The spatial spillover effect of green technology innovation on water pollution–evidence from 283 Chinese cities

While economic development brings serious environmental problems, technological advances can effectively reduce pollution, which helps to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Although the impact of green technology innovation on atmospheric pollutants and carbon emissions has been extensively studied, the effect of such innovation on pollutant reduction varies due to the diverse regional distribution characteristics of different pollutants. Thus, this paper contributes to the literature by examining the influence of green technology innovation on water pollution from a regional perspective, with a particular emphasis on the pronounced clustering of wastewater pollution in China's coastal areas. Both Fixed-Effect model and spatial analysis are adopted. Our findings reveal a significant U-shaped relationship between technology innovation and water pollution, as measured by both industrial wastewater and the ratio of unprocessed sewage. Interestingly, this pollution reduction effect also exhibits a U-shaped spatial spillover. Given the rapid development of the digital economy, it can further amplify the spatial spillover effect of green innovation, especially in eastern regions. This study also provides recent empirical evidence from China to the Environmental Kuznets Curve.