Does the Low-carbon Pilot City Program Affect China's Carbon Intensity? A Difference-in-Difference Analysis

摘要

In order to combat climate change and achieve targeted emissions reductions in China, low-carbon pilot city (LCPC) program is proposed to realize low-carbon production and consumption. At present, implementation of LCPC is still under the experimental stage. It is necessary to evaluate the effect of LCPC. By taking fifteen sub-provincial cities in China as the research target, this paper chooses the methodology adopts difference-in-difference estimation to analyze the impact of low- carbon pilot city program on carbon intensity. The results show that the project had a significant positive impact on carbon intensity which led to an increase in carbon intensity of about 35%. Meanwhile, the influential factors of LCPC is also studied. Results show that the sub-provincial cities with better economic development in eastern China had more significant improvement. Their carbon intensity increased from 0.068 to 0.126 units. Finally, based on the above analysis, this paper puts forward policy suggestions for the future development of China's low-carbon city.