Does Technological Innovation Curb O(3) Pollution? Evidence from Three Major Regions in China

At the end of 2020, when China’s three-year Blue Sky Protection Campaign was successfully concluded, the main pollutants, led by O(3), increased instead of decreasing, creating a new air pollution problem. In this paper, the impact of the technological innovation level on O(3) pollution and its inter-regional differences across three major regions from 2014 to 2019 are studied using the dynamic spatial Durbin model. Generally, in terms of ozone pollution showing significant spatial correlation, technological innovations in China are still not effective in curbing ozone pollution. Furthermore, technological innovation is a key factor affecting ozone pollution, and it is heterogeneous, demonstrating that the impact of technological innovation on O(3) pollution is different among regions. Technological innovation in Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei significantly reduces local O(3) pollution with spillover, while technological innovation in the Yangtze River Delta instead significantly exacerbates local O(3) pollution, and the impact of technological innovation on O(3) pollution in the Fenwei Plain is not significant. Third, other factors in O(3) pollution also differ between regions, with the number of cars and the amount of foreign capital actually utilized being the main factors. Therefore, we should pay attention to the spillover of O(3) pollution and technological innovation and strengthen regional cooperation according to our own characteristics to effectively suppress O(3) pollution. Finally, the findings of this paper are representative, which provides a possible reference for other similar national or regional studies.