The Effects of a Cross-Border Freight Railway Project on Chinese Cities’ Green Innovation Intensity: A Quasi-Natural Experiment Based on the Expansion of the China Railway Express

Abstract

This paper intends to clarify whether launching a cross-border freight railway project will cause adverse impacts on cities’ green innovation intensity. Based on the construction and operation of the China Railway Express, the impact mechanism of this cross-border freight railway project on cities’ green innovation is theoretically analyzed. Through using the data of 284 prefecture-level cities in China from 2017 to 2019, the effects of the China Railway Express on green innovation intensity are empirically tested by adopting the differences-in-differences method. The results show the following: 1. launching the China Railway Express project has a direct negative impact on cities’ green innovation intensity; 2. the China Railway Express has indirect positive impacts on green innovation intensity through increasing the foreign trade volume of cities as well as reducing the level of industrial specialization, and has an indirect negative impact on green innovation intensity through reducing the strictness of environmental regulations; 3. the radius of the impact coverage of the China Railway Express is 150 km, and its impact on surrounding cities is funnel-shaped; 4. the China Railway Express will cause a negative impact on green innovation intensity in large cities, cities with lower pollution emissions, and cities of Eastern China and Western China. Taking these findings into account, some policy implications are proposed.