Carbon emission reduction effects of eco-industrial park policy in China

Abstract

Scientifically evaluating the carbon emission reduction performance of eco-industrial park (EIP) can provide empirical supports for governments to formulate energy conservation and emission reduction policies. Based on the quasi-natural experiment of China's National Demonstration Eco-Industrial Park (NDEIP) construction, this study adopts the panel data of 285 prefecture-level cities in China from 2003 to 2019 to investigate the effects of EIP policy on urban carbon emission reduction through the multi-period difference in difference method. It was revealed that: (1) NDEIP construction has reduced urban carbon emissions by 3.08%, indicating a significantly inhibiting effect on urban carbon emission level; (2) Improvement the effects of NDEIP construction on urban carbon emission reduction appears in the 2nd year following policy implementation; (3) Carbon emission reduction effects of the NDEIP construction are more significant in small and medium-sized, eastern and western, non-resource-based, and high carbon emission cities; (4) NDEIP construction primarily promotes carbon emission reduction through the improvement of energy use efficiency, while the optimization of energy use structure has a weak effect on carbon emission reduction. Furthermore, NDEIP construction has a strong spatial spillover effect, driving carbon emission reduction in surrounding cities within 450 km.