Filiou, D, Kesidou, E orcid.org/0000-0002-5729-8624 and Wu, L (2023) Are smart cities green? The role of environmental and digital policies for Eco-innovation in China. World Development, 165. 106212. ISSN 0305-750X
Abstract
In this paper, we employ negative binomial and quasi-natural experimental methods (i.e., Difference-in-Differences and Propensity Score Matching), whereby we examine the joint impact of environmental and digital policies (for designing smart cities) upon the generation of eco-innovations in China. Using longitudinal data for the period 2006–2018, we examine the changes in green patents granted: (i) due to the implementation of various levels of stringency of environmental policies across all cities; and (ii) after the introduction of smart city policies in 2012 in China. The prior literature stresses the importance of environmental policies, yet less attention has been paid to digital policies required to drive eco-innovation and their spatial dimension in the context of a developing economy. Our results show that, when digital policies (artificial intelligence and internet of things) are implemented in cities that have adopted strict environmental policies, the production of green patents increases. We contribute to debates in the literature of policy mix for sustainability transitions in the context of a developing economy by illustrating the importance of both types of policy for eco-innovation, as they correct two market failures and, more importantly, address the systemic coordination problems that occur during the production of green patents.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Digital policy; Environmental policy; Eco-innovation; Smart city; China; Difference-in-differences |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Business (Leeds) > Economics Division (LUBS) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 15 Feb 2023 15:15 |
Last Modified: | 15 Feb 2023 15:15 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.worlddev.2023.106212 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:195994 |