How does industry-university-research collaborative innovation affect energy intensity in China: a novel explanation based on political turnover

As a form of integrating knowledge resources and promoting technological innovation, industry-university-research (IUR) collaborative innovation is thought to influence energy intensity reduction. However, the boundary conditions of IUR collaborative innovation affecting energy intensity have yet to be discussed. To fill this gap, we explore the impact of IUR collaborative innovation on energy intensity and the role of political turnover in its influencing mechanism, using a panel dataset of 30 Chinese provinces from 2010 to 2018. IUR collaborative innovation inhibits energy intensity, but this effect is only significant in the eastern region. Interestingly, political turnover positively moderates the inhibitory effect of IUR collaborative innovation on energy intensity. However, this moderating effect is only significant in the central and western regions. Moreover, the robustness tests provide abundant evidence to support the above findings. Finally, some policy implications are suggested.