Spatial spillover effect of carbon emission efficiency in the construction industry of China.

The construction industry plays an important role in energy saving and carbon emissions mitigation of China. Promoting carbon emission efficiency is seen as an efficient way to abate carbon emissions. Using 2005-2016 data, the carbon emission efficiency of the construction sector in 30 provinces is estimated, and the spatial distribution characteristics of the carbon emission efficiency of the construction industry is explored. The spatial Markov transition probability matrix is employed to investigate the influence of the spatial spillover effect on the regional distribution pattern of carbon emission efficiency. The results demonstrate that the carbon emission efficiency of the construction industry exhibits an unbalanced regional distribution, which is high in the east and low in the west. The spatial autocorrelation indicates that the carbon emission efficiency has a spatial dependence and is characterized by spatial agglomeration. Markov Chain results show a significant spatial spillover effect in carbon emission efficiency. The provinces with higher carbon emission efficiency have a positive effect on their neighbors, while the provinces with lower efficiency have a negative effect on neighbors. The findings are of great importance to understand the differences in and interactions of carbon emission efficiency between regions.