Quantitative Analysis of the Impact of Ecological Industry and Ecological Investment on the Economy: A Case Study of Beijing, China

ABSTRACT

As China attaches increasing importance to its ecological environment, ecology-related industries have become essential to China’s national economy. However, in the current national economic accounting practice, the ecological industry (eco-industry) is not independent, and the ecological service value ecology creates is currently not within the scope of national economic accounting. To clarify the impact of the development of the eco-industry on the whole regional economy, this paper takes Beijing as the study area. For the first time, the input–output analysis method is adopted to differentiate the eco-industry as an independent sector. Moreover, the ecosystem services value is integrated into the eco-industry, and each coefficient is quantitatively analyzed from an industrial-chain perspective. The results show that the eco-industry exerts a good pulling effect on the regional economy. The inputs and outputs of the eco-industry clearly tend to focus on eco-environmental and public-service-related industries, followed by industries for which ecological development can create value. Judging from the entire regional economy, ecological investment significantly impacts both the education and financial industries. Ecological investment can promote socio-economic development, achieving a 1.318 increase in regional GDP per unit of eco-investment. The results imply that the development of the eco-industry in China should be boosted further and social capital investment should be attracted. Finally, this paper provides a scientific basis for policymakers to better understand the overall situation of both the eco-industry and industry linkages and guide them to develop relevant ecological investment strategies.