Abstract
The global energy transition is crucial for all nations due to increasing concerns about energy security and climate change. The low-carbon city pilot (LCCP) policy is an essential project in the energy transition process, but its impact on urban energy transition (ET) and the underlying mechanisms remains unclear. To address this, we use a multi-temporal difference-in-difference (DID) model, analyzing panel data from 277 Chinese cities spanning 2006–2020, to examine the effects of the LCCP policy on urban energy transition. The findings show that the LCCP policy greatly influences urban energy transition, and the findings can withstand a number of robustness tests, particularly the decomposed effects of staggered DID. Moreover, we construct a multiple mediation effect model to identify three pathways through which the policy facilitates energy transition: “LCCP → Government Intervention → ET,” “LCCP → Enterprise Technology Innovation → ET,” and “LCCP → Residents’ Green Consumption Awareness Enhancement → ET.” Heterogeneity analysis demonstrates that first- and second-tier cities, resource-based cities, and eastern cities experience more substantial impacts. Our findings hold vital implications for promoting low-carbon cities and achieving sustainable energy systems.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article.
Abbreviations
- LCCP:
-
Low-carbon city pilot
- ET:
-
Energy transition
- DID:
-
Difference-in-differences
- NDRC:
-
National Development and Reform Commission
- GI:
-
Government intervention
- ETI:
-
Enterprise technological innovation
- GCA:
-
Residents' Green Consumption Awareness
- ED:
-
Economic development
- UR:
-
Urbanization
- RL:
-
Revenue level
- FD:
-
Financial development
- IS:
-
Informatization scale
- PSM:
-
Propensity score matching
References
Ahmed Z, Zhang B, Cary M (2021) Linking economic globalization, economic growth, financial development, and ecological footprint: evidence from symmetric and asymmetric ardl. Ecol Indic 121:107060. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.107060
Andrade JCS, Dameno A, Pérez J, de Andrés Almeida JM, Lumbreras J (2018) Implementing city-level carbon accounting: a comparison between madrid and london. J Clean Prod 172:795–804. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.10.163
Cao L, Wu Y, Li L (2023a) The driving effect of energy efficiency change: from the perspective of collaborative innovation development pattern. Environ Impact Asses 99:107011. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2022.107011
Cao X, Liu C, Wu M, Li Z, Wang Y, Wen Z (2023b) Heterogeneity and connection in the spatial–temporal evolution trend of china’s energy consumption at provincial level. Appl Energ 336:120842. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2023.120842
Chen L, Wang K (2022) The spatial spillover effect of low-carbon city pilot scheme on green efficiency in china’s cities: evidence from a quasi-natural experiment. Energ Econ 110:106018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2022.106018
Chen Y, Yao Z, Zhong K (2022) Do environmental regulations of carbon emissions and air pollution foster green technology innovation: evidence from china’s prefecture-level cities. J Clean Prod 350:131537. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.131537
Chen J, Luo W, Ren X, Liu T (2023) The local-neighborhood effects of low-carbon city pilots program on pm2.5 in china: a spatial difference-in-differences analysis. Sci Total Environ 857:159511. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159511
Chen P, Jiang R, Chen Z (2023b) Global household energy consumption structure: direct versus embodied perspective from 2000 to 2014. Energy Ecol Environ. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40974-023-00302-8
Cui L, Mu Y, Shen Z, Wang W (2022) Energy transition, trade and green productivity in advanced economies. J Clean Prod 361:132288. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.132288
Dou X, Deng Z, Sun T et al (2021) Global and local carbon footprints of city of Hong Kong and Macao from 2000 to 2015. Resour Conserv Recycl 164:105167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.105167
Du M, Feng R, Chen Z (2022) Blue sky defense in low-carbon pilot cities: a spatial spillover perspective of carbon emission efficiency. Sci Total Environ 846:157509. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157509
Feng T, Lin Z, Du H, Qiu Y, Zuo J (2021) Does low-carbon pilot city program reduce carbon intensity? Evidence from chinese cities. Res Int Bus Financ 58:101450. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ribaf.2021.101450
Goodman-Bacon A, Goldring T, Nichols A (2022) Bacondecomp: stata module to perform a bacon decomposition of difference-in-differences estimation. https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:boc:bocode:s458676
Goyal N, Taeihagh A, Howlett M (2022) Whither policy innovation? Mapping conceptual engagement with public policy in energy transitions research. Energy Res Soc Sci 89:102632. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2022.102632
Guilhot L (2022) An analysis of china’s energy policy from 1981 to 2020: transitioning towards to a diversified and low-carbon energy system. Energ Policy 162:112806. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2022.112806
Harichandan S, Kar SK, Bansal R, Mishra SK, Balathanigaimani MS, Dash M (2022) Energy transition research: a bibliometric mapping of current findings and direction for future research. Cleaner Production Letters 3:100026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clpl.2022.100026
Hong JH, Kim J, Son W et al (2019) Long-term energy strategy scenarios for south korea: transition to a sustainable energy system. Energ Policy 127:425–437. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2018.11.055
Huang S (2022) The effect of natural resources and economic factors on energy transition: new evidence from china. Resour Policy 76:102620. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2022.102620
Huang H, Yi M (2023) Impacts and mechanisms of heterogeneous environmental regulations on carbon emissions: an empirical research based on did method. Environ Impact Asses 99:107039. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2023.107039
Huo W, Qi J, Yang T, Liu J, Liu M, Zhou Z (2022) Effects of china’s pilot low-carbon city policy on carbon emission reduction: a quasi-natural experiment based on satellite data. Technol Forecast Soc 175:121422. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2021.121422
Huovila A, Siikavirta H, Antuña Rozado C et al (2022) Carbon-neutral cities: critical review of theory and practice. J Clean Prod 341:130912. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.130912
Khan I, Zakari A, Ahmad M, Irfan M, Hou F (2022) Linking energy transitions, energy consumption, and environmental sustainability in OECD countries. Gondwana Res 103:445–457. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2021.10.026
Kong L, Mu X, Hu G, Tu C (2023) Will energy efficiency improvements reduce energy consumption? Perspective of rebound effect and evidence from beijing. Energy 263:125665. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2022.125665
Kou J, Xu X (2022) Does internet infrastructure improve or reduce carbon emission performance?—A dual perspective based on local government intervention and market segmentation. J Clean Prod 379:134789. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.134789
Lee C, Feng Y, Peng D (2022) A green path towards sustainable development: the impact of low-carbon city pilot on energy transition. Energ Econ 115:106343. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2022.106343
Leonhardt R, Noble B, Poelzer G, Fitzpatrick P, Belcher K, Holdmann G (2022) Advancing local energy transitions: a global review of government instruments supporting community energy. Energy Res Soc Sci 83:102350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2021.102350
Li K, Tan X, Yan Y, Jiang D, Qi S (2022a) Directing energy transition toward decarbonization: the China story. Energy 261:124934. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2022.124934
Li H, Luo F, Hao J, Li J, Guo L (2023) How does fintech affect energy transition: evidence from Chinese industrial firms. Environ Impact Asses 102:107181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2023.107181
Li CS, Wang CB, Lei ZM (2022) A study on the suitability of regional energy transition basis and transition performance in China. Regional Economic Review, 132–44 (in Chinese)
Lin B, Xie J (2023) Does environmental regulation promote industrial structure optimization in china? A perspective of technical and capital barriers. Environ Impact Asses 98:106971. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2022.106971
Lin X, Tang Z, Long H (2022) Spatial and temporal research on ecological total factor energy efficiency in china: based on “ecology-economy-geography” heterogeneity framework. J Clean Prod 377:134143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.134143
Liu SS, Ling WS (2009) The multiple mediator model and its application. Psychol Sci 32:433–435 (in Chinese)
Liu X, Xu H (2022) Does low-carbon pilot city policy induce low-carbon choices in residents’ living: holistic and single dual perspective. J Environ Manage 324:116353. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.116353
Liu X, Li Y, Chen X, Liu J (2022) Evaluation of low carbon city pilot policy effect on carbon abatement in china: an empirical evidence based on time-varying did model. Cities 123:103582. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2022.103582
Luo C, Qiang W, Lee HF (2023) Does the low-carbon city pilot policy work in china? A company-level analysis based on the psm-did model. J Environ Manage 337:117725. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.117725
Lyu J, Liu T, Cai B, Qi Y, Zhang X (2023) Heterogeneous effects of china’s low-carbon city pilots policy. J Environ Manage 344:118329. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118329
Nie Y, Zhang G, Duan H et al (2022) Trends in energy policy coordination research on supporting low-carbon energy development. Environ Impact Asses 97:106903. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2022.106903
Pan A, Zhang W, Shi X, Dai L (2022) Climate policy and low-carbon innovation: evidence from low-carbon city pilots in china. Energ Econ 112:106129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2022.106129
Qi X, Guo Y, Guo P, Yao X, Liu X (2022) Do subsidies and R&D investment boost energy transition performance? Evidence from chinese renewable energy firms. Energ Policy 164:112909. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2022.112909
Qiu S, Wang Z, Liu S (2021) The policy outcomes of low-carbon city construction on urban green development: evidence from a quasi-natural experiment conducted in china. Sustain Cities Soc 66:102699. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2020.102699
Qu F, Xu L, He C (2023) Leverage effect or crowding out effect? Evidence from low-carbon city pilot and energy technology innovation in china. Sustain Cities Soc 91:104423. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2023.104423
Ren S, Li X, Yuan B, Li D, Chen X (2018) The effects of three types of environmental regulation on eco-efficiency: a cross-region analysis in china. J Clean Prod 173:245–255. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.08.113
Shah WUH, Hao G, Yan H, Yasmeen R, Jie Y (2022) The role of energy policy transition, regional energy efficiency, and technological advancement in the improvement of china’s environmental quality. Energy Rep 8:9846–9857. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egyr.2022.07.161
Shahbaz M, Wang J, Dong K, Zhao J (2022) The impact of digital economy on energy transition across the globe: the mediating role of government governance. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 166:112620. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2022.112620
Shen Y, Shi X, Zhao Z, Sun Y, Shan Y (2023) Measuring the low-carbon energy transition in chinese cities. iScience 26:105803. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2022.105803
Thomas M, Decillia B, Santos JB, Thorlakson L (2022) Great expectations: public opinion about energy transition. Energ Policy 162:112777. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2022.112777
Tian Y, Feng C (2022) The internal-structural effects of different types of environmental regulations on china’s green total-factor productivity. Energ Econ 113:106246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2022.106246
Tian Y, Song W, Liu M (2021) Assessment of how environmental policy affects urban innovation: evidence from china’s low-carbon pilot cities program. Econ Anal Policy 71:41–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eap.2021.04.002
Tian J, Yu L, Xue R, Zhuang S, Shan Y (2022) Global low-carbon energy transition in the post-covid-19 era. Appl Energ 307:118205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.118205
Tie M, Zhu M (2022) Interpreting low-carbon transition at the subnational level: evidence from china using a natural language processing approach. Resour Conserv Recycl 187:106636. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2022.106636
Vogel RK, Ryan R, Lawrie A et al (2020) Global city sydney. Prog Plann 136:100426. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.progress.2018.09.002
Wan Y, Sheng N, Wei X, Su H (2023) Study on the spatial spillover effect and path mechanism of green finance development on China’s energy structure transformation. J Clean Prod 415:137820. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.137820
Wang Y, Deng X, Zhang H, Liu Y, Yue T, Liu G (2022) Energy endowment, environmental regulation, and energy efficiency: evidence from china. Technol Forecast Soc 177:121528. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2022.121528
Wang L, Shao J, Ma Y (2023a) Does china’s low-carbon city pilot policy improve energy efficiency? Energy 283:129048. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2023.129048
Wang Y, Jeong S, Hang Y, Wang Q (2023b) Determinants of net energy-related Co2 emissions in china: a source-to-sink decomposition analysis. Environ Impact Asses 98:106979. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2022.106979
Wei X, Jiang F, Yang L (2023) Does digital dividend matter in china’s green low-carbon development: environmental impact assessment of the big data comprehensive pilot zones policy. Environ Impact Asses 101:107143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2023.107143
Wen S, Jia Z, Chen X (2022) Can low-carbon city pilot policies significantly improve carbon emission efficiency? Empirical evidence from china. J Clean Prod 346:131131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.131131
Wu S, Hu S, Frazier AE, Hu Z (2023) China’s urban and rural residential carbon emissions: past and future scenarios. Resour Conserv Recycl 190:106802. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2022.106802
Xu B, Xu R (2022) Assessing the role of environmental regulations in improving energy efficiency and reducing Co2 emissions: evidence from the logistics industry. Environ Impact Asses 96:106831. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2022.106831
Yang S, Jahanger A, Hossain MR (2023) How effective has the low-carbon city pilot policy been as an environmental intervention in curbing pollution? Evidence from chinese industrial enterprises. Energ Econ 118:106523. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2023.106523
Yu X, Wang P (2021) Economic effects analysis of environmental regulation policy in the process of industrial structure upgrading: evidence from chinese provincial panel data. Sci Total Environ 753:142004. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142004
Zhang G (2023) Regulatory-driven corporate greenwashing: evidence from “low-carbon city” pilot policy in china. Pac-Basin Financ J 78:101951. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pacfin.2023.101951
Zhang J, Zheng T (2023) Can dual pilot policy of innovative city and low carbon city promote green lifestyle transformation of residents? J Clean Prod 405:136711. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.136711
Zhang M, Guo S, Bai C, Wang W (2019) Study on the impact of haze pollution on residents’ green consumption behavior: the case of shandong province. J Clean Prod 219:11–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.02.077
Zhang H, Feng C, Zhou X (2022) Going carbon-neutral in china: does the low-carbon city pilot policy improve carbon emission efficiency? Sustain Prod Consump 33:312–329. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2022.07.002
Zhao C, Dong K, Wang K, Taghizadeh-Hesary F (2023a) How can chinese cities escape from carbon lock-in? The role of low-carbon city policy. Urban Climate 51:101629. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2023.101629
Zhao S, Zhang L, An H, Peng L, Zhou H, Hu F (2023b) Has china’s low-carbon strategy pushed forward the digital transformation of manufacturing enterprises? Evidence from the low-carbon city pilot policy. Environ Impact Asses 102:107184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2023.107184
Zheng J, Shao X, Liu W, Kong J, Zuo G (2021) The impact of the pilot program on industrial structure upgrading in low-carbon cities. J Clean Prod 290:125868. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.125868
Zhou Z, Xu G, Wang C, Wu J (2019) Modeling undesirable output with a dea approach based on an exponential transformation: an application to measure the energy efficiency of chinese industry. J Clean Prod 236:117717. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.117717
Zhou D, Yuan S, Xie D (2022a) Voluntary environmental regulation and urban innovation: evidence from low-carbon pilot cities program in china. Technol Forecast Soc 175:121388. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2021.121388
Zhou Q, Cui X, Ni H, Gong L (2022b) The impact of environmental regulation policy on firms’ energy-saving behavior: a quasi-natural experiment based on china’s low-carbon pilot city policy. Resour Policy 76:102538. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2021.102538
Zhu C, Lee C (2022) The effects of low-carbon pilot policy on technological innovation: evidence from prefecture-level data in china. Technol Forecast Soc 183:121955. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2022.121955
Zhu X, Zuo X, Li H (2021) The dual effects of heterogeneous environmental regulation on the technological innovation of chinese steel enterprises—based on a high-dimensional fixed effects model. Ecol Econ 188:107113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.107113
Zou C, Huang Y, Wu S, Hu S (2022) Does “low-carbon city” accelerate urban innovation? Evidence from China. Sustain Cities Soc 83:103954. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2022.103954
Funding
This research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 42001257), the Research on Philosophy and Social Sciences in Shanxi Province's Colleges and Universities (Grant No. 20210115), the Graduate Student Innovation Program in Shanxi Province (Grant No. 2023KY510). We also thank anonymous commentators and editors for their helpful suggestions.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by KL, PG, and JS. The first draft of the manuscript was written by XL and XJ. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
All authors certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest or non-financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Liu, X., Jia, X., Lyu, K. et al. The impact of low-carbon city pilot policy on urban energy transition: an analysis of multiple mediating effects based on “government–enterprise–resident”. Energ. Ecol. Environ. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40974-024-00316-w
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40974-024-00316-w