Inter-provincial carbon emission spatial network characteristics and influencing mechanisms in China
GAO Yuliang
Abstract：Against the backdrop of global climate change and the carbon neutrality initiative,increasing attention has been paid to the spatial linkages of inter-provincial carbon emissions.This study constructs the spatial correlation network of China's inter-provincial carbon emissions from 2011 to 2021 using a gravity model,and examines both the overall-individual and regional-local network characteristics through social network analysis(SNA).Furthermore,the exponential random graph model(ERGM)is employed to explore the evolutionary dynamics of the carbon emission spatial network.The results reveal that China's inter-provincial carbon emission network has become increasingly interconnected,with an overall expansion in network scale.Core provinces such as Hebei,Jiangsu,Shandong,Hubei,and Henan play pivotal roles in regional carbon emission linkages.The southeastern coastal region constitutes a net-spillover cluster,the northern region forms a bidirectional spillover cluster,the central region functions as a broker cluster,while the western region constitutes a net-inflow cluster.The evolution of the spatial carbon emission network has gradually shifted from a chain-driven to a closure-driven structure.Empirical evidence further indicates that industrial upgrading,economic development,openness to the outside world,environmental regulation,and path dependence in the process of network formation are the key driving factors shaping the carbon emission network.
Keywords：carbon emission networkspatial carbon linkagessocial network analysis(SNA)network structural characteristicsinfluencing mechanismsexponential random graph model(ERGM)
Publication Date：2025-12-28
Online Publishing Date：2026-01-30(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：11( 152-162 )