The effect of economic growth target constraints on green technology innovation

Fei Shen; Bei Liu; Fang Luo; Changchang Wu; Hao Chen; Wendong Wei

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112765

The effect of economic growth target constraints on green technology innovation

J Environ Manage. 2021 Aug 15:292:112765. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112765. Epub 2021 May 20.

Authors

Fei Shen¹, Bei Liu¹, Fang Luo², Changchang Wu³, Hao Chen², Wendong Wei⁴

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Economics and Management, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200241, PR China.
² Business School, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200093, PR China.
³ School of Economics, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, PR China.
⁴ School of International and Public Affairs, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200030, PR China; SJTU-UNIDO Joint Institute of Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200030, PR China; China Institute for Urban Governance, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200030, PR China. Electronic address: wendongwei@sjtu.edu.cn.

PMID: 34022652
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112765

Abstract

According to data from the working reports of China's 244 prefecture-level city governments from 2004 to 2016, we used the instrumental variable method to identify the effects of governments' behavior of setting economic growth targets on regional green technology innovation. The results show that the setting and top-down amplification of economic growth targets have significant inhibitory effects on green technology innovation. The inhibitory effect is more prominent in cities with rapid economic growth and over fulfilment of economic growth targets. In addition, the higher the degree of over fulfilment of the economic target becomes, the more prominent the inhibiting effect is. An impact mechanism analysis reveals that economic growth target constraints affect regional green technology innovation through an industrial structure effect and foreign investment introduction effect.

Keywords: Economic growth target; Green technology innovation; Top-down amplification.

MeSH terms

China
Cities
Economic Development*
Industry
Inventions*
Investments