Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Analysis of the impact of foreign direct investment on urbanization in China from the perspective of “circular economy”

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Environmental Science and Pollution Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Persisting in opening up and achieving coordinated development of economy, society, and ecology is China’s major strategies for achieving sustainable urbanization. Ecological efficiency is a reasonable indicator to measure the development level of a circular economy. Therefore, using the statistical data of 30 provinces in China from 2004 to 2016, this paper uses the super-efficiency SBM model that considers undesired output to measure the eco-efficiency value, which is used to measure the level of circular economy development in each province. Based on this, a panel model is constructed to test the impact of circular economy and FDI on urbanization. The empirical results show that (1) there is a complex nonlinear relationship between the development of circular economy and the advancement of urbanization, and the shape of the curve varies with areas; (2) FDI under environmental regulation is conducive to promoting China’s urbanization to achieve green, effective, and sustainable development; and (3) the development of the tertiary industry, human resources, innovation capabilities, and employment situation is conducive to promoting China’s urbanization. Finally, based on the empirical results, this paper puts forward policy recommendations to achieve green, efficient, and intelligent development of Chinese cities by promoting the development of a circular economy and strengthening FDI screening.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

References

  • Antweiler W, Copeland BR, Taylor MS (2001) Is free trade good for the environment? Am Econ Rev (4):877–908

  • Chen HM (2018) Foreign trade, foreign direct investment and urbanization—analysis based on the spatial panel dubin method. J Int Trade 10:147–161

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheng JH, Sun Q, Guo MJ, Xu WX (2014) Research on regional differences and dynamic evolution of eco-efficiency in China. China Popul Resour Environ 24(1):47–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark D (1998) Interdependent urbanization in an urban world: an historical overview. Geogr J 164(1):85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daniel BL, Korhan KG, Nigar T, José María CC (2019) An approach to the pollution haven and pollution halo hypotheses in MINT countries. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26:23010–23026

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Du YY, Sun TS, Peng J, Fang K, Liu YX, Yang Y, Wang YL (2018) Direct and spillover effects of urbanization on PM2.5 concentrations in China's top three urban agglomerations. J Clean Prod 190(7):72–83

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Duncan B, Vernon H (1999) The theory of urban growth. J Polit Econ 107(2):252–284

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guo HY, Han LY (2008) Foreign direct investment, environmental regulation and environmental pollution. J Int Trade 8:111–118

    Google Scholar 

  • Hare D (1999) “Push” versus “pull” factors in migration outflows and returns: determinants of migration status and spell duration among China’s rural population. J Dev Stud 35(3):45–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jian XH, Huang K (2010) Empirical analysis and prospect forecast of China’s urbanization level and speed. Econ Res 3:28–39

    Google Scholar 

  • Jin B (2015) Research on the new normal of China’s economic development. China Ind Econ 1:5–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Li JK, Cheng LY, Zhang TB (2017) Does foreign direct investment have a “polluting halo” effect? China Popul Resour Environ 27(10):74–83

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu RM, Shi L (2015) The ownership basis of China’s urbanization delay: theory and empirical evidence. Econ Res 4:107–121

    Google Scholar 

  • Ma XX (2014) Analysis of the key influencing factors and effects of China’s urbanization. China Popul Resour Environ 24(12):117–124

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD (1998) Eco-efficiency Pairs, pp7–11

  • Rafael EP, Wei L, Tridib B (2003) Agencies of globalization and third world urban form: a review. J Plan Lit 18:111–130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ren M, Wang XM, Liu ZM, Liu L, Zhang WX (2019) Analysis of spatio-temporal changes and influencing factors of regional eco-efficiency in China. East China Econ Manag 33(9):71–79

    Google Scholar 

  • Schaltegger S, Sturm A (1990) Ӧkologische rationalitӓt: ansatzpunktezur ausgestaltung von ӧkologieorientierten management instrumentent. Die unternehmung 44(4): 273–290

  • Shi BB, Feng C, Kang R (2019) Environmental information disclosure and optimization of foreign direct investment structure. China Ind Econ 4:98–116

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang LY, Yang F (2014) Innovation-driven development strategy and China’s future urbanization. China Popul Resour Environ 24(9):163–169

    Google Scholar 

  • Wen ZL, Zhang L, Hou JT, Liu HY (2004) Intermediary effect test procedure and its application. Acta Psychol Sin 5:614–620

    Google Scholar 

  • Xing ZC, Wang JG, Zhang J (2018) Research on China’s regional total factor eco-efficiency and its influencing factors. China Popul Resour Environ 28(7):119–126

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu HL, Deng YP (2012) Has foreign direct investment caused the country’s environmental pollution?—spatial measurement research based on China’s provincial panel data. Manag World 2:30–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu HF, Wang XD (2020) Does modern service industry help promote urbanization?—analysis of PVAR model based on the perspective of industry-city integration. Chin J. Manag Sci 28(4):195–206

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang L, Zhang X (2018) Assessing regional eco-efficiency from the perspective of resource, environmental and economic performance in China: a bootstrapping approach in global data envelopment analysis. J Clean Prod 173(1):100–111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ye WH, Gan H (2009) Current status and prospects of circular economy research. China Popul Resour Environ 19(3):102–106

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhao PJ, Zhang MZ (2018) The impact of urbanisation on energy consumption: a 30-year review in China. Urban Clim 24(6):940–953

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu DJ, Qiu SF (2006) Ecological efficiency is a suitable measure of circular economy. China Popul Resour Environ 16(5):1–6

    CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We also would like to thank the anonymous referees for their helpful suggestions and corrections on the earlier draft of our paper, upon which we have improved the content.

Funding

This study is funded by the Natural Science Foundation of China (71804182, 71774158), Jiangsu Social Science Fund (18JD013), and Jiangsu Social Science Outstanding Youth Fund.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Economics and Management, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, China

    Qiaoyu Wang & Ming Zhang

  2. Center for Environmental Management and Economics Policy Research, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, China

    Qiaoyu Wang, Ming Zhang & Wenwen Wang

  3. School of Mathematics, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, China

    Wenwen Wang

Authors
  1. Qiaoyu Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ming Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Wenwen Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Qiaoyu Wang: writing—original draft. Ming Zhang: methodology. Wenwen Wang: formal analysis.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ming Zhang.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: Eyup Dogan

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wang, Q., Zhang, M. & Wang, W. Analysis of the impact of foreign direct investment on urbanization in China from the perspective of “circular economy”. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 22380–22391 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-12321-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-12321-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation