Hidden Carbon Emissions, Industrial Clusters, and Structure Optimization in China

Vertical specialized trade has become more important globally because of the prevalence of a vertical specialization production mode. Therefore, it is essential to research the relationships between the carbon emissions of intermediate products which have rarely been considered in the field of trading and environmental protection. By establishing a theoretical model for industrial clusters and environmental regulations, this article proved that labor productivity, environmental regulations, and environmental elements productivity were key factors that affected the industrial cluster. Then, in the measurement model established, the key indicators of theoretical model were collected and the effects of factors such as hidden carbon emissions, the degree of vertical specialization, and the different labor–wage ratio on industrial clusters are measured. The article concluded that China has to consider the environment when vigorously advancing the industrial cluster thereby realizing a symbiotic development. The article also carried out an environmental super-efficiency evaluation on the structure of each industry in hope of finding out the direction of optimization of industrial structure.