Energy Technology Progress and Regional Specialization: From the Perspective of UHV Transmission Project
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Abstract Based on data from 285 prefecture-level cities in China from 2003 to 2020, this paper focuses on the impact and mechanisms of energy technology progress on regional specialization, using UHV transmission projects as the starting point. The empirical results show that the progress of energy technology represented by UHV transmission technology has significantly improved the level of regional specialization in China. Specifically, cities without ultra-high voltage transmission projects experienced an approximate 1.09% increase in the level of specialization when compared to cities equipped with such projects. Furthermore, this effect is stronger in small and medium-sized cities, resource-rich cities, and inland regions. And the results remain robust after accounting for sample selection bias, base period division levels, adjusting for indicator measures, excluding extreme values, and placebo tests and propensity score matching. Further mechanistic analysis indicate that the energy technology progress characterized by the construction of UHV promotes regional specialization by stimulating the comparative advantage of resource endowments and the agglomeration effect of production. This paper argues that it is of great significance to promote regional coordinated development to continue to expand the scale of UHV transmission, reasonably implement regional specialization, exchange needed goods and learn from each other’s strong points to make up for their weaknesses.
WEI Shouhua,QIAN Feifei. Energy Technology Progress and Regional Specialization: From the Perspective of UHV Transmission Project. Economic Survey, 2024, 41(1): 030.
2024, Vol. 41 
