Climate change is an urgent issue, and local governments are essential to the successful implementation of climate policies. They know where funds should be allocated and how to increase efficiency at the local level. Transnational municipal networks (TMNs) have galvanized local climate action by sharing best strategies and supporting communication. This study asks whether and how much ICLEI, one of the major TMNs in climate action, affects local energy policy outcomes. We estimate the impact of ICLEI membership on energy consumption per capita using a staggered difference-in-differences (DID) method, which is a robust alternative under staggered treatment. We use a strongly balanced panel dataset across 226 Korean counties between 2005 and 2019. We find that ICLEI membership leads to a significant decrease in energy consumption per capita 4.53% to 6.62% with county membership, 8.91% to 9.00% with state membership, and 11.8% to 21.4% with both county and state membership. In addition, state membership shows a growing impact on energy consumption reduction, while county membership has a weaker trend. The results are statistical evidence of the role of TMNs in local energy policies. The central government may increase the effectiveness of its energy policy by selectively supporting ICLEI members.

中文翻译：

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跨国市政网络对当地能源消耗的影响

气候变化是一个紧迫的问题，地方政府对于气候政策的成功实施至关重要。他们知道资金应该分配到哪里以及如何提高地方效率。跨国市政网络（TMN）通过分享最佳策略和支持沟通，激发了当地的气候行动。本研究询问 ICLEI（气候行动中的主要 TMN 之一）是否以及在多大程度上影响当地能源政策结果。我们使用交错双重差分法（DID）估算了 ICLEI 成员资格对人均能源消耗的影响，该方法是交错处理下的稳健替代方法。我们使用 2005 年至 2019 年间韩国 226 个县的强平衡面板数据集。我们发现，ICLEI 会员资格导致人均能源消耗显着下降，县级会员为 4.53% 至 6.62%，州级会员为 8.91% 至 9.00%， 11.8% 至 21.4% 为县和州会员。此外，州属对能源消耗降低的影响越来越大，而县属则有减弱的趋势。结果是 TMN 在当地能源政策中的作用的统计证据。中央政府可以通过有选择地支持ICLEI成员来提高其能源政策的有效性。