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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Environ. Econ.
Sec. Energy Economics
Volume 3 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/frevc.2024.1486650

Geographic Proximity to Local Governments and Corporate Energy Efficiency: Evidence from Chinese Industrial Enterprises

Provisionally accepted
Rui Zhang Rui Zhang *Kejin Ni Kejin Ni Lei Tan Lei Tan
  • Southeast University, Nanjing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This study examines the impact of geographic proximity to local environmental protection agencies (EPAs) on firms' energy efficiency. By analyzing energy consumption and geographic data of Chinese industrial firms, we find that firms located closer to EPAs have higher energy efficiency. The underlying mechanism is that proximity increases environmental pressure on firms, leading to greater investments in green innovation, which in turn improves energy efficiency, consistent with the Porter hypothesis. Moreover, this positive effect is most significant within a 60-kilometer radius, beyond which the influence diminishes. Heterogeneity analysis shows that this effect is stronger for private and mixed-ownership firms, while it is less pronounced for state-owned and multinational firms. This study provides insights into the nuanced interactions between geographic proximity, regulatory frameworks, green innovation, and corporate energy efficiency.

    Keywords: energy efficiency, regulation, geographic proximity, green innovation, GTFEE

    Received: 26 Aug 2024; Accepted: 13 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zhang, Ni and Tan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Rui Zhang, Southeast University, Nanjing, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.