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<p>Improving urban energy efficiency is a crucial step for exploring low-carbon transformation methods and breaking the “high-carbon development lock-in”. This study treats the low-carbon city pilot policy (LCCP) as a quasi-natural experiment and evaluates its impact on urban total factor energy efficiency (TFEE) by employing a staggered difference-in-differences (DID) approach. Using panel data from 282 Chinese cities (2006–2021) and calculating TFEE via stochastic frontier analysis, this study finds that the LCCP significantly increases TFEE by 0.027 in pilot cities compared to non-pilot cities. The dynamic effect results indicate that the implementation of LCCP can persistently and significantly improve the TFEE of cities, with the impact strengthening over time. Additionally, the policy can generate a positive but decreasing spatial spillover effect within 300&#xa0;km, and the policy’s effect varies by the region, scale, and urban resource endowment. Mechanism analysis further indicates that the LCCP boosts TFEE by lightening industrial structures, fostering low-carbon innovation, and reducing labor misallocation.</p>

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Does low-carbon city pilot policy improve energy efficiency: persistently or temporarily? Quasi-experimental evidence from China

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年8月22日

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  • Zhihua Xu,
  • Yukun Xue,
  • Ji Chen,
  • Shuqin Li

摘要

Improving urban energy efficiency is a crucial step for exploring low-carbon transformation methods and breaking the “high-carbon development lock-in”. This study treats the low-carbon city pilot policy (LCCP) as a quasi-natural experiment and evaluates its impact on urban total factor energy efficiency (TFEE) by employing a staggered difference-in-differences (DID) approach. Using panel data from 282 Chinese cities (2006–2021) and calculating TFEE via stochastic frontier analysis, this study finds that the LCCP significantly increases TFEE by 0.027 in pilot cities compared to non-pilot cities. The dynamic effect results indicate that the implementation of LCCP can persistently and significantly improve the TFEE of cities, with the impact strengthening over time. Additionally, the policy can generate a positive but decreasing spatial spillover effect within 300 km, and the policy’s effect varies by the region, scale, and urban resource endowment. Mechanism analysis further indicates that the LCCP boosts TFEE by lightening industrial structures, fostering low-carbon innovation, and reducing labor misallocation.