The impact of local government attention on green total factor productivity: An empirical study based on System GMM dynamic panel model

Abstract

Investigating how the government attention affects green total factor productivity (GTFP) might have a surprising effect on how to develop new quality productive forces. We use a System GMM dynamic panel model to assess how local government attention affects GTFP, with green technology innovation playing a mediating role and fiscal decentralization as the moderating variable, utilizing statistics on Chinese cities from 2007 to 2020. The outcomes of the research demonstrate that local government attention can considerably increase GTFP in Chinese cities, with a significant time-lag effect, and the increase in GTFP in the time dimension is cumulative in nature from year to year. The influence of local government attention on GTFP is heterogeneous among cities with different geographical location, administrative level, resource background and tourism development degree. Local government attention can encourage green technology innovation, thus promoting GTFP. A moderating influence of fiscal decentralization is seen in the relationship between government attention and GTFP. And the above effects are realized with a lag. Based on the results of the study, this paper concludes that the government should pay more attention to environmental issues, enhance the government’s decision-making power of action, formulate differentiated and reasonable environmental regulations in different cities, strongly support the progress of green technology, and improve the local assessment mechanism, to promote the new quality productive forces.