Spatial Spillover Effect of Carbon Emissions and Its Influencing Factors in the Yellow River Basin

Abstract

The high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin is the focus of China’s development. A spatial lag model and a spatial error model were constructed. The mechanism of spatial spillover effects of economic growth, industrial structure, urbanization level on carbon emissions of all provinces in the Yellow River Basin were analyzed. The results show that: (1) There are obvious spatial spillover effects and spatial agglomeration characteristics of provincial carbon emissions. The carbon emissions of Shandong, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, Inner Mongolia, Sichuan show a high–high agglomeration feature, while the carbon emissions of Gansu, Qinghai and Ningxia show a low–low agglomeration feature. (2) The relationship between carbon emissions and economic growth in the whole Yellow River Basin shows a “U” shaped EKC curve, while the relationship between carbon emissions and economic growth in the Yangtze River Basin shows an inverted “U” shaped EKC curve, and the two aspects are in stark contrast. The population size, industrial structure and urbanization level can promote carbon emissions, while technology plays a role in curbing carbon emissions in the Yellow River Basin. The measures to reduce carbon emissions should be achieved in terms of regional joint prevention and control, transformation of economic growth, optimization of industrial structure, and strict implementation of differentiated emission reduction policies.