Policy empowerment and sustained innovation of SOEs: evidence from the “two types of companies” pilot policy in China

The strengthening of urban innovation capacity has emerged as the main force behind the promotion of the high-quality development in China because it is a significant carrier of regional innovation. This work uses the multi-time point difference approach to study the synergistic effect, mechanism, and heterogeneity among the pilot policies of national innovation city, low-carbon city and smart city based on the panel data of 282 cities from 2001 to 2016. The findings demonstrate that (1) The national innovative city pilot policies, low-carbon city pilot policies, and smart city pilot policies have a significant effect on the improvement of urban innovation and show a synergistic effect. (2) With the help of government investment in science and technology and the construction of an innovation platform, the pilot policies of smart cities and innovative cities show a superposition effect; in addition, through the upgrading of industrial structure, the green technology innovation, public participation, low-carbon urban pilot policy, and the innovative city present the supplementary effect. (3) From the perspective of heterogeneity, the superposition and supplementary effects of lower administrative level cities are better. The effect of policy synergy overlay is the largest in the eastern region, whereas the effect of policy synergy supplement is stronger in the eastern and western regions than in the central region. The robustness test supports the conclusion of this paper. This paper analyzes the collaborative innovation effect of urban pilot policies, which can provide ideas for the combination design of policy tools.

Inspiration or perspiration: Diffusion of China's low-carbon city pilot policies nationwide

The commercial residential industry has high added value and comprehensive economic benefit so the commercial residential industry is naturally a hot-spot issue. The core issue of the commercial housing is the price. This thesis conducts the descriptive statistic analysis of residential real estate prices, urban resident income and other relevant data in China’s 30 provinces (excluding Tibet) from 1998 to 2006. The change trend and the difference feature of both the residential real estate price and the urban resident income in those regions are revealed, which is expected to make a contribution to the macro-control in China’s real estate. In recent years, the real estate market in China is growing rapidly. On the one hand, it plays a vital role in both promoting the national economic growth and improving the living standards of urban residents. On the other hand, some problems in the development of China’s current real estate market have been fully exposed, such as the overheated investment, the unbalance in supply and demand, insufficient financing channels, soaring property prices and so on. In particular, the rapid growth in the housing price has brought challenges to the sound development in both China’s real estate market and the whole national economy and it has also become a hot-spot and difficult issue in the current academia. Such relevant research as whether the rapid growth of China’s housing prices has become disjointed with resident income seriously or not and what the rules of the changes in income and housing prices in China’s different regions are is realistically significant for guiding the micro-control in China’s real estate. I. Index Selection and Disposal of Comparability The samples selected in this thesis are composed of the fluctuating residential real estate prices in China’s 30 provinces (excluding Tibet) from 1998 to 2006, urban resident income and other relevant panel data that are from various years of China Statistical Yearbook. The data of the real estate prices adopts the real estate prices in urban areas. The income indexes adopt the annual per capita disposable income of urban residents. In order to remove the impacts of the price and make indexes of various types had comparability in time series, the disposal of comparability has been conducted in indexes of different types in the thesis and their present value has been turned into the value of the constant price, namely, on the basis of the constant price in 1998, the concrete calculation method is that the housing price is deflated by the housing sales price index and the disposable income is deflated by the consumer price index of urban residents. II. Analysis of Commercial Housing Price Variance among Provinces According to the average housing prices and their growth rates in provinces from 1998 to 2006, thirty provinces, cities and autonomous regions across the country can be divided into three types in accordance with the mean and the growth rate of their average housing prices. It’s found that the provinces, cities and autonomous regions of the three types also have common in geographic areas so they can be divided into such three regions as the eastern region, the central region and the western region on the basis of their geographic areas. For the regional division of the average housing price in China, Figure 1 compares the changes in the average housing prices in the central, western and eastern regions from 1998 to 2006. It’s found that the average housing price in the east is prominently higher than those in the western and International Conference on Education Technology, Management and Humanities Science (ETMHS 2015) © 2015. The authors Published by Atlantis Press 1100 central regions and the trend of its average housing prices is on the rise. In particular, the rising trend of the average housing prices is obvious after 2004. The changes in the average housing prices in eastern and western regions are comparatively similar. However, the average prices in the central region are rising slowly while for the western region, a small decline also appears in its slightly rising process. Besides, the average housing prices in the eastern region surpass those in the western region after 2004. III. Analysis of the Differences in the Income Change among Regions Figure 1: Changes in the housing prices in the central, eastern and western regions Figure 2: Changes in the income in the central, eastern and western regions For the regional division of the average housing price in China, Figure 2 compares the changes in the income in the central, western and eastern regions from 1998 to 2006. It’s found that the per capita income in the east is prominently higher than those in the western and central regions and its trend is uniformly on the rise.

The environmental problems caused by carbon emission have become the focus of worldwide attention. Effective control of carbon emissions cannot be achieved without the protection of the rule of law. Environment public interests litigation is a prominent innovation in the judicial system, and its role in supervising the government to perform its regulatory duties on carbon reduction and regulating the carbon emission behaviors of enterprises and the public deserves discussion. The paper selected the panel data from 274 prefecture-level cities from 2013 to 2021 and analyzed the impact of a procuratorial public interest litigation pilot policy on carbon emission control by using the double difference method. The research found that the procuratorial public interest litigation pilot policy can effectively curb carbon emissions. Heterogeneity analysis showed that in cities with relatively low level of green innovation, the negative correlation between procuratorial public interest litigation pilot policies and carbon emissions is more significant. Compared with the eastern region, in the central and western regions, especially in the central region, where the concept, policy, and funding of carbon emission governance are relatively weak, the implementation of the pilot policy of procuratorial public interest litigation had a more obvious effect on carbon emission governance. Mechanism tests showed that procuratorial public interest litigation policies reduce carbon emissions by reducing energy consumption and increasing public participation in environmental protection. The study will provide an empirical basis for the carbon emission reduction effect on pilot policy of procuratorial public interest litigation and will offer certain theoretical recommendations for improving the procuratorial public interest litigation system in the ecological environment field.

Promoting the transformation of the state‐owned assets supervision system (SASS) from ‘managing assets’ to ‘managing capital’ is the key direction of the new round of state‐owned assets reform. This article takes the policy implementation of state‐owned capital investment and operation companies (‘two types of companies’) as a quasi‐natural experiment, selects Chinese A‐share listed state‐owned enterprises (SOEs) from 2009 to 2022 as the research sample, and investigates the impact of SASS reform on the performance of SOEs using a multi‐period difference‐in‐differences model. The results suggest that SASS reform can significantly improve the performance of SOEs. Mechanism analysis indicates that SASS reform enhances the performance of SOEs by weakening government intervention, increasing external pay gaps, and reducing agency costs. Heterogeneity analysis shows that SASS reform on the performance of SOEs is affected by the administrative levels, industry attributes, and external institutional environments. The performance‐enhancing effect of SASS reform is more significant in central SOEs, competitive SOEs, and SOEs with a better external institutional environment. The findings enrich the research on the economic consequences of SASS reform and the factors affecting the performance of SOEs, providing empirical evidence for deepening the reform of state‐owned capital and SOEs and promoting the high‐quality development of SOEs.

The carbon emissions that cities contribute drive the development of low-carbon cities (LCCs) and low-carbon city pilot (LCCP) policies. However, the lack of comprehensive understanding regarding the impacts of LCCP policies on natural population growth hampers effective policy design and implementation, thus constraining sustainable development at the city level. Extending the existing papers which focus on the relations between low-carbon pilot policies and industry transformation or economic growth, this research applies several experimental methods [e.g., Propensity Score Matching-Difference in Differences (PSM-DID)] to investigate the impacts of low-carbon pilot policies on natural population growth by applying the data from 287 prefecture-level cities in China from 2003 to 2019. This research found that low-carbon pilot policies would positively influence the low-carbon cities' natural population growth by influencing (a) economic factors, (b) political factors, (c) technological factors, and (d) the living environment. This research establishes a framework for understanding the impact mechanisms of LCCP on natural population growth. This paper investigates how industrial structure optimization, policy design and implementation in different regions, technological innovations, and urban green space theoretically affect natural population growth. This paper also proposed characteristics of LCCP which should be theoretically concerned by the government. From a practical perspective, this research suggests several policy recommendations. Central and local governments are encouraged to prioritize industrial structure optimization and assess populations' dependence on cultivated land. Providing additional policy support to underdeveloped areas is crucial to promote the balance between economic and environmental development. Furthermore, establishing online public health platforms and urban green spaces is proposed to enhance the population's health and complement the implementation of LCCP policies. This offers both theoretical and practical insights into the impacts of LCCP policies on natural population growth. Its findings contribute to designing and implementing LCCP policies in China and other developing countries at a similar development stage.

Urban Green Innovation Driven by Low-Carbon and Smart Initiatives: Evidence from China

The green, low-carbon transition is a broad and profound change. The low-carbon city pilot policy (LCCP) is one of the most important strategies in China, aimed at dealing with climate change and realizing the green, low-carbon transition. Therefore, a quantitative evaluation of the implementation effect of the pilot policy is conducive to better promoting low-carbon work in the pilot areas. Based on 283 cities in China from 2005 to 2021, this paper constructs a double-difference model to empirically test the implementation effect, long-term mechanisms, and industrial upgrading of the pilot policy. The results show that the LCCP significantly promotes high-quality economic development and employment stability. After a series of robustness and endogenic tests, the conclusions in this study are still valid. Further analysis of the findings in this paper shows that the pilot programs promote the optimization and upgrading of industrial structures. The mediating effect shows that the LCCP has established three long-term mechanisms: developing alternative industries, expanding the level of openness, and promoting innovation. The heterogeneity analysis shows that the pilot policy’s implementation effect is more significant in cities located in central and western regions, as well as in non-resource-based cities. This study proposes the continuation of the promotion and implementation of the pilot policy, an increase in financial funds and policy support, the need to strengthen the labor market’s adaptability and protection mechanisms, the adaptation to local conditions to promote policy implementation, and the need to step up efforts to publicize pilot policies.

Based on the panel data of 285 prefecture-level cities and above in China from 2005 to 2019, this paper takes the “Broadband China” pilot policy as a quasi-natural experiment and evaluates the impact of Internet development on urban eco-efficiency (symbolized by the “Broadband China” policy) by constructing multi-period difference-in-difference (DID) and spatial DID models. Results show that: the “Broadband China” pilot policy significantly improves the urban eco-efficiency: the eco-efficiency in pilot cities is about 16.8% higher than that in other cities. The results remain consistent after testing for robustness, including using estimation methods, excluding the sample of key cities, changing core explanatory variables, and introducing instrumental variables. Next, the influence of the “Broadband China” pilot policy on eco-efficiency is characterized by significant regional heterogeneity: Internet development significantly improves the eco-efficiency in the central, eastern and northeastern regions that are economically more developed and not resource-dependent. In contrast, this effect is not obvious in the western region that is economically less developed and resource-dependent. Moreover, the influencing mechanism of Internet development on eco-efficiency suggests that the “Broadband China” strategy boosts urban eco-efficiency by increasing the Internet penetration rate, improving technological innovation capacity, and upgrading the industrial structure. In addition, results from the spatial DID models indicate that the “Broadband China” pilot policy improves the eco-efficiency in local cities and significantly enhances that in neighboring cities. Based on this, this paper puts forward some suggestions regarding promoting new network infrastructure construction and differentiating development policies to fit local conditions.

Environmental performance is a key issue that relates to the sustainable development of the economy and the environment. Innovation-driven approaches are fundamental in improving environmental performance; however, innovation activities come with uncertainties and require supportive policies from the government. This study utilizes the implementation of the Innovation City Pilot (ICP) policy in China as a quasi-natural experiment. It employs a progressive Difference-in-Differences (DID) model using panel data from 283 Chinese cities during the period of 2005–2019 to evaluate the impact of the ICP policy on Urban Environmental Performance (UEP) and its underlying mechanisms. The empirical results indicate that (1) the ICP policy significantly promotes the improvement of UEP and robustness analyses further support this conclusion; (2) compared to cities in the central and western regions, resource-dependent cities, and higher administrative level cities, the ICP policy is more beneficial for enhancing UEP in eastern, non-resource-dependent, and lower administrative level cities; (3) mechanism tests suggest that the ICP policy facilitates UEP improvement by leveraging technological innovation, upgrading industrial structure, and optimizing resource allocation; (4) the ICP policy not only benefits the UEP enhancement in local cities but also promotes UEP improvement in neighboring cities through spatial spillover effects. This study provides evidence and insights from China, contributing to the global implementation of innovation-driven development strategies for sustainable urban economic and environmental development.

The low-carbon city pilot policy (LCPP) in China is an active response to climate change, with cities serving as the main agents of action. Enhancing green innovation at a city-wide level can effectively support the promotion of pilot cities' efforts towards sustainable growth. Using panel data from 204 prefectures collected from 2005 to 2019, we adopted the time-varying difference-in-differences (DID) model and the spatial Durbin model combined with time-varying DID (SDM-DID) to determine the impact of the LCPP on urban green innovation and its temporal and spatial heterogeneity. Empirical findings showed that (1) LCPP had a significant positive impact on urban green innovation, and green invention patents had a greater green innovation effect than green utility model patents. (2) Heterogeneity analysis revealed that in terms of geographical location, the pilot policy was more effective in promoting urban green innovation in the eastern and central regions in comparison to the western region. At the city level, the pilot policy had a greater impact on green innovation in first- and second-tier cities. With regard to city scale, large-scale cities showed a greater impact on green innovation than small- and medium-sized cities. (3) Mechanistic testing revealed that LCPPs stimulated urban green innovation by talent aggregation, increasing government support for innovation, and public participation; but the mechanism for alleviating financing constraints has yet to be effectively validated. (4) The LCPP showed a spatial spillover effect, whereby one city's low-carbon governance yielded institutional dividends for neighboring cities both geographically and economically, and the impact was more pronounced in those cities that were not resource-based. This study presents empirical evidence at the urban and spatial levels, supporting the comprehensive promotion of low-carbon city construction and development in China.

Massively generated crop straw can be utilized and valorized with great economic and environmental benefits. The Chinese government has adopted the pilot policy of crop straw resource utilization (CSRU) for disposing of the straw and practicing waste valorization. This work took 164 counties in the Hebei Province of China as a case study, mapped the temporal and spatial characteristics of the diffusion of the CSRU pilot policy in this province, and conducted an Event History Analysis by establishing a binary logistic regression model to identify the specific factors that determine the diffusion of the CSRU pilot policy in China from the aspects of resource availability, internal capacity, and external pressure. It indicates that: (1) the CSRU pilot policy diffuses rapidly in Hebei Province, although it is still at the early stage of this policy diffusion; (2) the model explains 95.2% of the variance in adopting a pilot county, indicating the effectiveness of this model; (3) straw resource density has a positive impact on CSRU pilot selections, and it can increase the possibility of one county being selected as a CSRU pilot by 23.2%, while population density has shown a negative effect; (3) policy support from local government is a major internal factor that determines CSRU performance, and it can increase the possibility of one county being selected as a CSRU pilot nearly tenfold; proximity pressure from neighboring counties has a positive effect on the diffusion of the CSRU policy, and it also greatly increases the possibility of being selected as a CSRU pilot.

Enhancing carbon emission efficiency is crucial for achieving carbon reduction and economic growth. This paper focuses on the digital–financial dual pilot policy formed by the Broadband China strategy pilot (BCP) policy and the Promoting Science and Technology to Combine with Finance pilot (TFCP) policy. Using the panel data of 284 prefecture-level cities in China from 2007 to 2022 and nighttime light data, this paper adopts the super-efficiency SBM model to calculate urban carbon emission efficiency. Based on this efficiency, this paper employs the staggered difference-in-differences model to discuss the impact of the dual pilot policy on urban carbon emission efficiency. The research results indicate that the dual pilot policy significantly improves urban carbon emission efficiency, and compared to the single pilot policy, the dual pilot policy has a greater effect on improving carbon emission efficiency. This conclusion still holds after the parallel trend test, heterogeneous treatment effects test, and other robustness tests. Mechanism analysis demonstrates that the dual pilot policy enhances urban labor, capital, and credit resource allocation efficiency and green technological innovation by generating resource allocation and collaborative innovation effects, thereby improving urban carbon emission efficiency. Further analysis reveals that implementing the TFCP policy first, followed by the BCP policy, can more effectively maximize the dual pilot policy’s positive impact on urban carbon emission efficiency. The impact of the dual pilot policy on urban carbon emission efficiency exhibits heterogeneity, depending on the resource endowment, digital infrastructure level, administrative hierarchy, economic and financial development level, and intellectual property protection intensity of cities. This paper provides valuable insights for effectively implementing the dual pilot policy and achieving a win–win outcome in carbon reduction and economic development.

As societal concerns around environmental protection, and corporate governance are increasing, entities like consumers, investors, and others are raising their expectations of companies’ corporate social responsibility. Companies that pursue sustainable development goals will receive more attention and support from these stakeholders. The pilot policy for supply chain innovation and application (SCIA) is a systemic experiment launched by the Chinese government that aims to facilitate the digitalization of supply chains and encourage companies to adopt innovative technological methods to optimize traditional supply chain management practices. Based on data from 508 manufacturing companies from 2013 to 2022, this research utilizes SCIA in the framework of a quasi-natural experiment, employing research methods DID, EM, PSM-DID, and SDID to evaluate the effect of the SCIA on SDP. Through empirical evidence, it concludes that the rollout or enforcement of the SCIA pilot policy significantly promotes SDP. SCIA impacts corporate sustainable development by increasing their intention to invest in innovation, ensuring the sustainability of corporate innovation, and reducing company cost expenditures. There is significant heterogeneity in the effectiveness of establishing pilot cities for the digitization and application of supply chain innovations: the pilot policy can significantly promote the SDP of state-owned enterprises; compared to small-scale companies, the SDP of large companies has been significantly improved due to the pilot policy; SCIA pilot policies have a greater impact on SDP of low agency cost companies than high agency cost companies; and companies located in cities with a high degree of digitalization are more favorable impacts from the pilot policy. Companies with weak monopoly power have a more significant improvement in SDP. The study enriches the research on the effectiveness of SCIA pilot policies and provides insights into how local governments can facilitate the enhancement of the SDP of manufacturing companies.

Evaluating the synergistic effects of the digital economy and carbon emission trade exchange on enterprise high-quality development