Impact of environmental regulation intensity on green innovation efficiency in the Yellow River Basin, China

In this paper, a model for the slacks-based measure of super-efficiency in data envelopment analysis (SBM-DEA) was used to measure the green innovation efficiency (GIE) of 79 cities in the Yellow River Basin (YRB) from 2003 to 2018. In addition, the panel threshold model was employed to test the nonlinear relationship between environmental regulation intensity (ERI) and GIE. According to the results, the average GIE in the YRB was 0.68. However, the GIE exhibited a rising and fluctuating temporal trend and the following spatial trend: “lower reaches > upper reaches > middle reaches.” Moreover, ERI had a double threshold effect on GIE in the YRB. That is, ERI had a significant positive impact on GIE only when ERI ranged between 0.595 and 0.899. Furthermore, the upper, middle, and lower reaches of the YRB exhibited different nonlinear correlations between ERI and GIE. Therefore, it is essential to implement environmental regulations that are appropriate for the actual conditions of each region. In addition, the per capita income, teacher resources, industrial structure, and actual utilization of foreign capital are significant factors affecting GIE in the YRB. These findings can help governments formulate suitable environmental policies and promote green innovation in the YRB, thereby contributing toward the goal of global sustainable development.