The impact of China's information infrastructure construction policy on green total factor productivity: moving towards a green world.

Abstract

China's economic growth over the past two decades has led to severe environmental pollution in most of its cities. To address this issue, China has developed and implemented several strategies to increase its resource utilization efficiency and move towards a green production economy, such as the information infrastructure construction policy (IICP). To assess the extent to which green production is being achieved, this study first measured the green total factor productivity (GTFP) in Chinese prefecture-level cities using a combined super slacks-based measure and the global Malmquist-Luenberger index (SBM-GML) model. Then, to assess the effectiveness of the IICP, the paths affecting the GTFP were explored using a time-varying difference-in-difference (time-varying DID) model. It was found that the IICP had significantly contributed to urban GTFP through its green technology diffusion effects and improved employment structures, with its implementation resulting in an average increase of 0.201 in the pilot cities compared to the non-pilot cities. This research attempted to explain how IICP plays a role in improving green production, and policy makers should attach importance to the power of IICP.