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Exploring the causal relationship between carbon emissions and land urbanization quality in China using a panel data analysis

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Abstract

Land use and carbon emissions have long been a heated topic in China as well as developing countries. This paper contributes to the study of the related area as to investigate the causal relationship between the land urbanization quality and carbon emissions using panel data from 30 provinces in China over the period of 2004–2013. The empirical results show that: There exists bidirectional causality between land urbanization quality and carbon emissions across the country; land urbanization quality has negative effects on carbon emissions in all areas, with its effects largest in the Central region, followed by the Eastern, and the Western ranked at last; causal relationship exists in all regions, in addition to Eastern China; Central region has the highest potential of energy conservation. These findings provide new insights and valuable information for optimizing land use and urban development in China. In particular, to actively adjust the industrial structure, innovation in science and technology, and separate policy focus can contribute to energy conservation and urban land use.

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Acknowledgments

Authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support by National Science Foundation of China (Grants: 71203157 and 71203156).

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  1. School of Management and Economics, Tianjin University, No. 92 Weijin Road, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China

    Wenjing Zhang & Hengzhou Xu

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Correspondence to Wenjing Zhang.

Appendix

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Table 9 Evaluation results of land urbanization quality in China
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Zhang, W., Xu, H. Exploring the causal relationship between carbon emissions and land urbanization quality in China using a panel data analysis. Environ Dev Sustain 19, 1445–1462 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-016-9813-8

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