Impact of Low-Carbon Policies on Carbon Emissions—Empirical Evidence from Low-Carbon City Pilot Policy

Abstract

Pilot policies for low-carbon cities have been in place since 2010, and their effectiveness remains to be seen. Therefore, this paper uses progressive difference-in-difference the urban panel data from 2007 to 2019 as a “Quasi-natural experiment” to evaluate the impact of low-carbon pilot policies on carbon emissions. The results show that low-carbon pilot policies can significantly reduce carbon emissions, and the robustness test is used to ensure the credibility of the results. And according to previous literature, low-carbon pilot policies generally reduce carbon emissions by improving energy efficiency, promoting industrial upgrading and technological innovation. This paper can provide some enlightenment for the study of low-carbon pilot effect.