656 / 2024-04-30 13:24:19

Does Market Integration Affect Inclusive Green Growth? --The Case of Chinese Cities in the Yangtze River Delta

market integration; inclusive green growth; green technology innovation; industrial structure upgrading; information technology linkages

The Yangtze River Delta region of China bears the responsibility of pioneering the exploration of a unified market and also faces the practical need for inclusive green growth. This article, based on panel data from urban areas in the Yangtze River Delta region from 2003 to 2021, comprehensively analyzes the impact of product market integration on inclusive green growth. We find that market integration significantly promotes inclusive green growth, exhibiting a nonlinear feature of diminishing marginal effects. Green technology innovation and industrial structure upgrading serve as potential channels through which market integration promotes inclusive growth, and they can play a positive regulatory role after reaching a certain threshold. The effect of market integration on inclusive green growth increases marginally with the increase of the inclusive green growth index, particularly in cities with specialized production functions, low dependence on foreign investment, and relatively closer and cleaner government. The administrative planning of urban agglomerations and metropolitan areas strengthens market integration’s contribution to inclusive green growth. Furthermore, we also observe a hierarchical variation in the spatial impact of market integration on inclusive green growth with increasing distance. Information technology weakens administrative segmentation, prompting market integration to exert spatial spillover effects earlier.