China’s Urbanization And Total-factor Energy Efficiency In The Presence Of Environmental Regulation

Urbanization is the only way for China to achieve modernization.The report of the 19 th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that it is necessary to build an urban structure in which large,medium,and small cities and small towns coordinate development with the urban agglomeration as the main body,accelerate the urbanization of agricultural transfer population,and further clarify the strategic requirements for deepening the new pilot project of urbanization.However,with the continuous advancement of urbanization,China’s energy consumption demand and environmental pollution problems have become increasingly prominent.In the context of actively promoting energy conservation and emission reduction and developing China’s low carbon economy,how to improve energy efficiency is an important way for us to solve problems.And finding ways to improve energy efficiency from the perspective of urbanization is a key research perspective.Therefore,this paper uses the RAM model to calculate the total factor energy efficiency of 266 cities in China during the period of 2002-2012 in the presence of environmental regulation.The nighttime lighting data is used to construct the urbanization index.On this basis,the impact of urbanization on energy efficiency is studied.And from the empirical point of view,the mechanism of action is deeply analyzed.The results show that during the study period,the energy efficiency of all regions in China has been improved,but there are significant regional differences.The energy efficiency and urbanization level both show decreasing trends in the order of the eastern,western and eastern regions.There is a threshold effect between urbanization and energy efficiency.In the first stage,urbanization decreases energy efficiency,but in the second stage,urbanization increases energy efficiency.From the perspective of the mechanism,urbanization reduces energy efficiency through changes in construction,transportation and residents’ lifestyles,and promotes energy efficiency through industrial upgrading.The above research conclusions provide a decision-making reference for China to continuously improve energy-related policies in the process of urbanization.The conclusions can promote organic coordination between urbanization and energy consumption,thereby continuously improving energy efficiency and alleviating energy shortages and environmental pollution.