Eastern Cities Research Articles

Can place-based policy reduce carbon emissions? Evidence from industrial transformation and upgrading exemplary zone in China

The effect of the place-based policies on sustainable development has received substantial attention in economic research. In China, the industrial transformation and upgrading exemplary zone policy is a prominent example of such policies, as it targets old industrial and resource-based cities. The paper provides an early assessment of the policy’s capability to reduce carbon emissions. Specifically, we use data from old industrial and resource-based cities for the period of 2012–2019 and apply the difference-in-differences method to examine the policy’s influence on total carbon emissions and intensity. The results show that the policy can effectively reduce carbon emissions through reducing energy consumption, promoting urban green innovation and tertiary industry agglomeration. Compared to resource-based cities, cities with a low level of economic development and central, western cities, this impact is more notable in old industrial cities, cities with a high level of economic development and eastern cities. Additional analysis reveals that the policy has beneficial spatial radiation impacts on the nearby cities as well. In the meanwhile, the strategy may have a synergy effect on reducing carbon emissions and pollution. The results of this study may have an impact on how nations implement place-based policies and reduce carbon emissions.

Land Finance, Local Government Debt and Economic Green Transformation

As economic development continues to advance globally, countries are increasingly focused on the green transformation of their economies. This paper employs a data envelopment analysis (DEA) model and entropy weighting methodology to construct and assess an indicator system for economic green transformation, taking into account environmental pollution. The analysis is based on panel data from 215 prefecture-level cities in China between 2015 and 2019. The two-way fixed effects model and moderating effect model are employed to investigate the influence of land finance on economic green transformation and to ascertain the moderating effect mechanism of local government debt. The study’s conclusions are as follows: (1) Land finance impedes the transition to a green economy. (2) Local government debt is a major factor that restricts the influence of land finance on the transition to a green economy; as local government debt levels rise, land finance’s role in impeding the transition to a green economy rises, and a positive moderating effect occurs. (3) Depending on the urban geographic location, the size of the economy and other factors, the impact of local government debt and land finance on the economic green transition varies. This empirical study demonstrates that the more local government debt there is in an eastern region or city with a bigger economic output scale, the more of an inhibitory influence land finance has on the economic transition to a green economy. In light of this, the paper suggests that the land finance policy be updated at the appropriate time, that the land market be regulated, that the government’s reliance on land finance be gradually decreased, that the nature and amount of public debt be actively optimised, that the industrial infrastructure be enhanced to facilitate the transition towards a more environmentally sustainable economy, and that other suggestions be made.

The Effect of Financial Development on Industrial Green Technology Innovation Efficiency: Experience Analysis from 288 Cities in China

Green industrial growth is at the core of the green and low-carbon transformation of the real economy. Financial services provide new channels for green innovation financing for enterprises. How to utilize financial development to enhance the industrial green technology innovation efficiency (GTIE) is the focus of this paper. Using data from 288 cities in China, this paper employs the Super-SBM model and the Network DEA model to measure the industrial GTIE and then investigates the complex relationship between financial development and industrial GTIE. The results show that, overall, financial development can promote the industrial GTIE. And alleviating enterprise financial constraints and increasing investment openness are effective pathways for this influence. In addition, we discuss the heterogeneous effects of financial development on industrial GTIE across different types of cities, manifested as a dual effect of “supporting” and “predation”. In regions with stronger financial power such as coastal and eastern cities, the “predation effect” is stronger, while the “support effect” is stronger in inland and central/western cities. Furthermore, the expansion of city size weakens the impact of financial development on industrial GTIE. This paper points out that financial development plays a crucial role in enhancing the industrial GTIE, but excessive financial power may crowd out the positive impact of financial development on the industrial GTIE. When promoting financial development, it should be matched with region development to avoid crowding out investment in green innovation by enterprises.

Can the new energy demonstration city policy promote corporate green innovation capability?

New energy demonstration city (NEDC) projects are significantly driving changes in energy structures and sustainable economic development. Corporate green technology innovation is key to achieving an alternative to our current energy use. To explore whether the NEDC project can help to improve companies' green innovation capabilities, this paper presents the dual differential model (DID) to conduct empirical research on panel data in 285 prefecture-level and above cities in China from 2008 to 2020. The DID model is arguably the most adequate for addressing the issue of endogenous problems. The research shows that the NEDC project has improved corporate green innovation capability; the findings of mechanism analysis show that NEDC projects have incited an upgrading of the local urban industrial structure and thereby improved corporate green innovation. The policy effect of NEDC projects obviously shows “insufficient momentum”; the heterogeneity test found that the promotion effect of NEDC projects for corporate green innovation in eastern cities, major cities, large-scale companies and energy-dependent industries is more significant. Based on the conclusions and heterogeneous characteristics for promoting corporate green innovation capability, the government should roll out further NEDC projects in a systematic way and more closely monitor the quality of such new energy demonstration cities.

Future urban ecological land transition and its implications for high-heat exposure in China

Urban ecological land (UEL) is an important nature-based solution for mitigating human exposure to extreme heat (i.e., high-heat exposure, HHE), but the impacts of future UEL transition remain unclear. This study developed a high spatial-temporal resolution dataset (30 m) of urban land cover in China during the 21st century under the shared socioeconomic pathway and the representative concentration pathway (SSP-RCP) to quantify the contribution of UEL transition to HHE. Results showed that UEL transitions will influence 0.12–0.26 °C of the HHE from 2021 to 2100 and is the dominant driver in 10.2–22.8 % of cities (including 95.1 million to 181.2 million people in 2100), with substantial regional disparities. Moreover, UEL landscape pattern is a more important factor than area. Specifically, the UEL evolution pattern will dominate the exposure of 8.02 to 10.77 million people to extreme heat within the urban cores (i.e., predominant urban areas) in the SSP1-2.6 and SSP2-4.5 scenarios, especially in the eastern cities. Under the SSP3-7.0 and SSP5-8.5 scenarios, the UEL evolution pattern will dominate the exposure of 2.44 to 5.34 million people to extreme heat on the expansion surfaces (i.e., areas transitioning from rural to urban), especially in the western cities. The optimization of UEL landscape patterns should be a top priority as an urban heat adaptation strategy to maximize urban resilience to climate change.

Digital Economy and Urban Green Innovation: Empirical Evidence from Chinese Prefecture-Level Cities

Fully utilizing the ecological advantages of digital economy is of great significance in promoting urban green innovation. This paper discusses the impact of digital economy on urban green innovation based on a two-way fixed-effects model with panel data of 282 Chinese prefecture-level cities from 2011 to 2021. The findings show that digital economy can significantly promote urban green innovation and pass a series of robustness tests such as substitution variables, panel quantile model, and instrumental variables. The heterogeneity test shows that eastern cities and southern cities are more capable of promoting urban green innovation by the digital economy. This paper provides research support for the theory of digital economy in green development and the practice of urban development transformation.

Analysis and prediction of epidemiological characteristics of tuberculosis deaths among Chinese residents from 2006 to 2021

Objective: The epidemiological characteristics of tuberculosis deaths among Chinese residents from 2006 to 2021 were analyzed, and the tuberculosis mortality rate from 2022 to 2027 was predicted to provide a reference for tuberculosis prevention and control in China. Methods: The data set of tuberculosis deaths from 2006 to 2021 was published regularly by the China CDC, and the crude mortality rate (CMR) and age-standardized mortality rates (ASMR) were calculated according to the population structure of China in 2000. The distribution characteristics of age, sex, region, and time of tuberculosis deaths were analyzed, the Joinpoint regression analysis model was used to analyze the changing trend, and the grey model was applied to predict CMR and ASMR from 2022 to 2027. Results: From 2006 to 2021, the CMR and ASMR of tuberculosis showed a downward trend among males and females, urban and rural areas, and all age groups, in a word, all the Chinese residents. Except for the age group ≥85 years old, the mortality trend was insignificant. In the eastern, central, or western regions. CMR and ASMR were significantly higher in males than in females.CMR and ASMR were significantly lower in urban areas than in rural areas. In general, active tuberculosis patients present a higher mortality rate. The CMR and ASMR in the western region were higher than those in the eastern and central regions and lower in the eastern region than in the central region, but the differences were less obvious. The ASMR of the eastern cities was lower than that of the central and western regions, and the ASMR of the central cities was higher than that of the western region from 2006 to 2009 and 2012 and lower than that of the western region in other years. The ASMR in the western countryside was higher than that in the eastern and central regions and lower in the eastern part than in the central region, but the difference was not obvious. The grey model prediction results show that the CMR (/100 000) of Chinese residents from 2022 to 2027 is 1.585, 1.471, 1.360, 1.250, 1.143, and 1.038, and the ASMR (/100 000) is 0.779, 0.653, 0.531, 0.411, 0.295 and 0.181, respectively. Conclusions: The CMR and ASMR of tuberculosis will continue to decline, and extraordinary achievements have been made in tuberculosis prevention and control in Chinese residents from 2006 to 2021 and, presumably, from 2022 to 2027. However, tuberculosis screening and treatment programs in the western region, men, the elderly population, and rural areas should be further strengthened, and targeted prevention and control measures should be formulated to reduce mortality.

State‐led urbanization and technological innovation: A quasi‐natural experiment from county‐to‐district conversion in China

AbstractDifferent from the market‐led urbanization in western countries, China's urbanization process has the characteristics of being state‐led, in which county‐to‐district conversion (CTDC) policy plays a key role in promoting urbanization. Our study uses the data of 279 cities as a simple to explore the effect of the state‐led urbanization of CTDC on technological innovation. We find that CTDC significantly promote innovation, and this promoting effect is enhanced with the improvement of urban innovation ability. The mechanism test shows that financial expenditure on education and science, population agglomeration, information and communication technology industry are three channels for CTDC to boost technological innovation. We also find that this promotion effect is more obvious in eastern cities and the cities with higher administrative hierarchy, and is weakest in western cities, however, CTDC adjustment in northeastern cities significantly inhibited technological innovation. Further research shows that when the distance between merged county and city administrative center within 20 km, the effect is negative, after the distance is more than 20 km, with the increase of distance, the promoting effect of CTDC increases.

Decomposition, decoupling and dynamic prediction of carbon emissions from city-level building operations: a case study of the Yangtze River Delta

Reducing carbon emissions in the building sector is crucial to achieving carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals. Identifying the influencing factors of carbon emissions from building operations at the city level and predicting carbon peaks is of great significance for developing locally adapted policies. This article examines the spatial and temporal trends of carbon emissions at the building operation stage in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region over the last 15 years. This article analyzes the driving factors at a city level using the GDIM method and evaluates the decoupling status of income growth and carbon emissions with the GDIM-based decoupling model. The peak time and peak value of operational carbon emissions in the YRD region are predicted through a combination of scenario analysis and the Monte Carlo method. The research shows that: (1) the total carbon emissions from the building operational stage in the YRD region increased by 163.63%, of residents’ disposable income and energy consumption contributed the most. (2) In terms of decoupling relationship between carbon emissions and income growth, rural residential buildings (RR) outperform urban residential buildings (UR) and public buildings (PB). (3) According to the dynamic simulation, the operational carbon emission in the YRD region is expected to peak at 498.18–504.83 Mt MtCO2 between 2030 and 2035. (4) The peak of PBs and URs in Nanjing, Suzhou and some third- and fourth-tier cities, and RRs in eastern and central cities in the YRD will occur at the latest, necessitating close monitoring. These findings can serve as a basis for developing scientific and reasonable building emission reduction policies in a multilevel governance context.

Digital economy and urban entrepreneurial activity

This paper selects data from 285 cities in China from 2018 to 2022 to explore the impact of the digital economy on urban entrepreneurial activity. It is found that there is a significant positive impact of the digital economy on entrepreneurial activity; the development of the digital economy in eastern cities has a more prominent impact on entrepreneurial activity than that in central and western cities; the digital economy can effectively reduce the cost of enterprise financing, stimulate innovation vitality, and provide more opportunities for entrepreneurs to develop.

Aesthetic capital as a work strategy among precarious migrant coaches in China’s leisure industry

ABSTRACT This article explores how specific kinds of aesthetic capital enable urban-to-urban migrant workers to secure social mobility in the informal labour market of China’s leisure industry. Focusing on aesthetic capital accumulation and transference, it investigates how gym coaches, hip-hop dancers, and performers trade on their bodily assets and taste and seize opportunities to maximise capital when the fitness and leisure market creates occupational niches in metropolitan cities. It draws on ethnographic data from urban migrant coaches in the leisure industry in eastern and western cities in China. The findings reveal the dynamics of personal attributes, work strategies, and the increasing importance of aesthetic capital in the precarious economy. The findings enhance our understanding of how modern capitalism sustains interest in aesthetic and affective cycles.

Spatial-Temporal Patterns and Driving Factors of Logistics Carbon Emissions: Case Study of Yangtze River Delta in China

With the growing dependence of human beings on the logistics industry, the trend of logistics carbon emissions (LCEs) growth has become much more serious. To investigate the spatial-temporal pattern of LCEs as well as their driving factors, city-scale LCEs were calculated by combining them with nighttime light remote sensing data. In addition, a spatial panel data model was applied in the case of China’s Yangtze River Delta. The results showed that the overall LCEs performed as a rising trend during 2010–2019. The LCEs of the eastern cities and provincial capitals were significantly higher than those of other cities with obvious spatial agglomerations. For driving factors, the gross domestic product, population size, and proportion of tertiary industry all had significant positive influences on the LCEs. Overall, this study is of great practical significance to accurately obtain information on the spatial-temporal dynamics of LCEs at the city-level scale, so as to facilitate the differentiated implementation of carbon reduction measures.

Urbanization and regional climate change-linked warming of Indian cities

Cities are vulnerable to the compounding effects of both climate change and urbanization. Here we show that urbanization alone has led to an overall 60% enhancement in warming in Indian cities, with eastern Tier-II cities leading the way. Such a difference in the urban contribution to warming over cities across India calls for a differential approach to combat urban warming effectively.

Can ecological compensation reduce air pollution? New evidence from resource-based cities in China

ABSTRACT China has made great efforts to establish an ecological compensation mechanism, but there lacks empirical evidence on whether this scheme effectively reduces air pollution. To test the effectiveness of air quality ecological compensation (AQEC) on air pollution control, this study considers 114 resource-based cities in China and uses a multi-period difference-in-difference (DID) model for empirical analysis. The finding shows that the AQEC policy significantly reduces the concentration of air pollutants by promoting air pollution prevention and local authority enthusiasm for pollution abatement, resulting in an average annual decrease in PM2.5 concentrations of approximately 3.9 µg/m3 in the pilot cities. The AQEC policy of resource-based cities in eastern and northern China, and those with less financial pressure have greater inhibitory effects on air pollution. The study recommends establishing long-term protection mechanisms and implementing differentiated policies focused on green technological innovation and financial autonomy.

How does digital inclusive finance promote the journey of common prosperity in China?

In contrast to previous studies by using provincial data, this paper employs city-level data from 260 prefecture-level cities in China between 2011 and 2020 to explore the underlying mechanism of how digital inclusive finance promotes the realisation of common prosperity in China. In addition, this paper incorporates financial deepening theory, financial exclusion theory, long tail theory, digital divide theory and technology driven theory to examine the proposed research questions. Through system-GMM and IV estimation, the results show that common prosperity is composed of development, sharing and sustainability. The high level of the weight of the first-level indicators for development and sharing reflects the importance of “prosperity” and “sharing” in common prosperity. Digital inclusive finance plays a significant role in promoting the development of urban common prosperity, with a more pronounced effect in the Eastern cities when compared to the Central and Western cities. In addition, digital inclusive finance is found to promote urban common prosperity by overcoming the digital divide and by improving the activity of urban innovation and entrepreneurship. Furthermore, the degree of marketisation is suggested to exert a positive role in regulating the impact of digital inclusive finance on common prosperity.

The effects of maternal competence and situational stress level on children’s help-seeking expectations across 4 to 6 years of age

Help-seeking is a crucial problem-solving strategy for young children. However, it is not yet clear how children weigh different cues to make help-seeking decisions across preschool years, especially in caregiver–child interactions. The current study used a social expectation task to examine the effects of maternal competence and situational stress level on 4- to 6-year-old children’s help-seeking expectations from a third-party perspective. Children’s expectations of whether to seek help were measured. A total fo 135 Han Chinese children aged 4 to 6 years from an eastern city of China participated in this study. We found that 4- to 6-year-olds expected to seek more help from a competent mother than from an incompetent mother in low-stress conditions. When the stress level was high, however, they expected to seek help regardless of maternal competence levels. These results suggest that the interaction between the situational stress level and maternal competence determines young children’s help-seeking expectations across preschool years. They further suggest that young children seek help from mothers in an active and discriminatory way.

LEED certification system for green buildings in China: Examining spatial differences, temporal evolution, and spatial overflow

This paper examines the spread of green building development in China by analyzing the implementation of the LEED certification system across 31 provinces from 2006 to 2022. To investigate spatial differences, spatial-temporal evolution, and spatial spillovers of green building development in China, we employed various statistical methods, including Standard Distance Ellipse, Dagum's Gini Coefficient, Kernel Density Estimation, Markov Chain Analysis, Moran's I Exponential Analysis, and Social Network Analysis. The findings reveal the formation of a green building cluster in a northeast-southwest orientation, at the core of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, and Pearl River Delta regions. There is compelling evidence of substantial regional disparities in green building development, primarily driven by inter-regional differences, which has resulted in a significant gap between the eastern and non-eastern regions. This study identifies the presence of “club convergence” and the “Matthew effect” in China's green building landscape, where spatial factors play a crucial role. Furthermore, a distinct and stable spatial clustering is observed, indicating a complex and multi-faceted spatial association network that goes beyond geographical proximity and neighborhood effects. This network reveals diverse positions and roles for provinces and cities. The eastern provinces and cities are found to exert strong control and dominance while also playing a significant siphoning role. On the other hand, the western provinces and cities have been marginalized, experiencing minimal dividend spillover from the development of other provinces.

How does digital economy empower pollution mitigation and carbon reduction? Evidence from Chinese cities

Achieving synergies in pollution mitigation and carbon reduction (PMCR) in Chinese cities is the overall lever to facilitate the comprehensive green transition in socio-economic development. As the catalyst of the information age, the impact of digital economy on urban PMCR needs to be explored. Thus, using 288 cities from 2006 to 2019 as a sample, this study examines the influence of the digital economy on the synergistic effect of PMCR. The regional differences and mechanism paths are further tested. We discover that: (1) the continuous advancement of the digitization is a valid driving force to suppress PM2.5 and carbon emissions and strengthen urban PMCR behavior in Chinese cities; (2) the inhibition effect of the digital economy on PM2.5 and carbon and its stimulation effect on PMCR are only reflected in the central and western cities, while the opposite finding is reached in the eastern cities; and (3) the digital economy will affect the PMCR and the emissions of two kinds of pollutants through economic path, technical path, and structural path. On this basis, we sequentially put forward some policy suggestions regarding stimulating digital economy and reducing pollutants emissions.

Impact of digital economy on urban land green use efficiency: evidence from Chinese cities

Abstract Improving urban land green use efficiency (ULGUE) is essential for achieving the sustainable use of land resources and the high-quality economic development of cities. The digital economy has overcome spatial and locational constraints, blurred the boundaries between industries, and created a collaborative and open economic model, inevitably affecting urban land utilization. However, whether the digital economy will affect ULGUE and how such an effect would take place are still unclear. This study evaluates the digital economy and ULGUE of Chinese cities from 2011 to 2019 and systematically analyzes both the direct and indirect impact mechanisms through which the digital economy affects ULGUE. The results show that the digital economy can significantly enhance ULGUE, and these results prove to be reliable, as shown by various endogeneity treatments and robustness tests. The digital economy enhances ULGUE by optimizing the industrial structure (structural effect), increasing green technology innovation (technical effect), and agglomerating digital talent (scale effect). Moreover, land finance dependency plays an adverse moderating role in the relationship between the digital economy and ULGUE. Further heterogeneity analysis shows that the promoting effect of the digital economy on ULGUE takes full effect in the eastern cities, larger cities, and cities with high levels of digital economy development and land marketization. This paper presents recommendations for supporting the balanced and integrated development of the digital economy across regions and provides differentiated development strategies to enhance ULGUE in the context of digitization.

Does e‐commerce infrastructure increase enterprise productivity? Evidence from China's e‐commerce demonstration city

AbstractThis study leverages the National E‐commerce Demonstration City Pilot (NEDC) as a quasi‐natural experiment in e‐commerce infrastructure development. Utilising panel data from non‐financial firms listed on China's A‐share market from 2005 to 2022, we pioneered employ a multi‐period difference‐in‐differences (DID) approach to explore the direct and indirect effects of e‐commerce infrastructure on total factor productivity (TFP). Our findings reveal that: (1) The NEDC initiative significantly enhances firm‐level TFP. This result remains robust after addressing endogeneity issues through IV‐2SLS and propensity score matching and difference in differences methods and undergoing a series of robustness tests. (2) Channels tests indicate that the NEDC policy indirectly boosts firm TFP primarily by fostering technological innovation and augmenting human capital. (3) Heterogeneity analysis demonstrates that the NEDC policy effectively stimulates TFP growth in state‐owned enterprises, firms with high equity concentration, manufacturing and low‐tech industry firms. The policy's impact is more pronounced in cities with high administrative levels, in the eastern and central cities, and in cities with superior traditional infrastructure. The empirical evidence provided by this study not only supports the role of e‐commerce infrastructure in driving economic growth but also offers valuable insights for bridging the income disparity between developing and developed nations, and mitigating income inequality.