The impact of National Forest City Construction on local employment: Evidence from China

IF 4 2区农林科学 Q1 ECONOMICS

Forest Policy and Economics Pub Date : 2025-01-10 DOI:10.1016/j.forpol.2024.103421

Jingqi Dang , Jingru Wang , Bingqian Tu

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

The National Forest City Construction (NFCC) initiative aims to improve regional greening levels, optimize ecosystem services, and achieve sustainable development. This policy serves as a key measure to promote eco-friendly urbanization and facilitate coordinated economic development in both urban and rural areas through green transitions. As a comprehensive ecological initiative, the NFCC stimulates local employment through various unexpected channels. This study examines the employment effects of the NFCC using a staggered difference-in-differences (DID) approach, analyzing a panel dataset of 289 prefectures in China from 2002 to 2019. We find that the NFCC increased local employment by an average of 7.08 % in prefectures adopting the policy compared to those without implementation. The policy promotes employment through several mechanisms: (1) stimulating growth in forest-related industries and enhancing business performance, (2) improving the ecological environment to generate indirect job opportunities, and (3) promoting local infrastructure development, which creates additional jobs and attracts skilled workers. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that NFCC benefits extend beyond the primary sector, driving employment growth in manufacturing and service sectors, particularly among private and self-employed workers in forest-rich regions. These findings demonstrate the potential of government-led green initiatives to foster flexible employment opportunities and address job losses in traditional sectors. To maximize long-term benefits, we recommend targeted investments in vocational training and workforce development to align with the demands of the green economy.

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国家森林城市建设对地方就业的影响：来自中国的证据

国家森林城市建设（NFCC）旨在提高区域绿化水平，优化生态系统服务，实现可持续发展。这一政策是推进生态城镇化，通过绿色转型促进城乡经济协调发展的重要举措。作为一项综合性的生态倡议，NFCC通过各种意想不到的渠道刺激当地就业。本研究采用交错差中差（DID）方法，分析了2002年至2019年中国289个地级市的面板数据集，考察了NFCC对就业的影响。我们发现，与没有实施该政策的地区相比，NFCC在实施该政策的地区平均增加了7.08%的当地就业。该政策通过以下几个机制促进就业：(1)刺激森林相关产业的增长并提高企业绩效；(2)改善生态环境以创造间接就业机会；(3)促进当地基础设施的发展，从而创造额外的就业机会并吸引技术工人。异质性分析表明，NFCC的好处超出了第一部门，推动了制造业和服务业的就业增长，特别是在森林丰富地区的私营和自营职业者中。这些发现表明，政府主导的绿色倡议在促进灵活就业机会和解决传统行业失业问题方面具有潜力。为了使长期效益最大化，我们建议在职业培训和劳动力发展方面进行有针对性的投资，以满足绿色经济的需求。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Forest Policy and Economics 农林科学-林学

CiteScore

9.00

自引率

7.50%

发文量

148

审稿时长

21.9 weeks

期刊介绍： Forest Policy and Economics is a leading scientific journal that publishes peer-reviewed policy and economics research relating to forests, forested landscapes, forest-related industries, and other forest-relevant land uses. It also welcomes contributions from other social sciences and humanities perspectives that make clear theoretical, conceptual and methodological contributions to the existing state-of-the-art literature on forests and related land use systems. These disciplines include, but are not limited to, sociology, anthropology, human geography, history, jurisprudence, planning, development studies, and psychology research on forests. Forest Policy and Economics is global in scope and publishes multiple article types of high scientific standard. Acceptance for publication is subject to a double-blind peer-review process.