THE POWER OF HONOUR: THE LONG-RUN IMPACT OF WINNING CHINA'S NATIONAL CIVILIZED CITY AWARD ON GREEN ENVIRONMENTAL GROWTH

The concept of ecological priority and green growth has become the consensus of civilized countries around the world. Based on both the "Two Mountains" theory and the theory of promotion tournament, this paper demonstrates the logic of how the national civilized city (NCC) selection affects green growth. Considering the variation of winning China's NCC award in different cities and years, this paper employs the time-varying difference-in-difference method to identify the causal effect of winning the NCC award on green total factor productivity (GTFP). The findings suggest that winning the title of NCC promotes the growth of GTFP, and the causal effect is transmitted through the investment in controlling environmental pollution by local governments. Further, both regional heterogeneity and dynamics of the causal effect are found. In the long run, the growing effect of GTFP by NCC award is increasing but merely significant in eastern cities and coastal ones, suggesting regional imbalances.