Influence of Clean Energy and Financial Structure on China’s Provincial Carbon Emission Efficiency—Empirical Analysis Based on Spatial Spillover Effects

Abstract

Clean energy is an essential means to limiting carbon emissions and improving economic transformation, and a market-oriented financial structure is the inevitable result of the deepening of supply-side financial reforms. Exploring whether clean energy enhances carbon emission efficiency (CEE) through financial structural adjustment is essential in formulating policies intended to achieve the dual goals of “carbon peaking” and “carbon neutrality”. As part of the evaluation of China’s provincial CEE using panel data of 30 provinces from 2000 to 2019, this paper adopts an improved nonradial directional distance function (NDDF), while empirically analyzing the influence of clean energy and a market-oriented financial structure on CEE using a spatial econometric model. The results indicate the following findings: (1) The provincial CEE in China is characterized by significant spatial autocorrelation. (2) A 1% increase in the integration of clean energy and a market-oriented financial structure leads to a 0.0032% increase in the local CEE and a 0.0076% increase in neighboring regions’ CEE through the spatial spillover effect. Clean energy can efficiently enhance CEE through the stock market, while it has a passive impact through bank credit. (3) The interactive effect between clean energy and a market-oriented financial structure varies according to the provincial CEE. From the 25th to the 90th quantiles, the role of clean energy in promoting CEE through the capital market is very significant, while clean energy inhibits CEE through bank credit in most provinces. Therefore, China’s clean energy development will bolster its competitiveness in the global market through a market-oriented financial structure that will bring economic development and environmental pollution into balance and provide a theoretical foundation for China’s double carbon reduction.