Does ecological protection compensation help to achieve carbon reduction? Empirical evidence from transfer payments in national key ecological functional zones
Lingyi Guo, Qiurui Huang, Wenli Xu, Xiaoqin Zheng
Keywords:
carbon emissions, ecological protection compensation, national key ecological functional zones, “dual-carbon” goal
Abstract:
In the process of competition for international status, environment quality has become a critical factor in assessing a country’s development level, and carbon emissions have become a major challenge to national development. The ecological protection compensation mechanism is an important means of environmental management, so this paper selects the transfer payment mechanism of the national key ecological functional zones and explores in depth the positive role of ecological protection compensation in realizing carbon emission reduction. Based on the data of 1,632 county-level cities from 2005 to 2017, a staggered difference-in-difference model is constructed to study the impact of transfer payments on carbon emissions. Ecological protection compensation can not only directly achieve carbon emission reduction and increase carbon sequestration, but also reduce carbon emissions through green technological innovation, the adjustment of the scale of industrialization, and the increase in forest areas. Heterogeneity results show that regions with higher fiscal freedom and higher electricity consumption are better able to achieve carbon emission reduction. This paper enriches the effects and roles of the ecological protection compensation mechanism, further expands the strategic approach to achieve carbon emission reduction, and proposes policies such as optimizing industrial structure, upgrading the level of green innovation, and increasing fiscal freedom to further assist China in achieving the goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality.
Fulltext download:
 Does ecological protection compensation help to achieve carbon reduction? Empirical evidence from transfer payments in national key ecological functional zones [PDF file] [Filesize: 1.33 MB]
 10.7441/joc.2025.04.02
Guo, L., Huang, Q., Xu, W., & Zheng, X. (2025). Does ecological protection compensation help to achieve carbon reduction? Empirical evidence from transfer payments in national key ecological functional zones. Journal of Competitiveness, 17(4), 29-64. https://doi.org/10.7441/joc.2025.04.02
|
