The Impact Of Government Environmental Regulation On Urban Innovation

At present,China is in a critical period of economic transformation.Severe ecological problems have become a major obstacle to economic growth and social development.China is constantly exploring a new path for the harmonious development of economy and environment.It is determined to change the previous driving force of labor and energy resources and replace it with the driving force of scientific and technological innovation.Adhering to the concept of green development,government environmental regulation not only provides institutional guarantee for the co frequency resonance of urban economic development and environmental protection,but also "step on the accelerator" for the transformation of cities to innovation driven cities.Based on the existing theories,this paper analyzes the level of technological innovation,urban innovation and the status quo of environmental control in China.Based on the panel data of 267 cities in China from 2003 to 2015,the variables of economic development level,industrialization degree and foreign direct investment are selected as control variables.The paper constructs the two-way fixed effect model PSM-DID model and the intermediary effect model,and empirically discusses the impact of low-carbon city pilot policies on the level of urban innovation.Furthermore,the heterogeneity of policy effects and the mechanism of intermediate impact have been discussed.The results show that the low-carbon city pilot policy significantly improves the level of urban innovation,and the results are still robust after a series of robustness tests;heterogeneity analysis shows that the effect of low-carbon city pilot policy exists location heterogeneity,among which the Eastern pilot city policy has the best effect,with the increase of city size,the effect of low-carbon city pilot policy to promote urban innovation is weakened;The intermediary-effect mechanism testing results show that low carbon city pilot policy can promote the upgrading of industrial structure,increase financial support and human capital,and then have a positive impact on urban innovation.Therefore,it is necessary to adhere to the principle of adjusting measures to local conditions and diversified development strategy,increase the input of knowledge,skills and other factors and financial support in science and technology,and attach importance to the cultivation of scientific and technological talents,to finally realize the effective drive of the pilot policy of low-carbon cities.