The key to achieving sustainable growth is to increase total factor productivity. What role does the openness of social structure play in promoting total factor productivity? Based on data from the China Labor-force Dynamic Survey (CLDS), we used the methodology of intergenerational order correlation to measure city-level absolute mobility and to examine the impact of social mobility on the total factor productivity of Chinese manufacturing firms. The results show that the following: (1) Higher social mobility has a significant positive impact on firms’ TFP. Our results still hold after using the instrumental variables strategy to mitigate the endogeneity problem and performing a series of robustness tests. (2) Heterogeneity tests show that the positive effect on total factor productivity is more pronounced in non-state-owned enterprises, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and technology-intensive enterprises. Meanwhile, a higher level of marketization reduces the sensitivity of enterprises’ TFP to social mobility. (3) Three identified channels are human capital allocation, fairness perception, and technological innovation. Our findings inspire the government to promote the system and mechanism reform of social flow and improve sustainable development ability.

The Chinese government is implementing a Synergizing the Reduction of Pollution and Carbon Emissions (SRPC) strategy to shift to green development. This study aims to assess whether a good intellectual property (IPR) environment is conducive to SRPC in Chinese cities. Based on data from 284 cities in China from 2004–2019, we employ the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response-Management (DPSIRM) model to measure SRPC levels at the city level. We then use China's Intellectual Property Model City (IPMC) pilot policy as a quasi-natural experiment and apply a multi-period difference model to investigate the impact of establishment on urban SRPC. The study finds that the IPMC pilot policy promotes urban SRPC, and the findings hold after rigorous robustness tests. The mechanism is that the IPMC pilot policy promotes green technology innovation (GTI), draws government attention, and optimizes elements allocation. In addition, the heterogeneity test shows that the effect is greater in the Northeast cities as well as in small and medium-sized cities, while the effect is not significant in the West. Our findings provide theoretical and practical insights into how China can enhance IPR protection to advance SRPC.