IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i3p2677-d1055253.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Place-Based Policies and Carbon Emission Efficiency: Quasi-Experiment in China’s Old Revolutionary Base Areas

Author

Listed:
  • Huwei Wen

    (School of Economics and Management, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330031, China)

  • Yutong Liu

    (School of Economics and Management, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330031, China)

  • Yulin Huang

    (Ji Luan Academy, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330031, China)

Abstract

Regional imbalance is a typical feature of economic and social development in China, and place-based policies aimed at promoting balanced regional development may bring challenges to low-carbon goals. This study uses the panel data of China’s prefecture-level cities from 2003 to 2019 to investigate the impact of place-based policies on carbon emission efficiency using a quasi-experimental method. Results indicate that place-based policies significantly reduce the regional total-factor carbon emission efficiency. The difference-in-differences method based on propensity score matching and entropy balancing matching consistently supports the finding that carbon emission efficiency decreases after policy intervention. Place-based policies lead to a significant decline in capital allocation efficiency but have an insignificant impact on labor allocation efficiency. Moreover, place-based policies result in the expansion of carbon-intensive industries but hinder the progress of the financial technology of financial institutions. Nevertheless, place-based policies do not lead to the deterioration of environmental quality. Among the advantages of these policies are the significant promotion of regional digitization and increased fiscal expenditure on science and technology. Political promotion, carbon regulation, trade policies, and other conditional factors may be optimally designed to promote low-carbon development in the old revolutionary areas.

Suggested Citation

  • Huwei Wen & Yutong Liu & Yulin Huang, 2023. "Place-Based Policies and Carbon Emission Efficiency: Quasi-Experiment in China’s Old Revolutionary Base Areas," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-19, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:3:p:2677-:d:1055253
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/3/2677/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/3/2677/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hainmueller, Jens, 2012. "Entropy Balancing for Causal Effects: A Multivariate Reweighting Method to Produce Balanced Samples in Observational Studies," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(1), pages 25-46, January.
    2. Ockwell, David G. & Watson, Jim & MacKerron, Gordon & Pal, Prosanto & Yamin, Farhana, 2008. "Key policy considerations for facilitating low carbon technology transfer to developing countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 4104-4115, November.
    3. Sylvie Démurger & Jeffrey D. Sachs & Wing Thye Woo & Shuming Bao & Gene Chang & Andrew Mellinger, 2002. "Geography, Economic Policy, and Regional Development in China," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 1(1), pages 146-197.
    4. Zhou, Fengxiu & Wang, Xiaoyu, 2022. "The carbon emissions trading scheme and green technology innovation in China: A new structural economics perspective," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 365-381.
    5. Dan Andrews & Federico Cingano, 2014. "Public policy and resource allocation: evidence from firms in Oecd countries [‘Joseph Schumpeter Lecture. Appropriate growth policy: a unifying framework]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 29(78), pages 253-296.
    6. Justin Yifu Lin, 2017. "Industrial policies for avoiding the middle-income trap: a new structural economics perspective," Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(1), pages 5-18, January.
    7. Hongwei Xu & Wenquan Liang & Kuanhu Xiang, 2022. "The Environmental Consequences of Place‐Based Policies in China: An Empirical Study Based on SO2 Emission Data," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 30(4), pages 201-229, July.
    8. Xing Yao & Rizwana Yasmeen & Yunong Li & Muhammad Hafeez & Ihtsham Ul Haq Padda, 2019. "Free Trade Agreements and Environment for Sustainable Development: A Gravity Model Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-17, January.
    9. Lu, Hongyou & Liu, Min & Song, Wenjing, 2022. "Place-based policies, government intervention, and regional innovation: Evidence from China's Resource-Exhausted City program," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    10. Yang, Zhenbing & Shao, Shuai & Xu, Lili & Yang, Lili, 2022. "Can regional development plans promote economic growth? City-level evidence from China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    11. Wu, Haitao & Hao, Yu & Ren, Siyu, 2020. "How do environmental regulation and environmental decentralization affect green total factor energy efficiency: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    12. Lin Ni & Lei Li & Xin Zhang & Huwei Wen, 2022. "Climate Policy and Foreign Direct Investment: Evidence from a Quasi-Experiment in Chinese Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-19, December.
    13. Yi Lu & Jin Wang & Lianming Zhu, 2019. "Place-Based Policies, Creation, and Agglomeration Economies: Evidence from China's Economic Zone Program," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 325-360, August.
    14. Hu, Jinshuai & Jiang, Haiyan & Holmes, Mark, 2019. "Government subsidies and corporate investment efficiency: Evidence from China," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    15. Wen, Huwei & Zhong, Qiming & Lee, Chien-Chiang, 2022. "Digitalization, competition strategy and corporate innovation: Evidence from Chinese manufacturing listed companies," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    16. Shufang Zheng & Fengxiu Zhou & Huwei Wen, 2022. "The Relationship between Trade Liberalization and Environmental Pollution across Enterprises with Different Levels of Viability in China," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(8), pages 2125-2138, June.
    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. Nie, Changfei & Ye, Susu & Feng, Yuan, 2024. "Place-based policy and urban green technology innovation: Evidence from the revitalization of old revolutionary base areas in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 1257-1272.

    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. Cheng, Qi & Yang, Jun, 2024. "Is green place-based policy effective in mitigating pollution? Firm-level evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 530-547.
    2. Xiangnan Zhai & Xue Yang & Darko B. Vukovic & Daria A. Dinets & Qiang Liu, 2025. "Carbon Emissions Trading Policy and Regional Energy Efficiency: A Quasi-Natural Experiment from China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-20, February.
    3. Cui, Yi, 2024. "Place-based policies and capital misallocation: Evidence from Chinese cities," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 48(4).
    4. He, Congxian & Zhou, Can & Wen, Huwei, 2024. "Improving the consumer welfare of rural residents through public support policies: A study on old revolutionary areas in China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    5. Yuan Feng & Ying Li & Changfei Nie, 2023. "The Effect of Place-Based Policy on Urban Land Green Use Efficiency: Evidence from the Pilot Free-Trade Zone Establishment in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-19, March.
    6. Kahn, Matthew E. & Sun, Weizeng & Wu, Jianfeng & Zheng, Siqi, 2021. "Do political connections help or hinder urban economic growth? Evidence from 1,400 industrial parks in China," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    7. Chien‐Chiang Lee & Ying Yuan & Huwei Wen, 2022. "Can digital economy alleviate CO2 emissions in the transport sector? Evidence from provincial panel data in China," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 46(3), pages 289-310, August.
    8. Otrachshenko, Vladimir & Hartwell, Christopher A. & Popova, Olga, 2023. "Energy efficiency, market competition, and quality certification: Lessons from Central Asia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    9. Lin Ni & Lei Li & Xin Zhang & Huwei Wen, 2022. "Climate Policy and Foreign Direct Investment: Evidence from a Quasi-Experiment in Chinese Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-19, December.
    10. Li, Ge & Wang, Xiaoyu, 2024. "Energy quota trading policy and energy efficiency: The role of government supervision and public participation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    11. Weng, Zhixiong & Liu, Tingting & Wu, Yufeng & Cheng, Cuiyun, 2022. "Air quality improvement effect and future contributions of carbon trading pilot programs in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    12. Wenmei Liao & Ruolan Yuan & Xu Zhang & Na Li & Hailan Qiu, 2024. "Balancing Acts: Unveiling the Dynamics of Revitalization Policies in China’s Old Revolutionary Areas of Gannan," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-19, February.
    13. Yan, Kai & Zhang, Ziyi & Yang, Lisi & Cao, Yuqiang & Shan, Yaowen, 2024. "Capital generates green: Evidence from China's national innovation system policy," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    14. Fang, Hongsheng & Wu, Xiao & Shen, Jim Huangnan & Zhao, Lexin, 2022. "The impact of technology identification policy on firm innovation: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    15. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Zhong, Qiming & Wen, Huwei & Song, Qinghua, 2023. "Blessing or curse: How does sustainable development policy affect total factor productivity of energy-intensive enterprises?," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    16. Wen, Huwei & Chen, Wenjing & Zhou, Fengxiu, 2023. "Does digital service trade boost technological innovation?: International evidence," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    17. Guo, Chenhao & Ke, Yun & Zhang, Jinkang, 2023. "Digital transformation along the supply chain," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    18. Feng, Yuan & Chen, Zhi & Nie, Changfei, 2023. "The effect of broadband infrastructure construction on urban green innovation: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 581-598.
    19. Jia, Junxue & Ma, Guangrong & Qin, Cong & Wang, Liyan, 2020. "Place-based policies, state-led industrialisation, and regional development: Evidence from China's Great Western Development Programme," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    20. Li, Xinyu & Wang, Huacheng & Li, Rong, 2023. "A hidden channel of “blood transfusion”: Internal capital market subsidies and zombie firms," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(6).

    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:2023:i:3:p:2677-:d:1055253. 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.