ABSTRACT Understanding how local governments set goals when confronted with conflicting objectives is of crucial importance. Few studies have examined how pilot policies reshape local governments' goal‐setting processes. This research takes China's Low‐carbon city pilot policy as a case study to analyze how central pilot policy influences the prioritization of local government goals. The analysis yields three key insights: First, the pilot policy induces strategic shifts within local governments, leading to a prioritization of environmental goals. Second, the pilot policy motivates local governments to set more ambitious environmental goals. Third, governments that have not yet met their environmental goals remain focused on achieving them, whereas those having achieved these goals adopt a more synergistic approach. This pattern reflects the enduring influence of China's “dual carbon” strategy on local government behavior. This research provides evidence of strategic local responses and advances our understanding of goal adjustment dynamics within hierarchical governance systems.
Zhong et al. (2025) studied this question.