Spatial spillover effects of carbon trading pilot policies on regional energy consumption structure optimization

Using panel data covering 30 provinces and cities in China between 2009 and 2019, this study provides an in-depth analysis of the spatial spillover effects of carbon trading pilot regions in promoting the optimization of energy consumption structure. Through the test of the spatial econometric model, it is found that the carbon trading pilot policy exhibits obvious spatial positive autocorrelation, which positively promotes the optimization of the energy consumption structure of the neighboring non-pilot regions. This positive impact also has a time lag characteristic, i.e., its effect on the optimization of the energy consumption structure of the neighboring regions gradually appears in the two years after the implementation of the policy. From a geographical perspective, the central region is the only region that shows a significant positive spillover effect.