Empirical Study On The Effect Of FDI On Carbon Emissions In The Pearl River Delta Region

With the development of economic globalization and the deepening of social division of labor, the cooperation between the different economic agents is increasingly important. The developed countries gradually transfer some industries to the developing countries and regions, trying to rely on local preferential policies and some of the comparative advantages to save costs. Many scholars at home and abroad have found that FDI will have a significant influence on the energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions of the host countries. The Pearl River Delta region, as an essential region in China’s economic domain, is one of the economically developed regions with highest opening degree in China. Meanwhile, it has the highest carbon emission density and its emission load ranks top nationwide. In the context of economic development mode transforming, energy saving and emission reduction, the Pearl River Delta region is also facing big pressure. whether for transforming the economic development modes or promoting the upgrading of industrial structure of the Pearl River Delta region, it is necessary to study the correlation between FDI and carbon emissions in the Pearl River Delta. In addition, effective approaches should be explored on this basis to achieve energy-saving and emission reduction.This paper selects the Pearl River Delta region as the research object. First,this paper analyzes the present situation of FDI and carbon emissions; then this paper, based on environmental economics and other relevant economic theories,constructs the models of FDI on the carbon emissions in the Pearl River Delta region from such three aspect as scale effect, technological effect and structural effect; finally, this paper uses the panel data from2006 to 2012 to conduct empirical analysis, analyzing the impact of FDI on the carbon emissions in the Pearl River Delta region.The research findings show that: an increase in the scale of FDI can reduce carbon emissions in the Pearl River Delta region, which goes against the hypothesis of “Pollution haven”; following the increasing introduction scale of FDI, the energy utilization level in the Pearl River Delta region has also increased; the amount of FDI in both the secondary and tertiary industry shows a positive correlation with carbon emissions...