A Study On The Impact Of Market Integration On Carbon Emissions In China

Along with the proposed carbon peak and carbon neutral targets,China is currently facing an important turn in high-quality development,and the economic development model of each region is facing new challenges and opportunities.As an important path to accelerate inter-regional cooperation and promote inter-regional coordinated development,market integration will help each administrative region reduce the administrative barriers between regions and achieve optimal allocation of factors,but in this process,there are significant differences among regions in promoting the construction of market integration and achieving the overall improvement of carbon emission level.Therefore,what kind of effect can market integration actually have on carbon emissions? Can economic development be effectively balanced with environmental quality? In this context,the study attempts to analyze the role and relationship of market integration on carbon emissions in China,and put forward corresponding policy recommendations in response to the advantages played or problems highlighted.The study first analyzes the relationship between market integration and carbon emissions from the theoretical level,and elaborates this relationship from the economic,environmental and institutional levels based on the relevant theoretical foundation.Further,an attempt is made to derive the results of this influence using relevant models,and the relationship and path direction of market integration on carbon emissions and total factor carbon efficiency are analyzed from the perspective of both direct results and overall reflection.In addition,the role relationship of market integration on the impact of carbon emission intensity is dissected under the objective choice of balancing economy and environment.The results of the word frequency statistical analysis of central and local government work reports also further corroborate the consistency of market integration policies and carbon emission target setting.Subsequently,a series of realistic data are used to analyze the trends and characteristics of market integration and carbon emission related changes.The results of the analysis show that carbon emissions in China and the regions always show an upward trend,but this trend becomes slower in the later stage of the sample study,while total factor carbon efficiency basically maintains an upward trend.In terms of carbon emission intensity,there is an overall decreasing trend,but in some regions,this decreasing trend shows a slowdown or flattening.And the changes in the level of market integration are more volatile overall,especially under the market segmentation,the performance of each type of market integration level varies.In terms of empirical testing,firstly,the effect of the level of market integration on carbon emissions is analyzed from an intuitive perspective using panel data of 30 Chinese provinces and cities.The empirical results show that the level of market integration as a whole can promote the reduction of carbon emissions.The mechanism study finds that the level of resource mismatch and regional differences can play a role in the impact of market integration on carbon emissions.After considering possible nonlinear relationships,it is found that the level of market integration,industry advanced,and the intensity of environmental regulation all produce a single threshold effect.Secondly,the impact of market integration on total factor carbon efficiency is empirically analyzed in terms of overall reflection.The empirical results show that market integration as a whole can significantly improve total factor carbon efficiency.By testing the impact mechanism,overall,market integration can achieve total factor carbon efficiency by improving the level of resource mismatch,promoting industrial structure changes,adjusting institutional constraints and reducing regional differences.At the same time,in terms of spatial correlation,the improvement of total factor carbon efficiency brought by market integration is only local and does not produce significant spillover effects,and in the results of effect decomposition,it also shows only significant direct effects.Moreover,in the threshold test,it is found that industrial rationalization,capital mismatch level,regional differences and environmental regulation intensity can all play a significant role.Thirdly,after considering the local assessment of both economic and environmental objectives,we try to explore the balancing effect of market integration by empirically analyzing the effect of market integration on carbon emission intensity.The results show that market integration can significantly reduce carbon emission intensity.Through mechanism analysis,city size,industrial structure,and research investment all have different influential effects on the relationship between the two.The non-linear test of threshold finds that there is a significant threshold effect of research input intensity,urbanization level and human capital.Finally,after subdividing the market types,the analysis of the relationship between each market integration and carbon emissions reveals that,in terms of carbon emissions,urban-rural market integration and commodity market integration effectively reduce carbon emissions,while energy market integration significantly increases carbon emissions;In terms of total factor carbon efficiency,only commodity market integration can significantly improve total factor carbon efficiency;In terms of carbon emission intensity,commodity market integration and urban-rural market integration can significantly reduce the effect of carbon emission intensity,while energy market integration and factor market integration do the opposite.According to the research findings,three policy recommendations are put forward.First,we should further play the function of market integration to reduce consumption,improve the comprehensive development and construction system,and reduce regional carbon emissions;Second,we should play the role of market integration to consolidate the foundation of economic and social quality improvement,accelerate the integration of factor resources,and comprehensively improve the total factor carbon efficiency;Third,we should give full play to the market integration system,create a win-win situation for the economy and environment,and take into account the two-way goal of environmental development and economic growth.