Is Improvement of Innovation Efficiency Conducive to Haze Governance? Empirical Evidence from 283 Chinese Cities

In recent years, haze pollution has had a wide impact in China. This research systematically studies the influence mechanism of haze pollution from a new perspective of urban innovation efficiency. We use a generalised space two-stage least squares method to analyse the correlation between urban innovation efficiency and haze pollution. The periodic and regional influences of urban innovation efficiency on haze pollution is explored using a threshold regression model. Through the mediating effect model, we accurately identify the transmission mechanism of urban innovation efficiency affecting haze pollution. The results show a significant inverted ‘U’ relationship between improvement of urban innovation efficiency and haze pollution. The regional innovation activities of innovative cities differ greatly from those of non-innovative cities. The effect of innovation efficiency improvement in innovative cities on haze governance is better than that of non-innovative pilot cities. In eastern cities with a higher level of economic development, the improvement of innovation efficiency has a stronger impact on haze governance. Industrial structure and population agglomeration have a mediating effect on the impact of urban innovation efficiency on haze pollution, providing directions for the rational formulation and effective implementation of haze governance policies in China, as well as in other countries.