The influence of the manufacturing agglomeration heterogeneity on the green economic efficiency in China

Manufacturing is the major force driving the development of the real economy, and improving the green economic efficiency is crucial to the development of the green economy. In this paper, the green economic efficiency of various provinces and cities in China during 2008-2020 was firstly calculated using the non-radial directional distance function. Subsequently, the influence of different manufacturing agglomerations on green economic efficiency was studied using panel model and dynamic panel model. The transmission path of green economic efficiency with economic growth level and energy consumption level as the media was further analyzed. The results show that all the three intensive manufacturing agglomerations promote economic growth, thus having a positive indirect effect on green economic efficiency. Nevertheless, labor-intensive manufacturing agglomeration increases the energy consumption intensity, thus leading to a negative indirect effect on green economic efficiency. Capital-intensive manufacturing agglomeration and technology-intensive manufacturing agglomeration reduce the energy consumption intensity, thereby having a positive indirect effect on green economic efficiency. Finally, corresponding policy recommendations were provided based on the above conclusions.