Environmental Regulation, Technological Innovation, and Industrial Transformation: An Empirical Study Based on City Function in China

Abstract

The Chinese economy has now transitioned from rapid expansion to high-quality growth. The issue of achieving synergy between environmental conservation and economic growth has become a serious concern. Based on the panel data of 120 prefecture-level cities in China from 2008 to 2017, we used the panel threshold regression model to investigate the influences of environmental regulation (ER) and technological innovation (TI) on urban industrial transformation. Further, we examined the threshold characteristics of four types of functional cities—resource-based, industry-oriented, comprehensive regional, and other types of cities. Our results show that ER and TI have varied effects on the industrial transformation of the four categories of functional cities. Both ER and TI have significant nonlinear threshold impacts on industrial transformation in resource-based cities. The inhibitory effect of ER on industrial structure rationalization decreases as the severity of ER increases. There is a shift from the promotion to the restriction of industrial structure rationalization due to TI increase. In contrast, TI strengthens the optimization of industrial structure. The promotion effects of ER and TI on industrial structure optimization improve as the former and latter increase in comprehensive regional cities. The influence of TI on the industrial transformation of industry-oriented cities is consistent with its impact on resource-based cities. These findings provide theoretical guidance and inspiration for urban industrial transformation in response to ER and TI based on their functional roles.

An Analysis of Eco–Environmental Changes in Rural Areas in China Based on Sustainability Indicators between 2000 and 2015

“…China's environmental regulation is closely related to its administrative systems, mechanisms, policies, and other factors, such as economic growth target management, which is an effective motivational tool for local governments and officials that played a critical role in China's rapid economic growth for more than four decades. Its presence can be found throughout China's entire political system, at all governmental levels, and within all administrative departments and Party committees [18][19][20][21][22]. In rural areas, villages have become established social units because of the connection between people and the land, historical factors, and sociopolitical relationships (e.g., cultural identity) [23,24].…”

Environmental Regulation, Scientific and Technological Innovation, and Industrial Structure Upgrading in the Yellow River Basin, China

“…Environmental regulations indirectly affect industrial structure upgrading through a single mechanism. Scholars empirically studied the relationships among environmental regulations, technological innovation, and industrial structure upgrading at the country, province, and city levels, and the results showed that environmental regulations promote industrial structure upgrading mainly by influencing the level of technological innovation, which plays a mediating role between environmental regulations and industrial structure optimization [ 27 , 28 , 29 ]. However, these studies did not distinguish between the types of environmental regulations, let alone consider the synergistic effects of different environmental regulation types.…”

Environmental Regulation, Financial Pressure and Industrial Ecological Efficiency of Resource-Based Cities in China: Spatiotemporal Characteristics and Impact Mechanism

“…The existing literature shows that environmental regulation can promote industrial eco-efficiency mainly in three aspects: First, it provides intrinsic incentives to improve IEE [ 49 ]. Resource-based enterprises will choose to increase technological investment, thereby increasing industrial diversity and reducing resource dependence [ 30 , 50 ]. Second, environmental regulation limits the resource consumption and pollution emissions of economic entities through legal or economic measures, thereby improving environmental quality and ecological efficiency [ 51 ].…”