Abstract
Investment in China’s transport infrastructure has contributed to its rapid economic growth, which also consumes a great deal of energy and generates a significant amount of carbon emissions. In these circumstances, it is worthwhile to discuss the internal influence mechanisms behind these two outcomes’ similar growth trends. This paper selects panel data from 30 regions in China from 2009 to 2019 and uses the threshold spatial autoregressive (TSAR) model to analyze the impact of transport infrastructure investment on the energy intensity due to fiscal decentralization. While studies of the relationship between transport infrastructure investment and energy intensity exist, few studies examine the non-linear spatial relationship between the two. This paper fills this gap by using the TSAR Model. The results show the following: (1) the effect of transport infrastructure investment on the energy intensity under fiscal decentralization and heterogeneity expresses non-linear characteristic; (2) there is a positive relationship between infrastructure investment and energy intensity when the degree of attenuation is low, but when the degree of attenuation is higher than a particular threshold value, transport infrastructure investment negatively impacts energy intensity; (3) rising energy prices, increasing investment in technological innovation costs, and increasing foreign trade will help to drive the decline in energy intensity.
Highlights
IntroductionPublisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations
We examined the non-linear spatial relationship between transportation infrastructure investment and energy intensity, and we found that the degree of fiscal decentralization affects the mechanism between transportation infrastructure investment and energy intensity
Policy implications of these results suggest that the central government should pay attention to the role fiscal decentralization plays in the impact of transportation infrastructure investment on energy intensity
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Global climate and health issues have emerged as a significant challenge post-COVID19. At the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and President of China, Xi Jinping, proposed the goals of “carbon neutrality by 2030” and “carbon neutrality by 2060” based on China’s national conditions. In 2020, China’s central economic work conference explicitly listed “double-carbon” work as one of the eight key construction projects. The implementation of dual-carbon projects is full of opportunities and challenges. Promoting an energy transformation and reducing energy intensity has become a meaningful way to rely on the dual-carbon target [1]
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