High-Quality Industrial Growth Decoupling from Energy Consumption—The Case of China’s 23 Industrial Sectors

Abstract

Using the data of 23 industrial sectors in China, this paper constructs an industrial spatial weight matrix based on an input–output table and employs a spatial model to distinguish the spillover effects among industrial sectors and find sectors’ heterogeneity and connectivity on the decoupling system, to explore the specific driving power source for stable and deeper industrial decoupling. The results show that unstable industrial growth decoupling from energy consumption appears and differs in the capital–labor–resource-intensive sectors. Decoupling effects spill over from the neighboring sectors and act as a warning on decoupling in the local sector. Both technical progress and scale efficiency except technical efficiency play a driving role in deepening industrial decoupling in the local sector and spill out positive effects on the green development of the neighboring sector. Capital, as the substitute for energy both intra and inter sectors, facilitates decoupling as a driving factor, while obvious resistant force against decoupling is brought by foreign direct investment (FDI) and energy structure. Decoupling in resource-intensive sectors has great potential due to the positive effects from technology and scale efficiency improvement, which are substitute effects. Industrial decoupling in the labor-intensive sector, where low-skilled labor forms obstruction force against green decoupling, only benefits from the technological progress. FDI and scale efficiency dominate as driving sources for decoupling in the capital-intensive sector.