IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i11p6111-d569664.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Technological Innovation Promote Green Development? A Case Study of the Yangtze River Economic Belt in China

Author

Listed:
  • Senlin Hu

    (Center for Modern Chinese City Studies, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China)

  • Gang Zeng

    (Center for Modern Chinese City Studies, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China)

  • Xianzhong Cao

    (Center for Modern Chinese City Studies, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China)

  • Huaxi Yuan

    (Economics School, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan 430073, China)

  • Bing Chen

    (Center for Modern Chinese City Studies, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China)

Abstract

The role of technological innovation (TI) in green development is controversial. Based on 2003–2017 panel data of 108 cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB), this study constructed an index system to evaluate urban green development and analyzed the role of TI on urban green development with the help of a panel econometric model. The results show that: (1) From 2003 to 2017, the levels of TI and green development of cities in the YREB have gradually improved, but the core–periphery structure is obvious, and the levels of TI and green development in the lower reaches are significantly higher than those in the middle and upper reaches. (2) TI has a significant positive role in promoting green development, showing a U-shaped nonlinear relationship, and this relationship varies from region to region. (3) TI has a significant impact on green development with direct and indirect effects. In the economic and social dimensions, TI has a positive impact on green development, while in the ecological dimension, the direct effect and indirect effect have opposite relationships. (4) TI has a significant threshold effect on green development, and there are differences in threshold characteristics between the three dimensions. These findings provide a scientific basis for policymaking about innovation-driven regional green development, and it can enrich the related theories of environmental economic geography.

Suggested Citation

  • Senlin Hu & Gang Zeng & Xianzhong Cao & Huaxi Yuan & Bing Chen, 2021. "Does Technological Innovation Promote Green Development? A Case Study of the Yangtze River Economic Belt in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-18, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:11:p:6111-:d:569664
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/11/6111/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/11/6111/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Romer, Paul M, 1986. "Increasing Returns and Long-run Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(5), pages 1002-1037, October.
    2. Liu, Yunqiang & Zhu, Jialing & Li, Eldon Y. & Meng, Zhiyi & Song, Yan, 2020. "Environmental regulation, green technological innovation, and eco-efficiency: The case of Yangtze river economic belt in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    3. Hansen, Bruce E., 1999. "Threshold effects in non-dynamic panels: Estimation, testing, and inference," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 345-368, December.
    4. Hovardas, Tasos, 2016. "Two paradoxes with one stone: A critical reading of ecological modernization," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 1-7.
    5. James P. LeSage & Manfred M. Fischer, 2012. "Estimates of the Impact of Static and Dynamic Knowledge Spillovers on Regional Factor Productivity," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 35(1), pages 103-127, January.
    6. Tsuboi, Mizuki, 2019. "Resource scarcity, technological progress, and stochastic growth," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 73-88.
    7. York, Richard & Rosa, Eugene A. & Dietz, Thomas, 2003. "STIRPAT, IPAT and ImPACT: analytic tools for unpacking the driving forces of environmental impacts," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 351-365, October.
    8. Henderson, Vernon & Kuncoro, Ari & Turner, Matt, 1995. "Industrial Development in Cities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 103(5), pages 1067-1090, October.
    9. Gene M. Grossman & Alan B. Krueger, 1995. "Economic Growth and the Environment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 110(2), pages 353-377.
    10. Andreea Constantinescu & Simona Frone, 2014. "The role of technological innovation in sustainable economic development," Journal of Knowledge Management, Economics and Information Technology, ScientificPapers.org, vol. 4(1.1), pages 1-13, February.
    11. Zhang, Fan & Deng, Xiangzheng & Phillips, Fred & Fang, Chuanglin & Wang, Chao, 2020. "Impacts of industrial structure and technical progress on carbon emission intensity: Evidence from 281 cities in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    12. Jiang, Lei & Folmer, Henk & Ji, Minhe & Zhou, P., 2018. "Revisiting cross-province energy intensity convergence in China: A spatial panel analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 252-263.
    13. Yuan, Huaxi & Feng, Yidai & Lee, Chien-Chiang & Cen, Yan, 2020. "How does manufacturing agglomeration affect green economic efficiency?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    14. Wu, Haitao & Xu, Lina & Ren, Siyu & Hao, Yu & Yan, Guoyao, 2020. "How do energy consumption and environmental regulation affect carbon emissions in China? New evidence from a dynamic threshold panel model," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    15. Zhenci Xu & Sophia N. Chau & Xiuzhi Chen & Jian Zhang & Yingjie Li & Thomas Dietz & Jinyan Wang & Julie A. Winkler & Fan Fan & Baorong Huang & Shuxin Li & Shaohua Wu & Anna Herzberger & Ying Tang & De, 2020. "Assessing progress towards sustainable development over space and time," Nature, Nature, vol. 577(7788), pages 74-78, January.
    16. Dhahri, Sabrine & Omri, Anis, 2018. "Entrepreneurship contribution to the three pillars of sustainable development: What does the evidence really say?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 64-77.
    17. Werner Antweiler & Brian R. Copeland & M. Scott Taylor, 2001. "Is Free Trade Good for the Environment?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 877-908, September.
    18. Ghisetti, Claudia & Quatraro, Francesco, 2017. "Green Technologies and Environmental Productivity: A Cross-sectoral Analysis of Direct and Indirect Effects in Italian Regions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 1-13.
    19. Chi-Wei Su & Yannong Xie & Sadaf Shahab & Ch. Muhammad Nadeem Faisal & Muhammad Hafeez & Ghulam Muhammad Qamri, 2021. "Towards Achieving Sustainable Development: Role of Technology Innovation, Technology Adoption and CO 2 Emission for BRICS," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(1), pages 1-13, January.
    20. Humaira Yasmeen & Qingmei Tan & Hashim Zameer & Junlan Tan & Kishwar Nawaz, 2020. "Exploring the impact of technological innovation, environmental regulations and urbanization on ecological efficiency of China in the context of COP21," Post-Print hal-03558085, HAL.
    21. Wang, Shaojian & Zeng, Jingyuan & Liu, Xiaoping, 2019. "Examining the multiple impacts of technological progress on CO2 emissions in China: A panel quantile regression approach," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 140-150.
    22. Jianguo Liu & Vanessa Hull & H. Charles J. Godfray & David Tilman & Peter Gleick & Holger Hoff & Claudia Pahl-Wostl & Zhenci Xu & Min Gon Chung & Jing Sun & Shuxin Li, 2018. "Nexus approaches to global sustainable development," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 1(9), pages 466-476, September.
    23. Joana Costa, 2021. "Carrots or Sticks: Which Policies Matter the Most in Sustainable Resource Management?," Resources, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-21, February.
    24. Pavitt, Keith, 1982. "R&D, patenting and innovative activities : A statistical exploration," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 33-51, February.
    25. Chris Freeman & Luc Soete, 1997. "The Economics of Industrial Innovation, 3rd Edition," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 3, volume 1, number 0262061953, December.
    26. Wenbin Cao & Ying Zhang & Peng Qian, 2019. "The Effect of Innovation-Driven Strategy on Green Economic Development in China—An Empirical Study of Smart Cities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-11, April.
    27. Pavitt, Keith & Robson, Michael & Townsend, Joe, 1987. "The Size Distribution of Innovating Firms in the UK: 1945-1983," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(3), pages 297-316, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xiaoxue Liu & Fuzhen Cao & Shuangshuang Fan, 2022. "Does Human Capital Matter for China’s Green Growth?—Examination Based on Econometric Model and Machine Learning Methods," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-27, September.
    2. Dezhong Duan & Qifan Xia, 2021. "Does Environmental Regulation Promote Environmental Innovation? An Empirical Study of Cities in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-18, December.
    3. Na Wang & Shan Jin Zhang & Wei Wang, 2022. "Impact of Environmental Innovation Strategy on Green Competitiveness: Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-17, May.
    4. Han Bao & Tangwei Teng & Xianzhong Cao & Shengpeng Wang & Senlin Hu, 2022. "The Threshold Effect of Knowledge Diversity on Urban Green Innovation Efficiency Using the Yangtze River Delta Region as an Example," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-18, August.
    5. Jiawen Zhang & Zhenhua Xu & Fuyi Ci, 2023. "Spatio–Temporal Evolutionary Features and Drivers of Green Competitiveness of Cities Surrounding the Yellow River," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-24, September.
    6. Haisheng Chen & Manhong Shen, 2022. "Do Central Inspections of Environmental Protection Affect the Efficiency of the Green Economy? Evidence from China’s Yangtze River Delta," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-17, December.
    7. Dongchu Han & Mianfang Liu, 2022. "How Does the Digital Economy Contribute to Regional Green Development in China? Evidence-Based on the Intermediary Effect of Technological Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-14, September.
    8. Weiguang Wang & Yangyang Wang, 2023. "Regional Differences, Dynamic Evolution and Driving Factors Analysis of PM 2.5 in the Yangtze River Economic Belt," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-24, February.
    9. Huacheng Rao & Dongxu Chen & Feichao Shen & Yangyang Shen, 2022. "Can Green Bonds Stimulate Green Innovation in Enterprises? Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-19, November.
    10. Zefeng Mi & Zhixin Qiu & Gang Zeng & Can Zhou & Lei Ye, 2023. "The innovation effect of low‐carbon technology transfer from the perspective of carbon emission reduction demand: A case study of the Yangtze River Economic Belt in China," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 625-648, June.
    11. Yaoshan Ma & Qingyu Yao, 2022. "Impact of Producer Service Agglomeration on Carbon Emission Efficiency and Its Mechanism: A Case Study of Urban Agglomeration in the Yangtze River Delta," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-23, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Han Bao & Tangwei Teng & Xianzhong Cao & Shengpeng Wang & Senlin Hu, 2022. "The Threshold Effect of Knowledge Diversity on Urban Green Innovation Efficiency Using the Yangtze River Delta Region as an Example," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-18, August.
    2. Huang, Junbing & Li, Xinghao & Wang, Yajun & Lei, Hongyan, 2021. "The effect of energy patents on China's carbon emissions: Evidence from the STIRPAT model," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    3. Yaoshan Ma & Qingyu Yao, 2022. "Impact of Producer Service Agglomeration on Carbon Emission Efficiency and Its Mechanism: A Case Study of Urban Agglomeration in the Yangtze River Delta," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-23, August.
    4. Wu, Haitao & Xue, Yan & Hao, Yu & Ren, Siyu, 2021. "How does internet development affect energy-saving and emission reduction? Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    5. Wang, Hai-Jie & Zheng, Mei-Qi & Yin, Hua-Tang & Chang, Chun-Ping, 2024. "Green innovation, industrial structure and urban eco-efficiency in Chinese cities," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 1011-1024.
    6. Juanjuan Tian & Xiaoqian Song & Jinsuo Zhang, 2022. "Spatial-Temporal Pattern and Driving Factors of Carbon Efficiency in China: Evidence from Panel Data of Urban Governance," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-24, March.
    7. Shang, Hua & Jiang, Li & Pan, Xianyou & Pan, Xiongfeng, 2022. "Green technology innovation spillover effect and urban eco-efficiency convergence: Evidence from Chinese cities," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    8. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Nasreen, Samia & Abbas, Faisal & Anis, Omri, 2015. "Does foreign direct investment impede environmental quality in high-, middle-, and low-income countries?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 275-287.
    9. He, Jie & Richard, Patrick, 2010. "Environmental Kuznets curve for CO2 in Canada," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(5), pages 1083-1093, March.
    10. Wu, Dong & Geng, Yong & Pan, Hengyu, 2021. "Whether natural gas consumption bring double dividends of economic growth and carbon dioxide emissions reduction in China?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    11. Rutger Hoekstra & Marco Janssen, 2006. "Environmental responsibility and policy in a two-country dynamic input-output model," Economic Systems Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 61-84.
    12. Qin, Quande & Yu, Ying & Liu, Yuan & Zhou, Jianqing & Chen, Xiude, 2023. "Industrial agglomeration and energy efficiency: A new perspective from market integration," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    13. Ling Luo & Yang Fu & Hui Li, 2023. "Do Urban Innovation Policies Reduce Carbon Emission? Empirical Evidence from Chinese Cities with DID," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-17, April.
    14. Charfeddine, Lanouar & Ben Khediri, Karim, 2016. "Financial development and environmental quality in UAE: Cointegration with structural breaks," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 1322-1335.
    15. Liu, Liyun & Zhao, Zhenzhi & Su, Bin & Ng, Tsan Sheng & Zhang, Mingming & Qi, Lin, 2021. "Structural breakpoints in the relationship between outward foreign direct investment and green innovation: An empirical study in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    16. Li, Ke & Lin, Boqiang, 2015. "Impacts of urbanization and industrialization on energy consumption/CO2 emissions: Does the level of development matter?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 1107-1122.
    17. Zhang, Wei & Liu, Xuemeng & Wang, Die & Zhou, Jianping, 2022. "Digital economy and carbon emission performance: Evidence at China's city level," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    18. Baltzopoulos, Apostolos, 2009. "The Firm and the Region as Breeding Grounds for Entrepreneurs," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 189, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    19. Giulio Cainelli & Andrea Fracasso & Giuseppe Vittucci Marzetti, 2015. "Spatial agglomeration and productivity in Italy: A panel smooth transition regression approach," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94, pages 39-67, November.
    20. Brock,W.A. & Taylor,M.S., 2003. "Economic growth and the environment : matching the stylized facts," Working papers 16, Wisconsin Madison - Social Systems.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:11:p:6111-:d:569664. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.