Smart City Pilots Empower Corporate Green Innovation in a Manufacturing-Driven Economy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 16913841 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Zijing Zhang (0000-0003-0958-632X, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics), Bowen Li (0000-0003-4981-0373, Zhejiang Yuexiu University), Hai Long (0000-0003-2323-7636, Chulalongkorn University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Publication date | 2025-07-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | SAGE Open (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2158-2440 • E-ISSN: 2158-2440 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/21582440251378569 |
| OpenAlex | W4414493411 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 47 |
The rise of smart cities as systemic eco-innovations has leveraged advanced digital technologies to support green development and reduce carbon emission intensity in manufacturing. Using data on green technology innovations of A-share listed firms in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2007 to 2022, this study applies a multi-period difference-in-differences design combined with a double machine learning method to assess how smart city pilot programmes influence enterprises’ low-carbon transitions. We find that (1) Smart city pilot programmes significantly increase the quantity, quality, and independence of green patenting, and these effects remain robust under alternative specifications; (2) mediation analysis shows that the pilots improve enterprise’ access to financial resources and strengthen external digital monitoring, which, in turn, enhances environmental disclosure and stimulates substantive green innovation; and (3) heterogeneity tests reveal that policy effects are strongest in regions with weaker environmental regulation, among firms with lower research and development (R&D) intensity, and in pollution-intensive industries, highlighting the contexts in which smart city initiatives are most effective. These findings provide empirically grounded insights into the contextual effectiveness of the smart city pilot and offer concrete evidence to inform its broader adoption and replication
Green Economy · Green growth · Green innovation · Low-carbon economy · Mediation · Smart city · Blockchain Technology Applications and Security · Green IT and Sustainability · Smart Cities and Technologies
Dynamic linkages between globalization, financial development and carbon emissions
Effects of smart city construction on energy saving and CO2 emission reduction
Environmental regulation, green technology innovation, and industrial structure upgrading
Double/debiased machine learning for treatment and structural parameters
Who is financing corporate green innovation?
Smart innovative cities
Can civilized city construction facilitate green total factor productivity? A quasi-natural experiment based on China’s pilot civilized city
Environmental information disclosure and green technology innovation
Smart city and green development
A smart city is a less polluted city
Natural language processing-based characterization of top-down communication in smart cities for enhancing citizen alignment
Are smart cities more ecologically efficient? Evidence from China
Smart cities’ development in Spain
Smart Cities
Pathways to the Making of Prosperous Smart Cities
Governing the smart city
Understanding ‘smart cities’
Does the construction of smart cities make cities green? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China
The smarter the city develops, the healthier the child grows? Evidence from China
Identifying sources of innovation
Endogenous Technological Change
| Highly cited | No |
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