High-Tech Industrial Agglomeration, Government Intervention and Regional Energy Efficiency: Based on the Perspective of the Spatial Spillover Effect and Panel Threshold Effect

Improving energy efficiency is an important breakthrough to effectively solve the contradiction between economic development and environmental protection. Using a fixed-effect model, spatial Durbin model and panel threshold model, this paper takes panel data of 30 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions (except Tibet) in mainland China from 2007 to 2019 as samples to demonstrate the impact of high-tech industry agglomeration and government intervention on regional energy efficiency and the mechanism among the three. The results show that high-tech industry agglomeration has a significant positive impact on regional energy efficiency, and government intervention has a significant inhibitory effect on regional energy efficiency. When the three factors act together, government intervention has a distorting effect on the impact of high-tech industry agglomeration on energy efficiency. Both high-tech industrial agglomeration and energy efficiency have spatial spillover effects. The impact of high-tech industry agglomeration on energy efficiency has significant spatial heterogeneity. Based on the above analysis and conclusion, practical policy suggestions are put forward to achieve the goal of improving energy efficiency and effectively solving the contradiction between economic development and environmental protection.

Automated summary

This paper demonstrates the impact of high-tech industry agglomeration and government intervention on regional energy efficiency and the mechanism among the three factors using a fixed-effect model, spatial Durbin model, and panel threshold model. The study finds that high-tech industry agglomeration has a significant positive impact on regional energy efficiency, while government intervention has a significant inhibitory effect. When these factors act together, government intervention distorts the impact of high-tech industry agglomeration on energy efficiency. Both high-tech industrial agglomeration and energy efficiency exhibit spatial spillover effects, and the impact of high-tech industry agglomeration on energy efficiency shows significant spatial heterogeneity. Based on the analysis and conclusions, practical policy suggestions are proposed to improve energy efficiency and effectively address the contradiction between economic development and environmental protection.