Government environmental attention supports green technology innovation in Chinese cities

Using city-level data from China (2004–2020) and textual analysis of 297 government work reports, the study finds that greater government environmental attention is associated with increased green technology innovation, with stronger effects in coastal, economically advanced, and highly industrialised areas.

This preprint examines how government environmental attention (GEA) relates to green technology innovation (GTI) at the city level in China. The authors use city-level panel data from 2004 to 2020 and apply textual analysis to 297 government work reports to construct novel indicators for GEA and GTI. The analysis reports that greater GEA is associated with higher levels of GTI and that the results remain after tests for endogeneity and robustness. The paper notes stronger effects in coastal cities, economically advanced regions, and areas with high industrial agglomeration, and it identifies easing financing constraints and industrial structure upgrading as possible channels. Key points: - Data: city-level panel from 2004–2020 and textual analysis of 297 government work reports. - Main result: higher government environmental attention is associated with increased green technology innovation. - Heterogeneity: the positive association is stronger in coastal cities, economically advanced regions, and areas with high industrial agglomeration. - Mechanisms reported: easing financing constraints and promoting industrial structure upgrading. - Status: the manuscript is an unedited preprint and will undergo further editing before final publication. Summary: The study indicates that local government emphasis on environmental issues can be linked to greater green technology innovation, particularly in certain regional contexts. The manuscript is an early, unedited version and will undergo further editing before final publication.