| Abstract |
In recent years, a great deal of research has been done on how smart cities affect pollution. However, nothing is understood about how smart city affect energy efficiency. Based on China's 283 cities panel dataset from 2003-2019, the impact, spatial effects, and mechanisms of smart city projects (SCP) on green total factor energy ef-ficiency (GTFEE) are empirically tested employing the multi-phase and spatial difference-in-difference (DID) method. The results indicate that (1) SCP significantly improves urban GTFEE, a finding that remains valid after the instrumental variables approach and robustness tests. (2) In east-central cities, economically developed cities, medium-sized cities, and non-resource-based cities, SCP significantly affects GTFEE. (3) The SCP considerably raises the local GTFEE but also the GTFEE of the 900-kilometer radius around cities. (4) SCP can improve GTFEE by clean energy development, optimizing industrial structure, promoting green innovation, and resource allo-cation. In addition, energy saving, emission reduction, and production increase are also important impact channels. Finally, based on its findings, the study offers a reference for decision-making to support SCP devel-opment and urban energy efficiency improvement. |