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The impact and mechanisms of the Shanghai pilot free-trade zone on the green total factor productivity of the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration

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Abstract

Free-trade zones are highlands of regional development that have a radiating effect on surrounding cities. This paper uses Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration (YRDUA) data from 2003 to 2018, to examine the impact of the China (Shanghai) pilot free-trade zone (SPFTZ) on green total factor productivity (GTFP) in the YRDUA. It uses the regression discontinuity (RD) method and analyzes the influence mechanism with the help of the mediating effect model. The paper presents the following major findings. The establishment of the SPFTZ significantly promoted GTFP in the YRDUA, with technological progress being the main driving force. An analysis using the mediating effect model found that financial efficiency and industrial structure upgrading play a complete mediating role in GTFP growth in the YRDUA. Therefore, the SPFTZ should make use of its policy advantages, take full advantage of the effect of the green growth pole, and promote green mutual development with the YRDUA.

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Data availability

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

Notes

  1. The data is from China City Statistical Yearbook.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Social Science Fund of China (grant number: 20BJL058) and the Natural Science Fund of Shandong Province (grant number: ZR2020MG074).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Business School, Shandong Normal University, Jinan Shandong, 250358, China

    Hongyan Wang, Yihan Zhang, Zuankuo Liu & Rongkun Liu

  2. School of Economics and Management, Shandong Jiaotong University, Jinan Shandong, 250358, China

    Kanyong Li

Authors
  1. Hongyan Wang
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  2. Yihan Zhang
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  3. Zuankuo Liu
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  4. Rongkun Liu
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  5. Kanyong Li
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Contributions

Hongyan Wang: methodology; software; formal analysis; writing—original draft; writing—review and editing. Yihan Zhang: software, data curation, investigation. Zuankuo Liu: conceptualization; writing—review and editing; project administration; funding acquisition. Rongkun Liu: analysis with constructive discussions. Kanyong Li: analysis with constructive discussions.

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Correspondence to Zuankuo Liu.

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Wang, H., Zhang, Y., Liu, Z. et al. The impact and mechanisms of the Shanghai pilot free-trade zone on the green total factor productivity of the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 40997–41011 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-17758-y

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