The impact of cross-region industrial structure optimization on economy, carbon emissions and energy consumption: A case of the Yangtze River Delta.

Abstract

Industry structure adjustment is an important way to solve environmental problems. The adjustment of the industrial structure across regions not only needs to meet the goals of each region, but also involves the industrial transfer between regions. The same industry in each region has differences in economic development, energy consumption and carbon emissions. So these regions can reasonably distribute industries in various regions through the industrial transfer to meet their own requirements. A cross-regional multi-objective planning model combined the data envelopment analysis method is put forward to solve the problem of the reasonable industries distribution. The representative result which is selected from the set of different preference solutions reflects the coordination of economic development and environment. In order to distinguish the effects, the results of cross-region and single-region industry structure optimization models are compared. The Yangtze River Delta as a case study is analyzed. The results show that each province can realize the reasonable distribution of industries through the industrial transfer, and complete the phased goals in the 13th Five-Year Plan. Meanwhile, the eco-efficiency of each province is improved and the difference in economy has narrowed. The case provides a basis for other regions to balance development of economy and environmental protection through regional cooperation and division of labor.