Table 2.
Definition of variables.
| Variables | Name | Measurement | Unit | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Explanatory | Carbon | Ln (total regional carbon emissions/GDP) | billion tons/million dollars | Zhang et al.12 |
| Core explanatory | DID | 0–1 variable, assigned a value of 1 if the city is a pilot area, in 2017 and beyond, and 0 otherwise | – | Li et al.22 |
| Intermediary | Greeinn_qua | Ln (number of patent applications for green inventions + 1) | – | Wang et al.35 |
| Greeinn_num | Ln (number of green utility patent applications + 1) | – | ||
| Greeinn_tot | Ln(number of green invention patent applications + number of green utility model patent applications + 1) | – | ||
| Str | Tertiary sector output/secondary sector output by region | – | Wang et al.13 | |
| Controls | Ind | Gross industrial output/GDP | – | Zhang12 |
| Fin | Year-end loan balances of financial institutions/GDP by region | – | Zhao55 | |
| Eco | Total retail sales of consumer goods/GDP | – | Li et al.22 | |
| DEco | GDP/land area of administrative regions | million/km2 | Zhang12 | |
| Gov | Regional revenues/GDP | – | Han54 | |
| SGov | Local general public budget revenue/local general public budget expenditure | – | Zhang12 | |
| Pop | Total population of the region/land area of the administrative region | persons/km 2 | Li et al.22 | |
| Edu | Number of students enrolled in general undergraduate programs/total population of the region | – | Zhang12 |