Enhancing green innovation levels is an important objective of the pilot low-carbon city policy (PLCC) in China, but the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of the PLCC policy’s effect on green innovation is unclear. Based on panel data from 285 Chinese cities during 2005–2020, this paper assesses the impact of PLCC on regional green innovation using the difference-in-difference (DID) method. The empirical results demonstrate that the PLCC can obviously promote urban green innovation. In terms of the temporal dimension, the policy effect of PLCC on regional green innovation shows an inverted “U” shape and peaks in the seventh year after implementation. From the spatial dimension, the PLCC can promote surrounding cities’ green innovation through spatial spillover effects within 200 km, and the spillover effect decreases with increasing distance. Mechanism analysis indicates that the PLCC policy can promote regional green innovation by enhancing regional environmental regulations and alleviating financing constraints. This paper explores the temporal and spatial policy effects of PLCC, which can provide effective paths and policy recommendations for China to achieve its “dual carbon” goals.

Purpose: In the context of macroeconomic fluctuations and uncertainty in policy changes, it is essential to understand how companies adapt their environmental strategies and marketing tactics to ensure survival and growth. This study, therefore, examines the impact of perceived economic policy uncertainty on corporate greenwashing. Design/methodology/approach: Based on panel data from listed companies on the Chinese A-share market between 2013 and 2022, this paper employs a high-dimensional fixed effects model to explore the impact of perceived economic policy uncertainty (PEPU) on corporate greenwashing behavior. Findings: The results show that higher PEPU increases greenwashing, with agency costs and investor sentiment mediating the relationship. Corporate credit availability and managerial short-sightedness positively moderate this effect. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that non-state-owned enterprises in central and western regions, particularly those with weak environmental regulation and high pollution, are most impacted by PEPU. Practical implications: This paper provides practical guidance for how to avoid the phenomenon of green reshuffle in economic and environmental policies and encourages enterprises to take more real and effective environmental protection measures. Originality/value: These findings highlight the importance of considering corporate responses to policy uncertainty when formulating economic and environmental policies. They provide valuable insights for emerging economies in fostering genuine corporate environmental behavior and promoting sustainable development.

In the face of persistent sustainable development challenges, such as accelerated urban-rural integration, continued population growth, and mounting urban land scarcity, the efficient utilization of land resources has become paramount. A central inquiry for governments and academic researchers globally is how macro-and micro-level land policies can transform land-use practices, optimize territorial spatial structures, and thereby enhance land green utilization efficiency (LGUE). This Special Issue, entitled "Moving Towards Sustainable Development: Exploring the Impact of Land-Use Policies on Land Green Utilization Efficiency", compiles 24 articles that rigorously investigate the influence of land policies on utilization efficiency.Research on land-use policies and LGUE has surged in recent years, yet several research gaps and unresolved issues remain. First, most studies focus on examining the impact of individual landuse policies, lacking analysis of the synergistic effects of policy combinations. This results in relatively one-sided research conclusions. Second, despite repeated discussions on the measurement, spatiotemporal evolution, and impacts of LGUE, the field still lacks a unified, multidimensional evaluation framework that considers long-term ecological resilience and social equity. Finally, a systemic disconnect exists between land-use policies and the behavioral responses of micro-level stakeholders, leaving internal transmission mechanisms unclear. Identifying these open questions is crucial for shifting from static policy evaluation toward a more dynamic and forward-looking understanding of sustainable land governance.Responding directly to contemporary development themes and policy evolution demands, the special issue contributions employ a combination of qualitative and quantitative scientific methods.They examine the effects of land policies, fiscal land dependence, land property rights, and marketoriented land factor reforms on various critical dimensions, including utilization efficiency, ecological efficiency, and environmental risk. From a methodological perspective, the papers utilize frontier techniques to precisely measure the regional disparities in land utilization efficiency and analyze its spatio-temporal dynamics and evolution. This Special Issue features studies that assess how the development of the digital economy and related policies influence green utilization efficiency and resource allocation efficiency, reflecting the needs of the current era and the digital economy's emergence as a major pillar of macroeconomic development. In summation, this Special Issue offers valuable insights for researchers, policymakers, and relevant practitioners into land-use research, sustainable policy formulation, and practical implementation strategies.The acceleration of urbanization necessitates an evolution in urban spatial structures, marked by phenomena such as polycentric development, urban-scale expansion, and heightened population density. Against this backdrop, researchers have rigorously investigated the impact of these urbanizing processes on land utilization efficiency and regional landscape ecological risk. The core objective of this line of inquiry is to clarify the coordination mechanisms required to achieve a secure equilibrium between efficient land utilization and environmental sustainability. Chinese cities spanning 2010 to 2022, investigates the impact of land resource misallocation on regional carbon emission performance. Empirical analysis confirms that land resource misallocation is a critical structural impediment to enhancing carbon emission efficiency. This barrier operates through two primary channels: hindering industrial structure upgrading and suppressing green technology innovation. The heterogeneity analysis reveals that the adverse effect of misallocation on carbon efficiency is more pronounced in the central and western regions, small and medium-sized cities, and non-resource-based cities. These findings provide a solid basis for implementing differentiated land-use and carbon reduction policies.The dual structure of China's rural land system and the persistent ambiguities in property rights remain significant impediments to the free flow of land factors and the enhancement of land utilization efficiency. Relevant studies in this special issue follow policies like collective forestland tenure reform, urban-rural integration, and the digital economy. They aim to investigate how deepening property rights security, fostering the land transfer market, and facilitating the bidirectional flow of labor and capital factors between urban and rural areas can optimize rural land resource allocation. The ultimate goal is to achieve notable improvements in both forestry and agricultural production efficiency. These studies provide institutional and practical pathways for constructing a unified urban-rural factor market, realizing rural revitalization, and advancing agricultural modernization.Wei et al. (Paper 6), utilizing micro-level panel data from 13,536 households across 18 counties in 9 Chinese provinces, examined the impact of the collective forestland tenure reform on household forestry production efficiency. The research established that the reform significantly enhanced farmers' efficiency. Mechanism analysis revealed that this improvement was channeled through three factors: increased production inputs, expanded operating scale, and improved credit availability. Finally, the efficiency-enhancing effect of the reform showed considerable heterogeneity across households with different livelihood strategies and forest types.Liu and Liu (Paper 15) constructed a provincial-level index for urban-rural integration in China and explored its effect on rural land utilization efficiency (RLUE). They confirmed the study demonstrated that the reform markedly improved farmers' efficiency was mediated by two key mechanisms: an elevated land transfer...