The development of market integration has an important effect on regional green total factor productivity (GTFP). Based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2008 to 2017, this paper studies the spatial effect and transmission mechanism of market integration on regional green total factor productivity by calculating the Malmquist–Luenburger index and using spatial econometric models. It was found that market integration can promote the improvement of regional green total factor productivity. This positive effect is not only directly reflected in the region, it also indirectly promotes the growth of GTFP in nearby regions. In addition, market integration has shown significant positive effects on efficiency improvement and technological progress, and market integration has affected regional green total factor productivity through them. The above conclusions are of great significance for China to develop a green economy and promote high-quality economic transformation.

Land finance is an important means for local governments to develop a regional economy. Studying the impact of land finance on green economic growth has important practical significance for achieving high-quality economic growth in China. This article uses panel data from 283 prefecture-level cities in China to construct a spatial econometric model to study the impact of land finance on green economic growth. The research results show that land finance has a significant inhibitory effect on the growth of the green economy. The direct, indirect and total effects of land finance on green economic growth are all significantly negative, which indicates that the local government’s method of making up for the financial funding gap through land finance not only inhibited the green economic growth in the region, but also had an impact on neighboring areas. Local government competition has a regulating effect on the impact of land finance and urban green economic growth, and government competition has actually strengthened the inhibitory effect of land finance on green economic growth. The above conclusions can provide useful practical guidance for optimizing the development of land finance, standardizing local government behavior, and promoting green economic growth.

Improving the efficiency of industrial land use is of great significance to the sustainable development of cities. Based on a financial perspective, this paper studies the relationship between green finance and urban industrial land use efficiency (UILUE). First, the epsilon-based measure model was used to calculate the UILUE of 279 cities in China from 2011 to 2020, and then an empirical model is constructed to test the impact and path mechanism of green finance on UILUE. The research results show that green finance can improve the UILUE. The mediation effect test shows that the optimization of industrial structure and technological innovation are the key paths for green finance to affect UILUE. In addition, land finance inhibits the positive effect of green finance on the UILUE. This study provides new evidence for the role green finance plays in improving the efficiency of industrial land use and promoting the sustainable development of cities.

Purpose: This paper aims to research the relationship between income gap (IG) and green economic growth based on the perspective of economic inequality.Design/methodology/approach: Based on the panel data of 283 prefecture-level cities in China from 2011 to 2020, this paper uses the super slack based model (Super-SBM) to measure the efficiency of regional green economic growth, and constructs a regression model of the IG and regional green economic growth.Findings: Firstly, the IG has an inhibitory effect on the growth of regional green economy (GE). Secondly, the relationship between the IG and regional green economic growth will be affected by the threshold value of income level. Thirdly, environmental regulation and government competition will increase the inhibitory effect of the IG.Originality/value: According to the characteristics of China's regional economy, the researchers construct an empirical model of the IG and green economic growth to study their relationship, the threshold effect of income level and the moderating effect of environmental regulation and local government competition. The research content, methods and conclusions of this paper provide new evidence for the sustainable growth of China's regional GE.