The urban‒rural income gap, green innovation and urban carbon emissions: An empirical study in the Yangtze River Delta, China

The simultaneous achievement of reducing income inequality and carbon emissions is of great practical importance for developing countries. Based on panel data in the Yangtze River Delta of China, this study quantitatively explores the effect of the urban‒rural income gap on carbon emissions and its underlying mechanism. The results indicate that the widening urban‒rural income gap significantly increased carbon emissions, and this effect exhibited significant spatiotemporal heterogeneity. An increase in the urban‒rural income gap leads to an increase in carbon emissions by inhibiting green innovation, but the effects of different innovation behaviors exhibit notable differences. In addition, both marketization and government behavior have substitution effects with the urban‒rural income gap in affecting carbon emissions. These findings provide new explanations for the relationship between income inequality and carbon emissions, and can support decision makers in the tasks of synergistically narrowing income inequality and overcoming environmental challenges during economic growth. By ensuring reasonable cooperation between an efficient market and a well-functioning government, developing countries can establish a balance between fairness and efficiency in the context of high-quality green economic growth.