Strategic Response Under Pressure: The Impact of Low‐Carbon City Pilot Policy on How Local Governments Tackle “Environment‐Economy” Nexus
以中国低碳城市试点政策为例，研究中央试点政策如何改变地方政府在环境与经济冲突中的目标优先级，发现政策促使地方政府优先考虑环境目标并设定更雄心勃勃的目标。
ABSTRACT Understanding how local governments set goals when confronted with conflicting objectives is of crucial importance. Few studies have examined how pilot policies reshape local governments' goal‐setting processes. This research takes China's Low‐carbon city pilot policy as a case study to analyze how central pilot policy influences the prioritization of local government goals. The analysis yields three key insights: First, the pilot policy induces strategic shifts within local governments, leading to a prioritization of environmental goals. Second, the pilot policy motivates local governments to set more ambitious environmental goals. Third, governments that have not yet met their environmental goals remain focused on achieving them, whereas those having achieved these goals adopt a more synergistic approach. This pattern reflects the enduring influence of China's “dual carbon” strategy on local government behavior. This research provides evidence of strategic local responses and advances our understanding of goal adjustment dynamics within hierarchical governance systems.