Abstract
The Yellow River Economic Belt (YREB) performs an essential function in the low-carbon development of China as an important ecological protection barrier, and it is of great importance to identify its spatio-temporal heterogeneity and key influencing factors. In this study, we propose a comprehensively empirical framework to conduct this issue. The STIRPAT model was applied to determine the influencing factors of carbon emissions in the YREB from 2006 to 2019. The results show that the carbon emissions in the YREB had significant clustering characteristics in the spatial auto-correlation analysis. In addition, the estimation results of the spatial panel analysis demonstrate that the carbon emissions showed a distinct spatial lag effect and temporal lag effect. Moreover, the three traditional factors including population, affluence, technology are identified as the key influencing factors of carbon emissions in the YREB of China. Furthermore, the spatio-temporal heterogeneity is illustrated vividly by employing the GTWR-STIRPAT model. Finally, policy implications are provided to respond to the demand for low-carbon development.