Eco-efficiency as a Catalyst for Citizen Co-production: Evidence from Chinese Cities

Eco-efficiency as a Catalyst for Citizen Co-production: Evidence from Chinese Cities | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Brief Communication Eco-efficiency as a Catalyst for Citizen Co-production: Evidence from Chinese Cities Ruiyu Zhang, Lin Nie, Ce Zhao, Xin Zhao This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6249412/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract We examine whether higher eco-efficiency encourages local governments to co-produce environmental solutions with citizens. Using Chinese provincial data and advanced textual analysis, we find that high eco-efficiency strongly predicts more collaborative responses to environmental complaints. Causal inference suggests that crossing a threshold of eco-efficiency increases co-production probabilities by about 24 percentage points, indicating eco-efficiency’s potential as a catalyst for participatory environmental governance. Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences/Sustainability Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences/Environmental economics eco-efficiency co-production environmental governance citizen engagement BERT causal inference Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6249412","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Brief Communication","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":431187565,"identity":"71180630-5e31-439f-9348-4c90c709b515","order_by":0,"name":"Ruiyu Zhang","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA/ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFACxgYQmQBiPWBgsACLSTAwHDAgRguzAVgxYS0QANLCJkGUFvMZyW3SPAx1efyz269VF1RIJG44wHzwNg/DHWNcWmRuJIK0sBVL3DlTdnvGGZAWtmRrHoZnZri0SEiAtfAkNtzISbvN2wbSwmMGFDlsQ0CLROJ8oJZiiBb+b8RoMUjccCP9GDPUFjaQFtwO43nYbDnHICFx440cZmmgX4xnHmYzBoocxul9Cfb0hzfeVNQlzruR/vBzQYWNbN/xZpDIYcMGXHoYGFgkGMBxwGPADCQdG0AkA/6IZP4AodkfgBTb41U7CkbBKBgFIxIAAHIhVE34fOB7AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0883-4574","institution":"The Hong Kong Polytechnic University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ruiyu","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""},{"id":431187566,"identity":"95f7514b-4d33-47bd-81cf-0edcb13dece8","order_by":1,"name":"Lin Nie","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"The Hong Kong Polytechnic University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Lin","middleName":"","lastName":"Nie","suffix":""},{"id":431187567,"identity":"ff102450-e0b0-4c50-bcf1-64ed5fe86b6c","order_by":2,"name":"Ce Zhao","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ce","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhao","suffix":""},{"id":431187568,"identity":"6a986333-8430-4841-8669-41a074be4fe5","order_by":3,"name":"Xin Zhao","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"The Hong Kong Polytechnic University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xin","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhao","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-03-18 05:05:46","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6249412/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6249412/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":79385157,"identity":"2f9b92e3-095f-4802-a6d2-93230465237c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-03-27 17:44:18","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":5174066,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"EcoefficiencyasaCatalystforCitizenCoproduction.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6249412/v1_covered_616e3f63-7161-4b0f-b3eb-b447f2376829.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Eco-efficiency as a Catalyst for Citizen Co-production: Evidence from Chinese Cities","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"eco-efficiency, co-production, environmental governance, citizen engagement, BERT, causal inference","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6249412/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6249412/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eWe examine whether higher eco-efficiency encourages local governments to co-produce environmental solutions with citizens. 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