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Environmental regulation and green energy efficiency: an analysis of spatial Durbin model from 30 provinces in China

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Abstract

Improving green energy efficiency is crucial to promoting China’s high-quality economic development and reducing the environmental pollution. In this paper, the Malmquist-Luenberger index measures the green energy efficiency of 30 provinces in China from 2004 to 2019. Based on the measurement results, the spatial Durbin model is used to empirically study the impact of environmental regulation on green energy efficiency and its spatial spillover effects. The results show that China’s green energy efficiency is low, and its growth mainly comes from technological progress (TECH) rather than technological efficiency (EFFCH). The eastern region has the highest efficiency of green energy, followed by the West and the lowest in the Central region. The estimation results of the spatial Durbin model show that both environmental regulation and green energy efficiency have a significant spatial correlation. Environmental regulation can improve the green energy efficiency in the local province but inhibit green energy efficiency in the adjacent provinces. Finally, this paper puts forward relevant policy suggestions according to the research results.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from [www.cnki.net].

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Funding

This research was supported by the general project of National Social Science Foundation of China. (Item Number: 21BJY196)

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Economics and Management, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, People’s Republic of China

    Lei Du, Minghua Tian & Wanzhe Chen

  2. School of Economics and Management, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100085, People’s Republic of China

    Junguo Cheng

  3. School of Economics and Management, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, Hebei, 066004, People’s Republic of China

    Zeyu Zhao

Authors
  1. Lei Du
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  2. Minghua Tian
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  3. Junguo Cheng
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  4. Wanzhe Chen
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  5. Zeyu Zhao
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study’s conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Minghua Tian, Junguo Cheng, Wanzhe Chen, and Zeyu Zhao. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Lei Du and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Minghua Tian.

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Ethics approval and consent to participate

Ethics approval and consent to participate This study involve the macro data of the human economy and society. All the data are from the official statistical yearbook. The data collection process is in line with ethical and moral standards. The research method of this study is DEA and econometrics, and there is no need for ethical approval and animal experiment content. The author guarantees that this study’s process, content, and conclusion do not violate the theory and moral principles.

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Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Du, L., Tian, M., Cheng, J. et al. Environmental regulation and green energy efficiency: an analysis of spatial Durbin model from 30 provinces in China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 67046–67062 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-20551-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-20551-0

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