Measuring the green economic growth in China: Influencing factors and policy perspectives

Green economic growth and sustainable development complement each other, promoting green economic growth has important practical significance. However, the existing research focuses on qualitative analysis and less on quantitative analysis of the green economic growth. This study constructs a comprehensive index system of green economy, and uses entropy weighted TOPSIS method to evaluate the green economic growth from 2000 to 2017 in China. This study shows that:(1) Since the 21st century, China's green economy has been constantly improved. Ecological civilization and social progress are the main support for green economic growth. Economic development is secondary, and innovation-driven is lagging behind. (2) There are obvious regional differences in green economic growth. The eastern region is obviously better than the central and western regions, but the overall regional differences are shrinking. At the same time, the green economic growth shows obvious spatial agglomeration effect. (3) Population size, economic development level, technological innovation, industrial structure, urbanization, environmental regulation and FDI have impacts on the green economic growth, but the spatial effect of each influencing factor is different. In the process of developing the green economy, policy makers should fully combine the spatiotemporal evolution of the green economy and its influencing factors, and make targeted policies.(c) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study finds that China's green economic growth has been improving, with ecological civilization and social progress as the main drivers. However, innovation-driven development lags behind. There are significant regional differences in green economic growth, with the eastern region performing better than the central and western regions. These regional differences are shrinking over time. Factors such as population size, economic development level, technological innovation, industrial structure, urbanization, environmental regulation, and foreign direct investment have impacts on green economic growth, but the spatial effects of each factor are different. Policymakers should consider the spatiotemporal evolution of the green economy and its influencing factors when formulating targeted policies.