Study On The Influencing Factors And Paths Of Innovation Diffusion Of Carbon Neutral Policy ——Qualitative Comparative Analysis Of 40 Low-carbon Pilot Cities

Striving to achieve carbon peaking by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060 is a solemn commitment made by China to address global climate change.As a symbol of modern civilization,cities are an important space and action unit for promoting low-carbon economic transformation and high-quality economic and social development,as well as the main position of carbon neutrality.In the past two years,the government has issued relevant carbon neutral policy documents or opinions to guide the practice of carbon neutrality,providing policy guidance for the realization of the goal.The diffusion of policy innovations theory,which emerged in the 1960 s,is an important theory for studying the process of policy implementation.Low-carbon pilot cities have played an important and positive role in reducing carbon emission intensity and promoting technological innovation.It is of great practical significance to select low-carbon pilot cities as a research area for the diffusion of carbon neutral policy innovations and to analyze them using policy innovation diffusion theory.In order to explore the specific path of carbon neutral policy innovation diffusion in China’s low-carbon pilot cities,this thesis,on the basis of sorting out the theories related to policy innovation diffusion,starts from studying the factors influencing policy innovation diffusion and constructs a model of carbon neutral policy innovation diffusion influencing factors,and finally obtains 40 case samples in three batches of low-carbon pilot cities through information retrieval,covering 27 provinces including Guangdong Province,Zhejiang Province,Jiangsu Province,Hebei Province and Shandong Province.This thesis uses the Clear Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis（cs QCA）method,and according to the analysis framework constructed in this study,from the six dimensions of policy demand,resource endowment,administrative pressure,geographical location and policy subject,it is further refined into seven variable conditions,namely carbon Emissions,industrial structure,administrative level,financial resources,policy signals,horizontal competition,and official changes,taking policy diffusion effect as the outcome variable,to characterize the single influencing factor and condition combination factors of carbon neutral policy innovation diffusion analytical operations in China.The analysis results show that:（1）Low-carbon cities’ carbon neutral policy innovation is mainly affected by the synergy of five factors: policy demand,resource endowment,administrative pressure,geographical location,and policy subject.（2）There are three main paths for the diffusion of carbon neutral policy innovation: Competition-driven,Resource-led and Pressure-dominated.（3）The diffusion of carbon neutral policy innovation in low-carbon pilot cities has four characteristics: horizontal competition is the basic condition for the diffusion of carbon neutral policy innovation at this stage,and abundant resource conditions have created a good environment and policy for the diffusion of policy innovation.Demand provides the impetus for the diffusion of carbon neutral policy innovation,and official changes create conditions for the diffusion of carbon neutral policy innovations.And based on the above conclusions,four suggestions are put forward: improve and enhance the mandatory pressure imposed by the superior government;form healthy competition among local governments;fully explore and utilize local resource advantages;strengthen supporting policy support for the diffusion of carbon neutral policies.Based on this,promote the innovation and diffusion of carbon neutral policies in China and contribute to the early realization of carbon neutrality.