Abstract
The Global-Malmquist-Luenberger (GML) index was applied to analyze the carbon productivity in steel industry (SICP) of 29 provinces in China from 2006 to 2019, and then, the SICP was decomposed into technical efficiency change index (TC) and technical progress index (EC). On this basis, the spatial effect is introduced into the traditional convergence model to investigate the spatial convergence of SICP. The empirical results show that: (1) the overall carbon productivity of China's steel industry is at a relatively low level, showing a slow growth trend. (2) The average value of the GML index of SICP is higher than 1, showing obvious inter-provincial and regional heterogeneity. Compared with TC, EC is the leading factor that promotes the increase of SICP. (3) The spatial absolute and condition β convergence of SICP exist in the whole country and the three major regions, but the σ convergence feature is not significant. The addition of spatial factors speeds up the convergence trend, and the speed of spatial absolute β convergence is about 3 times that of the classical convergence model. At the same time, the conditional convergence rate is significantly faster than the absolute convergence, which is closely related to the differences in influencing factors such as the industrial structure, economic development level, human capital, energy consumption intensity, and R&D investment among regions. There is still much room for improvement in carbon productivity in China's steel industry, and investment in scientific research must be increased in order to achieve the upgrading of the industrial structure and technological innovation. The existence of spatial convergence requires strengthening the joint reorganization of steel enterprises between provinces and regions, making full use of the spatial spillover effects of production technology, and realizing regional green and coordinated development.
Highlights
As the frequency of mankind activities continue increasing, environmental issues such as global warming have attracted the attention of all countries, human environmental awareness has increased, and traditional economic development methods have gradually been replaced by low-carbon economies
This paper introduces spatial effects into the analysis framework of traditional convergence models, and constructs a spatial convergence model to systematically investigate the spatial convergence of SICP, in order to provide a reference for the measurement of SICP, help to understand the spatial convergence characteristics of SICP, and provide a scientific basis for formulating relevant policies
Index shows that the technical efficiency index (EC) has increased by 0.5% annually, indicating that the utilization rate of investment in the steel industry has increased, and the efficiency of resource allocation and management have improved; The technology progress index (TC) rose 6.8% and was larger than efficiency change index (EC), which shows that the essence of increasing SICP lies in technological progress, that is, technical efficiency is conducive to improving carbon productivity, technological progress has made a greater contribution to SICP
Summary
As the frequency of mankind activities continue increasing, environmental issues such as global warming have attracted the attention of all countries, human environmental awareness has increased, and traditional economic development methods have gradually been replaced by low-carbon economies. In order to cope with the deteriorating human living environment and achieve sustainable economic and social development, it is imperative to make low-carbon economy one of the focuses of future research. The essence and core of a low-carbon economy is to achieve a win-win situation between economic growth and carbon dioxide emission reduction, and carbon productivity is an important bridge connecting these two goals. Under the dual carbon goal, China’s various industries are facing tremendous pressure to reduce carbon emissions. China's steel industry will face tremendous pressure to transition to green and low-carbon in the near future, improving the carbon productivity of the steel industry is of great significance to achieving the above goals
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