Does Regional Integration Improve Carbon Emission Performance?—A Quasi-Natural Experiment on Regional Integration in the Yangtze River Economic Belt

Abstract

Carbon emission performance (CEP) comprehensively considers the four-dimensional factors of “carbon reduction, pollution reduction, green expansion, and growth” and constitutes a key indicator for low-carbon and high-quality development. Although some studies have previously explored the relationship between regional integration and carbon emissions from different perspectives, it remains unclear how regional integration affects carbon emission performance. This article regards the regional integration construction of the Yangtze River Economic Belt as a quasi-natural experiment and uses the difference-in-difference (DID) model to empirically examine the mechanisms behind regional integration and their impact on carbon emission performance. The results show that regional integration significantly promotes improvements in carbon emission performance, primarily through three transmission mechanisms: resource factor allocation, economies of scale, and green innovation. It can also promote improvements in carbon emission performance in high-level carbon emission performance cities, middle- and downstream cities, non-natural-resource-oriented cities, and non-riverside cities. This article provides theoretical and empirical evidence that can be utilized to promote China’s high-quality, low-carbon transformation through regional integration construction in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

The Impact of Port Total Factor Productivity on Carbon Dioxide Emissions in Port Cities: Evidence from the Yangtze River Ports

“…These studies suggest that green innovation and the development of the digital economy are key drivers in reducing carbon emissions. Policy interventions also play a crucial role, as demonstrated by the research of Fang et al [35], Ai and Xu [21], and Li et al [36], showing that green taxes, regional integration, and urban agglomeration policies have all contributed to the reduction in CO 2 emissions in cities.…”

“…The current research on carbon emissions in cities along the Yangtze River focuses on the extensive range of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, covering over 108 cities [13]. These studies explore the impact of factors such as construction land [12,14], industrialization [15], urbanization [16], foreign direct investment [16], economic growth [17], green innovation [13], industrial agglomeration [18,19], digital economy [20], and regional integration [21] on CO 2 emissions. However, due to the broad scope of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, most of the cities within it are not port cities, which leads to a general oversight in existing research on the potential impact of port activities on urban CO 2 emissions.…”

Can Regional Integration Policies Enhance the Win–Win Situation of Economic Growth and Environmental Protection? New Evidence for Achieving Carbon Neutrality Goals

“…Secondly, the current research focuses on the potential of regional integration to stimulate economic growth [18,19] and mitigate environmental pollution [20]. Some scholars have realized that regional integration is conducive to improving carbon emission performance [21], linking carbon markets [22] and reducing carbon intensity [23]. However, there has been a lack of investigation into the determinants of a win-win situation concerning economic growth and environmental protection.…”