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Hu et al. Carbon Footprints 2024;3:16 https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/cf.2024.28 Page 9 of 16

Table 1. Benchmark results for the impact of industrial park construction on city carbon emissions
ETDZ EIDP LCIP
TREAT -1.1545*** -0.3949*** -0.4504***
(0.0576) (0.0450) (0.0499)
Energy efficiency -0.0193* -0.0193* -0.0193*
(0.0113) (0.0113) (0.0113)
Investment level 0.0189 0.0189 0.0189
(0.0310) (0.0310) (0.0310)
Population density 1.3754e-04** 1.3754e-04** 1.3754e-04**
(5.9951e-05) (5.9951e-05) (5.9951e-05)
Industrial development -0.1450*** -0.1450*** -0.1450***
(0.0292) (0.0292) (0.0292)
Economic level 0.0146*** 0.0146*** 0.0146***
(0.0036) (0.0036) (0.0036)
Constant 2.2756*** 1.5870*** 1.6425***
(0.1784) (0.1945) (0.1863)
N 4,284 4,284 4,284
City fixed effects Y Y Y
Time fixed effects Y Y Y
2
R 0.4986 0.4986 0.4986
*P < 0.1, **P < 0.05, ***P < 0.01. The values in parentheses are standard errors.

Table 2. Mediation effect model results of the impact of industrial park construction on city carbon emissions
ETDZ EIDP LCIP
IS EI IS EI IS EI
TREAT -0.093*** -0.058*** -0.484*** -0.056*** -0.229*** 0.074***
(0.023) (0.011) (0.032) (0.017) (0.027) (0.014)
Industrial structure 0.075*** 0.071*** 0.082***
(0.008) (0.008) (0.008)
N 4,284 4,284 4,284 4,284 4,284 4,284
CONTROL Y Y Y Y Y Y
City fixed effects Y Y Y Y Y Y
Time fixed effects Y Y Y Y Y Y
***P < 0.01. Values in parentheses are standard errors.

For ETDZs and EIDPs, the effects of industrial parks on city carbon intensity remain significantly negative
after including the mediator, suggesting that altering the industrial structure helps reduce carbon intensity.
For LCIPs, the coefficient turns positive, likely because industrial structure is not their primary channel of
reducing carbon intensity, and the short study period may not help capture their full impacts.

Effects on neighboring cities
Table 3 presents the impact of industrial parks on the carbon emissions of neighboring cities. The
regression coefficients reflect the relationships between the “nabour”, “park”, and “non” groups.

For ETDZs, the coefficients of the “nabour” and “park” groups are significantly negative, indicating that
ETDZs reduce carbon emissions in both the reference and neighboring cities, with a stronger effect for the
city where the park is located. In addition, ETDZs have stronger effects than EIDPs on reducing emissions
in cities where parks are located and in neighboring cities. For LCIPs, the coefficients are, however, positive,
possibly due to the short-term study period and the selection of cities for LCIP establishment.