve as an institutional instrument for coordinating environmental governance and green growth in sustainable urban transition.
Jing Tian, Xiao Liu, Xu Yang et al.· Sustainability· 0 citations
Urban–rural integration, as a pivotal strategy for reshaping the relationship between cities and the countryside and promoting balanced regional development in the current era, carries considerable weight for the green transition of agricultural systems. This study utilizes panel data from 31 Chinese provincial units over the 2011–2023 period to construct a four-dimensional (economic, social, spatial, and ecological) assessment framework for urban–rural integration. It then applies the SBM-GML model to estimate agricultural green total factor productivity and systematically investigates the impact and underlying mechanisms of integration on that productivity. The principal findings are as follows: (1) Urban–rural integration significantly boosts agricultural green total factor productivity, and this outcome remains robust after a variety of sensitivity checks and corrections for potential endogeneity. (2) Mechanism tests further reveal that the primary conduits through which such integration raises AGTFP are the upgrading of human capital and the proliferation of agricultural socialized services. (3) Analysis of moderating effects indicates that both innovation in agricultural science and technology and government fiscal support for farming positively reinforce the facilitative impact of urban–rural integration on agricultural green total factor productivity. (4) Results from heterogeneity analysis suggest that the green productivity effect of such integration is strongest in major grain-producing areas, weaker in major grain-selling areas, and not statistically detectable in grain production–marketing balance regions.
Against the backdrop of synergistically advancing the “dual carbon” goals and the strategy of intensive green land use, the impact of green place-based policies on urban green land use efficiency has garnered significant scholarly attention. Treating the establishment of National Eco-industrial Demonstration Parks as a quasi-natural experiment, this study employs a multi-period difference-in-differences approach to evaluate the policy’s effects based on panel data from 284 prefecture-level and above cities in China from 2011 to 2023. The results indicate that the establishment of National Eco-industrial Demonstration Parks significantly enhances urban green land use efficiency. This improvement is primarily driven by mechanisms including strengthened environmental regulations, reduced industrial land supply for “Two-High” industries, and the promotion of green innovation alongside green industrial agglomeration. Heterogeneity analyses reveal that the policy effects are more pronounced in the eastern region, non-resource-based cities, and non-old industrial cities, and these positive impacts are amplified by higher levels of new digital infrastructure. Further analysis uncovers that the transition process is accompanied by short-term fiscal pressure and a crowding-out effect on low-skilled labor; however, the development of green finance and the agglomeration of producer services can effectively mitigate these transition costs. This study provides empirical evidence for optimizing green spatial policies and advancing high-quality urban development.
Rui Wang, Caixia Lin, Yifan Chen et al.· Frontiers in Sustainable Foo...· 0 citations
