IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2022i1p347-d1015138.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Key to Stimulate Green Technology Innovation in China: The Expansion of High-Speed Railways

Author

Listed:
  • Ziyang Chen

    (School of Economics and Management, Tongji University, Shanghai 200082, China)

  • Xiao Feng

    (School of Economics and Management, Tongji University, Shanghai 200082, China)

  • Ziwen He

    (School of Economics and Management, Tongji University, Shanghai 200082, China)

Abstract

Mankind is seeking a green development path. This paper places emphasis on whether high-speed railways (HSRs), as a typical representative of green transportation, can effectively promote green technology innovation in cities. Based on the panel data of 286 Chinese prefecture-level cities from 2007 to 2018, we employ the Panel Negative Binomial Regression Model and the Spatial Dubin Model for empirical analysis. The results illustrate that the expansion of HSRs not only has a direct and substantial promotion influence on local green technology innovation but also on the surrounding area. We further find that circulation node cities reap more benefits of the opening of HSRs than other ordinary cities. The higher the degree of marketization, the weaker the marginal impact of HSRs on green technology innovation. Meanwhile, the mechanism test confirms that HSRs can indirectly stimulate the progress of green technology innovation by influencing the creative class flow and the government’s environmental concerns. Our findings present new insights for enhancing green technology innovation and provide policy recommendations for local governments to take advantage of HSRs to obtain resources.

Suggested Citation

  • Ziyang Chen & Xiao Feng & Ziwen He, 2022. "A Key to Stimulate Green Technology Innovation in China: The Expansion of High-Speed Railways," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-21, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2022:i:1:p:347-:d:1015138
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/1/347/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/1/347/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cascetta, Ennio & Cartenì, Armando & Henke, Ilaria & Pagliara, Francesca, 2020. "Economic growth, transport accessibility and regional equity impacts of high-speed railways in Italy: ten years ex post evaluation and future perspectives," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 412-428.
    2. Yu, Chin-Hsien & Wu, Xiuqin & Zhang, Dayong & Chen, Shi & Zhao, Jinsong, 2021. "Demand for green finance: Resolving financing constraints on green innovation in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    3. Diana M. Burton & Irma A. Gomez & H. Alan Love, 2011. "Environmental Regulation Cost and Industry Structure Changes," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 87(3), pages 545-557.
    4. Liu, Liwen & Zhang, Ming, 2018. "High-speed rail impacts on travel times, accessibility, and economic productivity: A benchmarking analysis in city-cluster regions of China," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 25-40.
    5. Michael Storper & Anthony J. Venables, 2004. "Buzz: face-to-face contact and the urban economy," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 4(4), pages 351-370, August.
    6. Yu, Nannan & de Jong, Martin & Storm, Servaas & Mi, Jianing, 2013. "Spatial spillover effects of transport infrastructure: evidence from Chinese regions," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 56-66.
    7. Nonnis, Alberto & Bounfour, Ahmed & Kim, Keungoui, 2023. "Knowledge spillovers and intangible complementarities: Empirical case of European countries," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(1).
    8. Jiao, Jingjuan & Wang, Jiaoe & Jin, Fengjun, 2017. "Impacts of high-speed rail lines on the city network in China," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 257-266.
    9. Frondel, Manuel & Horbach, Jens & Rennings, Klaus, 2008. "What triggers environmental management and innovation? Empirical evidence for Germany," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 153-160, May.
    10. Hattori, Keisuke, 2017. "Optimal combination of innovation and environmental policies under technology licensing," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 601-609.
    11. Feng, Gen-Fu & Niu, Peng & Wang, Jun-Zhuo & Liu, Jian, 2022. "Capital market liberalization and green innovation for sustainability: Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 610-623.
    12. Pan, Xiongfeng & Ai, Bowei & Li, Changyu & Pan, Xianyou & Yan, Yaobo, 2019. "Dynamic relationship among environmental regulation, technological innovation and energy efficiency based on large scale provincial panel data in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 428-435.
    13. Rennings, Klaus, 2000. "Redefining innovation -- eco-innovation research and the contribution from ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 319-332, February.
    14. Miao, Cheng-lin & Duan, Meng-meng & Zuo, Yang & Wu, Xin-yu, 2021. "Spatial heterogeneity and evolution trend of regional green innovation efficiency--an empirical study based on panel data of industrial enterprises in China's provinces," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    15. Daniel F Heuermann & Johannes F Schmieder, 2019. "The effect of infrastructure on worker mobility: evidence from high-speed rail expansion in Germany," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 19(2), pages 335-372.
    16. Haochang Yang & Faming Zhang & Yixin He, 2021. "Exploring the effect of producer services and manufacturing industrial co-agglomeration on the ecological environment pollution control in China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(11), pages 16119-16144, November.
    17. Daniel Luis Arenhardt & Luciana Flores Battistella & Marcia Zampieri Grohmann, 2016. "The Influence Of The Green Innovation In The Search Of Competitive Advantage Of Enterprises Of The Electrical And Electronic Brazilian Sectors," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 20(01), pages 1-21, January.
    18. Hille, Erik & Althammer, Wilhelm & Diederich, Henning, 2020. "Environmental regulation and innovation in renewable energy technologies: Does the policy instrument matter?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    19. Tang, Chenghui & Guan, Mingming & Dou, Jianmin, 2021. "Understanding the impact of High Speed Railway on urban innovation performance from the perspective of agglomeration externalities and network externalities," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    20. Jia, Ruining & Shao, Shuai & Yang, Lili, 2021. "High-speed rail and CO2 emissions in urban China: A spatial difference-in-differences approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    21. Fang, Zhen & Razzaq, Asif & Mohsin, Muhammad & Irfan, Muhammad, 2022. "Spatial spillovers and threshold effects of internet development and entrepreneurship on green innovation efficiency in China," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    22. Wang, Xu & Xie, Zhuan & Zhang, Xiaobo & Huang, Yiping, 2018. "Roads to innovation: Firm-level evidence from People's Republic of China (PRC)," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 154-170.
    23. Yang, Qi-Cheng & Zheng, Mingbo & Chang, Chun-Ping, 2022. "Energy policy and green innovation: A quantile investigation into renewable energy," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 1166-1175.
    24. Shao, Shuai & Tian, Zhihua & Yang, Lili, 2017. "High speed rail and urban service industry agglomeration: Evidence from China's Yangtze River Delta region," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 174-183.
    25. Nie, Ling & Zhang, ZhongXiang, 2021. "Is high-speed rail green? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," FEEM Working Papers 314095, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    26. Lina Liu & Yunyun Zhang & Bei Liu & Pishi Xiu & Lipeng Sun, 2022. "How to Achieve Carbon Neutrality: From the Perspective of Innovative City Pilot Policy in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-20, December.
    27. Chen, Jun, 2021. "High-speed rail and energy consumption in China: The intermediary roles of industry and technology," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).
    28. Rogge, Karoline S. & Schleich, Joachim, 2018. "Do policy mix characteristics matter for low-carbon innovation? A survey-based exploration of renewable power generation technologies in Germany," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(9), pages 1639-1654.
    29. Jin, Mengjie & Lin, Kun-Chin & Shi, Wenming & Lee, Paul T.W. & Li, Kevin X., 2020. "Impacts of high-speed railways on economic growth and disparity in China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 158-171.
    30. Zhang, Xuezhi & Wu, Wenxin & Zhou, Zixun & Yuan, Lin, 2020. "Geographic proximity, information flows and corporate innovation: Evidence from the high-speed rail construction in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    31. Shaw, Shih-Lung & Fang, Zhixiang & Lu, Shiwei & Tao, Ran, 2014. "Impacts of high speed rail on railroad network accessibility in China," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 112-122.
    32. Zhenji Jin & Yue Shang & Jian Xu, 2018. "The Impact of Government Subsidies on Private R&D and Firm Performance: Does Ownership Matter in China’s Manufacturing Industry?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-20, June.
    33. Liu, Jingjing & Zhao, Min & Wang, Yanbo, 2020. "Impacts of government subsidies and environmental regulations on green process innovation: A nonlinear approach," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    34. Magali Delmas & Michael W. Toffel, 2004. "Stakeholders and environmental management practices: an institutional framework," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(4), pages 209-222, July.
    35. Komikado, Hiroshi & Morikawa, So & Bhatt, Ayushman & Kato, Hironori, 2021. "High-speed rail, inter-regional accessibility, and regional innovation: Evidence from Japan," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    36. Xia, Li & Gao, Shuo & Wei, Jiuchang & Ding, Qiying, 2022. "Government subsidy and corporate green innovation - Does board governance play a role?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    37. Li, Renyu & Ma, Zhongxin & Chen, Xirong, 2020. "Historical market genes, marketization and economic growth in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 327-333.
    38. Xingshuai Wang & Ehsan Elahi & Lianggui Zhang, 2022. "Mandatory Environmental Regulation and Green Technology Innovation: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-13, October.
    39. Li, Guangqin & Xue, Qing & Qin, Jiahong, 2022. "Environmental information disclosure and green technology innovation: Empirical evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    40. Dezhong Duan & Hong Jin, 2022. "Environmental Regulation and Green Technology Diffusion: A Case Study of Yangtze River Delta, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-14, October.
    41. Wang, Jiating & Cai, Siyuan, 2020. "The construction of high-speed railway and urban innovation capacity: Based on the perspective of knowledge Spillover," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    42. Xiaofang Dong & Siqi Zheng & Matthew E. Kahn, 2018. "The Role of Transportation Speed in Facilitating High Skilled Teamwork," NBER Working Papers 24539, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    43. Wang, Quan-Jing & Wang, Hai-Jie & Chang, Chun-Ping, 2022. "Environmental performance, green finance and green innovation: What's the long-run relationships among variables?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    44. Moshe Givoni, 2006. "Development and Impact of the Modern High‐speed Train: A Review," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(5), pages 593-611, January.
    45. Fang, Zhenming & Kong, Xiaoran & Sensoy, Ahmet & Cui, Xin & Cheng, Feiyang, 2021. "Government’s awareness of Environmental protection and corporate green innovation: A natural experiment from the new environmental protection law in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 294-312.
    46. Frans Berkhout, 2005. "Rationales for adaptation in EU climate change policies," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(3), pages 377-391, May.
    47. Wenchao Li & Lingyu Xu & Jian Xu & Ostic Dragana, 2022. "Carbon Reduction Effect of Green Technology Innovation from the Perspective of Energy Consumption and Efficiency," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-16, October.
    48. Brunnermeier, Smita B. & Cohen, Mark A., 2003. "Determinants of environmental innovation in US manufacturing industries," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 278-293, March.
    49. Miwa, Norihiro & Bhatt, Ayushman & Morikawa, So & Kato, Hironori, 2022. "High-Speed rail and the knowledge economy: Evidence from Japan," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 398-416.
    50. Lin, Yatang, 2017. "Travel costs and urban specialization patterns: Evidence from China’s high speed railway system," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 98-123.
    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. Weiya Chen & Yongzhuo Yu & Xiaoping Fang & Ziyue Yuan & Shiying Tong, 2023. "Using Mixed Methods to Identify Evaluation Indicators for Green Railway Transportation Operations in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-20, December.

    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. Jin, Wenwan & Zhu, Shengjun, 2023. "High-speed rail network and regional convergence/divergence in industrial structure," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 87(PA).
    2. Fan, Xiaomin & Xu, Yingzhi, 2023. "Does high-speed railway promote urban innovation? Evidence from China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    3. Li, Jing & Yu, Qian & Ma, Ding, 2024. "Does China's high-speed rail network promote inter-city technology transfer? ——A multilevel network analysis based on the electronic information industry," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 11-24.
    4. Duan, Liaoliao & Sun, Weizeng & Zheng, Siqi, 2020. "Transportation network and venture capital mobility: An analysis of air travel and high-speed rail in China," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    5. Yang, Xuehui & Zhang, Huirong & Li, Yan, 2022. "High-speed railway, factor flow and enterprise innovation efficiency: An empirical analysis on micro data," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 82(PB).
    6. Lan, Xiujuan & Hu, Zheneng & Wen, Chuanhao, 2023. "Does the opening of high-speed rail enhance urban entrepreneurial activity? Evidence from China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    7. Huang, Ying & Xu, Wangtu (Ato), 2021. "Spatial and temporal heterogeneity of the impact of high-speed railway on urban economy: Empirical study of Chinese cities," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    8. Liu, Mengsha & Jiang, Yan & Wei, Xiaokun & Ruan, Qingsong & Lv, Dayong, 2023. "Effect of high-speed rail on entrepreneurial activities: Evidence from China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 87(PA).
    9. Yang, Xiaolan & Wang, Rui & Guo, Dongmei & Sun, Weizeng, 2020. "The reconfiguration effect of China's high-speed railway on intercity connection ——A study based on media attention index," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 47-56.
    10. Gao, Kang & Yuan, Yijun, 2022. "Government intervention, spillover effect and urban innovation performance: Empirical evidence from national innovative city pilot policy in China," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    11. Guojie Ma & Jinxing Hu & Riquan Zhang, 2023. "Spatial-Temporal Distribution and Coupling Relationship of High-Speed Railway and Economic Networks in Metropolitan Areas of China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-23, June.
    12. Huang, Yan & Zong, Huiming, 2020. "The spatial distribution and determinants of China’s high-speed train services," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 56-70.
    13. Fan, Xiaomin & Xu, Yingzhi, 2024. "How does the opening of high-speed railway affect the regional pollution gap in China? From the perspective of knowledge spillover," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    14. Gao, Yanyan & Zheng, Jianghuai, 2020. "The impact of high-speed rail on innovation: An empirical test of the companion innovation hypothesis of transportation improvement with China’s manufacturing firms," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    15. Liu, Xueli & Jiang, Chunxia & Wang, Feng & Yao, Shujie, 2021. "The impact of high-speed railway on urban housing prices in China: A network accessibility perspective," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 84-99.
    16. Na Li & Haiyan Lu & Yongxin Lv, 2022. "High-Speed Railway Facilities, Intercity Accessibility and Urban Innovation Level—Evidence from Cities in Three Chinese Megacity Regions," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-16, July.
    17. Huang, Dayan & Liu, Chengyi & Yan, Zehao & Kou, Aiju, 2023. "Payments for Watershed Services and corporate green innovation," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 541-556.
    18. Xu, Fei & Liu, Qian & Zheng, Xingdong & Cao, Luqi & Yang, Mian, 2022. "Research on the impact of China's high-speed rail opening on enterprise market power: Based on the perspective of market segmentation," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 121-137.
    19. Ma, Liya & Niu, Dongxiao & Sun, Weizeng, 2021. "Transportation infrastructure and entrepreneurship: Evidence from high-speed railway in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    20. Dongshan Ma & Shengqiang Zhang & Jiayu Zhao, 2022. "The High-Speed Railway Opening and Audit Fees: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-19, October.

    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:20:y:2022:i:1:p:347-:d:1015138. 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.