Can low-carbon city pilot policy improve urban energy-environmental efficiency? Evidence from China

The effectiveness of the implementation of China's low-carbon city pilot (LCCP) policy is directly related to the success or failure of China's low-carbon transition. We use panel data from 282 cities from 2006 to 2019 to measure the unified energy-environmental efficiency using the global non-radial directional distance function (NDDF). The LCCP policy is further used as a quasi-natural experiment to empirically analyze the impact of China's LCCP policy on energy-environmental efficiency using the difference-in-differences (DID) method. The study finds that (1) LCCP policies improve the energy and environmental efficiency of cities by an average of 3.8 %. (2) There is significant regional and city-scale heterogeneity in the pilot low-carbon city policies. Specifically, the LCCP policy has a significant pilot effect in cities in the eastern and central regions as well as in large cities, while the policy effect in western cities and small and medium-sized cities is not significant. (3) The LCCP policy affects urban energy and environmental efficiency by adjusting the industrial structure, improving the level of human capital, promoting scientific and technological progress, and enhancing public environmental awareness. This paper not only comprehensively evaluates the effects of China's LCCP policies, but also helps to provide useful insights for the construction of low-carbon cities around the world.