New energy demonstration program and China's urban green economic growth: Do regional characteristics make a difference?

New energy development strategies play a crucial role in achieving urban green economic growth. Among these policies, new energy demonstration programs are a popular and effective strategy widely adopted among local governments in China. Despite the practical significance of these new energy demonstration programs, very few studies examined their implementation and actual effectiveness. This study aims to examine the development of China's new energy demonstration programs and further investigate their actual effectiveness from the perspective of urban green economic growth. Using a super-efficient Slacks-based measure model and the Propensity Score Matching plus Difference-in-Difference method, we found that, from the perspective of technological innovation, industrial structure and environmental constraint, the new energy demonstration programs have a positive effect on urban green economic growth, with a net policy effect of around 7.4%. Furthermore, due to the discrepancy in regional characteristics, the policy effect is relatively complicated with heterogeneity. We see a higher policy influence in eastern cities, sub-provincial capital cities and larger cities, as well as in cities with conducive institutional environment. This study has policy implications for the implementation of new energy demonstration programs in China.

Automated summary

New energy demonstration programs are an important and effective strategy for achieving urban green economic growth in China, with positive effects on technological innovation, industrial structure, and environmental constraints. However, the policy effects can vary due to regional characteristics, with eastern cities, sub-provincial capital cities, larger cities, and cities with conducive institutional environments demonstrating higher policy influence.