ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Environmental Economics and Management
This article is part of the Research TopicNavigating Socioeconomic Complexities in the Global Energy TransitionView all 12 articles
Innovative Policy Synergies Driving Inclusive Green Growth:Causal Inference Based on Double Machine Learning
Provisionally accepted
- 1Shandong University of Technology, Zibo, China
- 2Weifang University of Science and Technology, Weifang, China
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Utilizing a double machine learning model and panel data from 266 prefecture-level cities spanning 2006–2022, this study investigates the indirect transmission methods and impact effects of the “dual pilot” program—combining innovative city and national independent innovation demonstration zone initiatives—on inclusive green growth. The analysis is grounded in the Technology-Organization-Environment framework and investigates the policy’s heterogeneous effects across urban dimensions of location, characteristics, and scale, consistent with TOE theory. The results show that: (1) The “dual pilot” policy greatly encourages inclusive green growth and has a synergistic effect larger than the sum of its parts; this conclusion is supported by a number of reliability tests; (2) The mechanism tests indicate that the “dual pilot” policy can indirectly promote inclusive green growth by increasing R&D investment and facilitating the diffusion of technological innovation at the technological level, advancing the structure of human capital and upgrading the industrial structure at the organizational level, and strengthening both formal and informal environmental regulations at the environmental level; (3) Heterogeneity analysis shows that the policy’s positive impact on inclusive green growth is more pronounced in eastern cities, non-resource-based cities, and major-sized cities. This research broadens the perspective on how innovative city and national independent innovation demonstration zone development contributes to inclusive green growth, providing empirical evidence and practical insights for promoting such growth.
Keywords: Double machine learning, Inclusive green growth, innovative city pilot, national independent innovation demonstration zone, Policy effect
Received: 30 Oct 2025; Accepted: 29 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Liu, Kang and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Min Kang
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