The Effects of Broadband Infrastructure on Carbon Emission Efficiency of Resource-Based Cities in China: A Quasi-Natural Experiment from the “Broadband China” Pilot Policy

Abstract

Resource-based cities (RBCs) face serious environmental pollution, and there are efforts to try to overcome those challenges by transforming industrial structure through investing in new technologies. Based on the panel data of 114 prefecture-level resource-based cities in China, this paper uses the difference-in-differences (DID) method to identify the effects of the “Broadband China” pilot policy on the carbon emission efficiency of resource-based cities. The results show that the “Broadband China” pilot policy has a significant effect on the improvement of carbon emission efficiency of resource-based cities, and the results are still valid after parallel trend test, PSM-DID estimation and placebo test. This study also finds that there are differences in the carbon emission efficiency of different locations and types of resource-based cities. In addition, the results of the mechanism analysis show that the “Broadband China” pilot policy can promote the improvement of carbon emission efficiency by promoting the upgrading of the industrial structure, the accumulation of human capital and the improvement of the level of urban innovation of resource-based cities. The findings provide a reference for China’s resource-based cities to develop the Broadband infrastructure, realize industrial upgrading, accumulate human capital and improve urban innovation level, and promote low-carbon transformation and improve carbon emission efficiency.

Can Internet Construction Promote Urban Green Development? A Quasi-Natural Experiment from the “Broadband China”

“…Carbon emission intensity is defined as the amount of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP, which is directly related to environmental losses [ 61 ]. Some studies suggest that an increase in Internet penetration rate can improve environmental quality by reducing greenhouse gas emissions [ 31 , 32 ].…”

“…Due to the differences in administrative level, urban scale, and urban resources, “Broadband China” pilot policy may have heterogeneous effects on urban green development. Hence, to further assess the impact of city differences on green development, we refer to Li et al (2022) and set city dummy variables in terms of city class, city size, and city resources, and substitute the interaction term between the dummy variables and the “Broadband China” pilot policy variables into the regression [ 61 ]. (1) Municipalities directly under the central government, provincial capitals, and sub-provincial cities are classified as central cities, assigned the value of 1, and the remaining cities are classified as peripheral cities, assigned the value of 0.…”

Do Environmental Regulations Facilitate a Low-Carbon Transformation in China’s Resource-Based Cities?

“…Meanwhile, Hou et al [22] found that due to the locking effect of technological innovation and human capital, the substitution of industries and technologies in RBCs requires huge investment, leading to low carbon production efficiency. Additionally, scholars have discussed the impact on CO 2 emissions from various points of view, such as urbanization, broadband infrastructure, technological innovation, resource utilization and the green finance of RBCs [31][32][33][34]. However, research on the effect of environmental regulations on the CEE of RBCs is comparatively lacking.…”

Can Digital Economy Development Contribute to the Low-Carbon Transition? Evidence from the City Level in China

“…In recent years, some literature has used quasi-natural experiments to assess various effects of the DE. In particular, for "BC" demonstration cities, which are the focus of this paper, there are rich discussions in the existing literature, including the economic effects, technological effects, and industrial structure effects of "BC" demonstration cities [14][15][16][17]. For example, Zhang et al (2022) examined the exogenous impact of broadband Internet infrastructure on business productiveness by using the implementation of "BC" strategy as an exogenous shock [18], and Zou and Pan (2022) used "BC" as a quasi-natural experiment to elucidate the effect of network construction on environmental pollution reduction using the double-difference method [9].…”

“…Resource-based cities have a higher dependence on energy due to their industrial base. Although the widespread application of digital technology can alleviate regional environmental pressure, there is inertia in economic development, which to some extent makes it difficult to change the "brown" development model; therefore, the impact of the DE on carbon emission performance cannot be highlighted in resource-based cities [16,17]. The resource-dependent economic development model also has a differential impact on regional carbon emissions, with city size showing a positive correlation with regional economic growth to a certain extent, while China's economic activities have distinct regional characteristics, with significant differences in location advantages, resource endowments, ecological environment, and ethnic and cultural dimensions in different regions.…”