The Impact of High-Standard Scenic Areas Construction on County-Level Carbon Emissions and Its Spatial Spillover Effects: Evidence from a Quasi-Natural Experiment

Abstract

This study investigated for the first time the tourism–carbon emissions nexus based on the destination construction perspective, using the China’s national scenic areas (CNSA) construction as a vehicle for concretization. A multi-source county panel dataset of 29,628 samples was constructed. The staggered Difference-in-Differences (DID) model and spatial DID model were further formulated. The findings show that: (1) the CNSA resulted in a 0.1024% reduction in carbon emission intensity (CEI) in treatment counties relative to non-treatment counties, and although the effect exhibits a delay, it persists and intensifies over time; (2) our heterogeneity results indicate that the inhibiting effect is significantly more pronounced in the western, eastern, and county subsamples; and (3) the spatial DID analysis reveals that the CNSA exerts a negative spatial spillover effect on CEI. This work enhances comprehension of the tourism–carbon emissions nexus, with implications for advancing regional carbon emission reduction policy strategies.