Green growth though national urban agglomeration policy? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21599747 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Chunlai Yuan (0000-0002-0440-2483, Peking University), Zhaojie Han (Xiamen University, corresponding author), Meiling Shang (Business School, Hohai University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 69 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 1346-1375 |
| Publication date | 2026-04-16 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Environmental Planning and Management (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0964-0568 • E-ISSN: 1360-0559 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/09640568.2024.2425711 |
| OpenAlex | W4405622188 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 45 |
China is currently confronting the dilemma of achieving green development goals while ensuring economic growth. Urban agglomerations, as a new form of economic concentration, may serve as an effective solution to this challenge. This paper treats the State Council’s approval of national urban agglomeration as a quasi-natural experiment, utilizing panel data from 213 prefecture-level cities spanning from 2004 to 2020. A multi-period Difference-in-Differences model is applied to assess the impact of National Urban Agglomerations Policy (NUAP) on Green Total Factor Productivity (GTFP). The findings indicate that the implementation of NUAP has led to an average increase in local GTFP of 0.0603. This effect is primarily driven by enhanced technological innovation capabilities, reduced misallocation of factor resources, and the “siphoning” and “spillover” effects from central cities. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the national urban agglomerations in the expansion phase, larger agglomerations, and those located in the north exbibit more significant GTFP growth. This study provides a new perspective on GTFP research and offers theoretical and empirical support for evaluating the effects of NUAP
China · Dilemma · Econometrics · Economic geography · Economic growth · Economic system · Economics · Economies of agglomeration · Geography · Macroeconomics · Panel data · Productivity · Spillover effect · Total factor productivity · Urban agglomeration · Energy, Environment, Economic Growth · Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth · Spatial and Panel Data Analysis
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| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |