Does Industrial Transfer Change the Spatial Structure of CO2 Emissions?—Evidence from Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region in China

Abstract

As an important cause of global warming, CO2 emissions have become a research hotspot in recent years. Industrial transfer impacts regional CO2 emissions and is related to the low-carbon development of regional industries. Taking the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region (BTH region) as an example, this study analysed industrial transfer’s direct and indirect impacts on CO2 emissions based on a mediating model and two-way fixed effect panel regression. The results obtained indicate that industrial transfer-in has promoted CO2 emissions to a small extent, and the positive impact of industrial transfer-in on CO2 emissions wanes over time. Industrial transfer affects CO2 emissions by acting on the economic level, on population size, and on urbanisation level, but the indirect effect is weaker than the direct effect. Industrial transfer does not lead to technological upgrading, but the latter is an effective means of carbon emission reduction. Industrial transfer-in has shown a positive effect on CO2 emissions for most cities, but there are exceptions, such as Cangzhou. In the future, the BTH region should maintain coordinated development among cities and improve the cooperative innovation mechanism for energy conservation and emission reduction.

The Impact of Rationalization and Upgrading of Industrial Structure on Carbon Emissions in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Urban Agglomeration

“…Environmental protection and sustainable development of regions and industries have become hot issues of concern worldwide. Controlling carbon emissions and developing a low-carbon economy have become common choices [2]. China's carbon emissions account for about 1/3 of the world's total carbon emissions, and it is the world's largest carbon emitter.…”

“…(1) This study takes the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration as an overall region to explore the relationship between its industrial structure and carbon emissions, which positively deepens the joint industrial development and spatial layout in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration. (2) This study subdivides the industrial structure variables into two independent variables-industrial structure rationalization and industrial structure upgrade-to better understand the impact of industrial structure optimization on carbon emissions. Other variables include population, per capita GDP and government expenditure on science and technology, and the variables are considered comprehensively.…”

The influence of digital economy development on urban carbon emission intensity in the Yangtze River Economic Belt: Mediating mechanism and spatial effect

“…It helps to exert the effect of collaborative governance to maximize and rationalize production factors, thus achieving the purpose of reducing CEI as well as promoting the low-carbon coordinated development of the YREB region (Li and Wang, 2022). In an empirical study based on the spatial spillover of CO2, Yue et al (2021) and Liu and Liu (2019) stated that carbon emissions can influence the local ecological environment, and cause the chain reaction in the surrounding cities as well. Therefore, it is spatially significantly correlated.…”

Do Environmental Regulations Facilitate a Low-Carbon Transformation in China’s Resource-Based Cities?

“…The improvement of environmental regulation intensity will raise the environmental access threshold and increase the production cost of enterprises, thus eliminating small-scale enterprises, those with low production efficiency and high emission levels, while high value-added industries, clean industries and technology-intensive industries will gain advantages via the survival of the fittest mechanism [65]. Meanwhile, increased environmental regulations will force some high-emission industries to transfer to other regions and countries with weaker emission regulations [66], thereby achieving industrial structure transformation and reducing carbon emissions. The ISU of RBCs depends on the regulations and guidance provided by government industrial policies.…”