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eISSN: 2083-5906
ISSN: 1230-1485
ISSN: 1230-1485
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Research on the Precedent Configuration of
Chinese Provincial Low-Carbon Innovation
Based on the Innovation Ecosystem Theory
1
College of Economics and Management, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
Submission date: 2024-11-17
Final revision date: 2025-09-21
Acceptance date: 2025-11-02
Online publication date: 2026-07-16
Corresponding author
Yating Zhang
College of Economics and Management, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
College of Economics and Management, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Achieving low-carbon innovation under the “dual-carbon” goal has become a pressing issue.
Based on the innovation ecosystem theory, this study uses a sample of 30 provinces in the Chinese
mainland and employs fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to examine the complex
causal mechanism of seven factors affecting low-carbon innovation, namely, market innovation
subjects, R&D innovation subjects, human resources, financial resources, information resources, market
orientation, and government support. The results show that no single factor qualifies as a necessary
condition for high provincial low-carbon innovation. Five configurations generate high provincial lowcarbon
innovation, and three configurations generate non-high provincial low-carbon innovation. There
is an asymmetric causality relationship between the configurations that generate high and non-high
provincial low-carbon innovation. This study provides a new perspective for the research on low-carbon
innovation and insights for achieving provincial low-carbon innovation.
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.
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| ISSN: | 1230-1485 |
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