Green economy in China: Regional variations and policy drivers

Abstract

For policy makers in China, the development of a green economy presents opportunities and challenges not only for the central government, but also for provincial and city governments. This study measures clean energy economy at the city level in China, by counting green jobs and firms through an analytical approach. As shown in this study, green jobs and green firms are distributed unevenly across different regions in China. This study also quantifies provincial clean energy policies in China and finds significant variations in clean energy policy actions. Spatial error model (SEM) analyses indicate that local clean energy policies, along with socio-economic factors such as population, per capita gross domestic product, educational attainment, emissions of sulfur dioxide, and marketization of the regional economy, explain the variation in green economy across cities. Cities located in a province with clean energy policies have 54.3% more green jobs and 61.8% more green businesses, compared with cities located in a province without such policies.