Energy Implication of Industrial Parks : Empirical Evidence from the Prefecture-Level Cities in China

As an especial location environment established by the government to facilitate industrial development and local economy, whether industrial parks could generate an energy effect? Based on the panel data of 279 prefecture-level cities in China from 2000 to 2018, our study evaluates the impact of industrial parks on energy consumption by using the difference-in-difference (DID) method. The results show that the establishment of industrial parks has exerted a significant and positive effect on local energy demand by increasing the quantity of enterprises and their output. The energy effect of industrial parks has shown heterogeneity in two aspects. First, only the parks with dominant industries being technological complex exert a significant impact. Second, only the parks locate in the non-resource-dependent cities exert a positive effect. Our study is conducive to understanding of the role of industrial parks in sustainability of local economy from an energy perspective