ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Institutional Configuration Study of Urban
Green Economic Efficiency – Analysis
Based on fsQCA and NCA
More details
Hide details
1
School of Business, Jiangsu Ocean University, Lianyungang, China
2
Graduate Business School, UCSI University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Submission date: 2024-02-24
Final revision date: 2024-03-17
Acceptance date: 2024-04-13
Online publication date: 2024-07-30
Publication date: 2025-01-09
Corresponding author
Bing He
School of Business, Jiangsu Ocean University, Lianyungang, China
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2025;34(2):1457-1467
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Since there is a lot of discussion and attention focused on green economic efficiency, the central
government has prioritized the sustainable development of the urban economy. Utilizing the fuzzy set
qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) and necessary condition analysis (NCA) methodologies based
on sample data from 276 Chinese cities in 2021, this study examines the institutional configurations
that influence urban green economic efficiency. The findings show that environmental regulations,
environmental subsidies, green credit, the green equity market, and the level of enterprise intelligence
cannot individually constitute the required conditions for determining urban green economic efficiency.
However, they form four institutional configurations that enable cities to attain high levels of green
economic efficiency. The study provides useful insights for sustainable development by thoroughly
revealing the intricate causal links between numerous institutional aspects and urban green economic
efficiency.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
REFERENCES (45)
1.
FAROOQ M.U., SHAHZAD U., SARWAR S., LI Z.J. The impact of carbon emission and forest activities on health outcomes: empirical evidence from China. *Environmental Science and Pollution Research*, 26 (13), 12894, 2019. <
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356...> PMid:30888615.
2.
HE B., YU X.X., HO S.E., ZHANG X.Y., XU D. Does China's Two‑Way FDI Coordination Improve Its Green Total Factor Productivity? *Polish Journal of Environmental Studies*, 33 (1), 173, 2024. <
https://doi.org/10.15244/pjoes...> PMid:11301846.
3.
SHAO Q.L. Paving ways for a sustainable future: a literature review. *Environmental Science and Pollution Research*, 27, 13032, 2020. <
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356...> PMid:32141001.
4.
LUO K., LIU Y., CHEN P.F., ZENG M. Assessing the impact of digital economy on green development efficiency in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. *Energy Economics*, 112, 106127, 2022. <
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enec...>.
5.
FUKUYAMA H., WEBER W\.L. A directional slacks‑based measure of technical inefficiency. *Socio‑Economic Planning Sciences*, 43 (4), 274, 2009. <
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seps...>.
6.
ZHANG J. Estimation of China's provincial capital stock (1952–2004) with applications. *Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies*, 6 (2), 177, 2008. <
https://doi.org/10.1080/147652...>.
7.
REZA‑GHAREHBAGH R., HAFEZALKOTOB A., MAKUI A., SAYADI M.K. Financing green technology development and role of digital platforms: Insourcing vs. outsourcing. *Technology in Society*, 69, 101967, 2022. <
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tech...>.
8.
JIANG Q., LI J., SI H., SU Y. The Impact of the Digital Economy on Agricultural Green Development: Evidence from China. *Agriculture*, 12 (8), 1107, 2022. <
https://doi.org/10.3390/agricu...>.
9.
ISHIDA H. The effect of ICT development on economic growth and energy consumption in Japan. *Telematics and Informatics*, 32 (1), 79, 2015. <
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele...>.
10.
GUAITA MARTÍNEZ J.M., PUERTAS R., MARTÍN MARTÍN J.M., RIBEIRO‑SORIANO D. Digitalization, innovation and environmental policies aimed at achieving sustainable production. *Sustainable Production and Consumption*, 32, 92, 2022. <
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc....>.
11.
LV C., FAN J., LEE C.C. Can green credit policies improve corporate green production efficiency? *Journal of Cleaner Production*, 397, 136573, 2023. <
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcle...>.
12.
WANG Y., LEI X., LONG R., ZHAO J. Green Credit, Financial Constraint, and Capital Investment: Evidence from China's energy‑intensive enterprises. *Environmental Management*, 66 (6), 1059, 2020. <
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267...> PMid:32793991.
13.
SU X., PAN C., ZHOU S., ZHONG X. Threshold effect of green credit on firms' green technology innovation: Is environmental information disclosure important? *Journal of Cleaner Production*, 380, 134945, 2022. <
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcle...>.
14.
ZHANG M., LI X., PAI C.H., DING H., ZHANG X. Green credit and fossil fuel resource efficiency: Advancing sustainability in Asia. *Resources Policy*, 86, 104204, 2023. <
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.reso...>.
15.
KONG F., WANG Y. How to understand carbon neutrality in the context of climate change? With special reference to China. *Sustainable Environment*, 8 (1), 2022. <
https://doi.org/10.1080/276585...>.
16.
KURNIAWAN T.A., LIANG X., O'CALLAGHAN E., GOH H., OTHMAN M.H.D., AVTAR R., KUSWORO T.D. Transformation of Solid Waste Management in China: Moving towards Sustainability through Digitalization‑Based Circular Economy. *Sustainability*, 14 (4), 2374, 2022. <
https://doi.org/10.3390/su1404...>.
17.
JIANG Y., NI H., NI Y., GUO X. Assessing environmental, social, and governance performance and natural resource management policies in China's dual carbon era. *Resources Policy*, 85, 104050, 2023. <
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.reso...>.
18.
XIONG W., JIANG M., TASHKHODJAEV M., PASHAYEV Z. Greening the economic recovery: Natural resource market efficiency as a key driver. *Resources Policy*, 86, 104268, 2023. <
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.reso...>.
20.
VIS B., DUL J. Analyzing Relationships of Necessity Not Just in Kind But Also in Degree. *Sociological Methods & Research*, 47 (4), 872, 2016. <
https://doi.org/10.1177/004912...> PMid:30443090 PMCid:PMC6195096.
21.
World Investment Report 2018. UNCTAD, 2018.
22.
ZHENG Y., LI C., LIU Y. Impact of environmental regulations on SME innovation: Evidence from China. *Environmental Technology & Innovation*, 22, 101515, 2021. <
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eti....>.
23.
SHAO Y., CHEN Z. Can government subsidies promote green technology innovation transformation? Evidence from Chinese listed companies. *Economic Analysis and Policy*, 74, 716, 2022. <
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eap....>.
24.
DONG Z., HE Y., WANG H., WANG L. Is there a ripple effect in environmental regulation in China? Evidence from local‑neighborhood green technology innovation. *Ecological Indicators*, 118, 106773, 2020. <
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecol...>.
25.
SHUAI S., FAN Z. Modeling the role of environmental regulations in China's green economy efficiency: Evidence from super‑efficiency DEA‑Tobit. *Journal of Environmental Management*, 261, 110227, 2020. <
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenv...> PMid:32148297.
27.
AMBEC S., COHEN M.A., ELGIE S., LANOIE P. The Porter Hypothesis at 20: Can Environmental Regulation Enhance Innovation and Competitiveness? *Review of Environmental Economics and Policy*, 7 (1), 2, 2013. <
https://doi.org/10.1093/reep/r...> PMCid:PMC7450147.
28.
FAROOQ U., WEN J., TABASH M.I., FADOUL M. Environmental regulations and capital investment: Does green innovation allow to grow? *International Review of Economics & Finance*, 89, 878, 2024. <
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iref...>.
29.
HUANG Z., LIAO G., LI Z. Loaning scale and government subsidy for promoting green innovation. *Technological Forecasting and Social Change*, 144, 148, 2019. <
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tech...>.
30.
PLANK J., DOBLINGER C. The firm-level innovation impact of public R\&D funding: Evidence from the German renewable energy sector. *Energy Policy*, 113, 430, 2018. <
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpo...>.
31.
DUQUE‐GRISALES E., AGUILERA‐CARACUEL J., GUERRERO‐VILLEGAS J., GARCÍA‐SÁNCHEZ E. Does green innovation affect the financial performance of Multilatinas? The moderating role of ISO 14001 and R\&D investment. *Business Strategy and the Environment*, 29 (8), 3286, 2020. <
https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.25...>.
32.
THOMPSON P., COWTON C.J. Bringing the environment into bank lending: implications for environmental reporting. *The British Accounting Review*, 36 (2), 197, 2004. <
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bar....>.
33.
JEUCKEN M. *Sustainable Finance and Banking: The Financial Sector and the Future of the Planet*. Earthscan Publications Ltd., London, 2001.
34.
HE L., ZHANG L., ZHONG Z., WANG D., WANG F. Green credit, renewable energy investment and green economy development: Empirical analysis based on 150 listed companies of China. *Journal of Cleaner Production*, 208, 363, 2019. <
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcle...>.
35.
HARIHARAN D., REDDY D. Impact of Waste Management Policies and Use of Green Energy Sources to Reduce Environmental Pollution in the Global Business Market Atmosphere. *Technoarete Transactions on Renewable Energy, Green Energy and Sustainability*, 2 (2), 2022. <
https://doi.org/10.36647/TTREG...>.
37.
NAMBISAN S., LYYTINEN K., MAJCHRZAK A., SONG M. Digital Innovation Management: Reinventing Innovation Management Research in a Digital World. *MIS Quarterly*, 41 (1), 223, 2017. <
https://doi.org/10.25300/MISQ/...>.
38.
LYU W., LIU J. Artificial Intelligence and emerging digital technologies in the energy sector. *Applied Energy*, 303, 117615, 2021. <
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apen...>.
39.
HUTCHINSON P. Reinventing Innovation Management: The Impact of Self‑Innovating Artificial Intelligence. *IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management*, 68 (2), 628, 2021. <
https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.20...>.
40.
POPKOVA E.G., INSHAKOVA A.O., BOGOVIZ A.V., LOBOVA S.V. Energy Efficiency and Pollution Control Through ICTs for Sustainable Development. *Frontiers in Energy Research*, 9, 2021. <
https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg....>.
42.
FISS P.C. Building Better Causal Theories: A Fuzzy Set Approach to Typologies in Organization Research. *Academy of Management Journal*, 54 (2), 393, 2011. <
https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.20...> PMCid:PMC11676925.
43.
TONE K. A slacks-based measure of efficiency in data envelopment analysis. *European Journal of Operational Research*, 130 (3), 498, 2001. <
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0377-...>.
44.
CRILLY D., ZOLLO M., HANSEN M.T. Faking It or Muddling Through? Understanding Decoupling in Response to Stakeholder Pressures. *Academy of Management Journal*, 55 (6), 1429, 2012. <
https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.20...>.
45.
GRECKHAMER T., FURNARI S., FISS P.C., AGUILERA R.V. Studying configurations with qualitative comparative analysis: Best practices in strategy and organization research. *Strategic Organization*, 16 (4), 482, 2018. <
https://doi.org/10.1177/147612...>.