The Influence of Trade and Foreign Direct Investment on Green Total Factor Productivity: Evidence from China and Korea

Purpose - This paper intends to conduct theoretical analysis and empirical test on the action mechanism of South Korea-China trade and South Korea's FDI to China on green total factor productivity, so as to provide a new perspective and ideas for the improvement of China's green total factor productivity and promote the high-quality development of China's economy Design/methodology - This paper uses the data of 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in China from 2004 to 2017 as the research sample, adopts the GML index method of SBM Directional Distance Function to measure GTFP, and analyzes the influence of South Korea-China trade and FDI from South Korea on China's GTFP. Findings - Trade is conducive to promoting technological progress, which has a significant promotion effect on China's green total factor productivity. While FDI has a significant inhibitory effect on China's green total factor productivity, which verifies the "pollution haven" hypothesis. In addition, such influence has certain regional overall heterogeneity. Trade has a more significant promoting effect on GTFP in eastern coastal areas, while FDI has a more significant inhibitory effect on GTFP in central and western inland areas. The interaction between trade and FDI is conducive to the improvement of green total factor productivity, indicating that the benign mechanism of trade and FDI has been formed. Urbanization, industrial structure, human resource level and investment in science and technology are all conducive to the improvement of GTFP. Originality/value - Through theoretical analysis and empirical test on the action mechanism of South Korea-China trade and South Korea's FDI on green total factor productivity, this paper provides a solid theoretical foundation for the further development of China-South Korea economic and trade cooperation in the future.