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Implementation effect of air pollution policy, long-term mechanism, and industrial structure promotion—a quasi-natural experiment based on ambient air quality standards

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Abstract

This study, set against the backdrop of new standard policies for air pollution control, investigates the role of air pollution control in driving economic transformation, upgrading, and safeguarding public welfare. Utilizing data from the prefecture-level cities from 2007 to 2016, the impact of air pollution control on per capita GDP, employment, and industrial upgrading is examined using the difference-in-differences method, and the long-term mechanism is tested. The results indicate that the new standard policy significantly improves regional per capita GDP and employment rate, and the condition identification test and robustness test show that this conclusion is very robust. Further analysis reveals that the new standard policy promotes per capita GDP and employment rate in the western region, driving regional industrial upgrading. The impact mechanism test shows that air pollution control promotes industrial upgrading and stable employment through the long-term mechanism of improving marketization, expanding the level of openness, and developing alternative industries, but there is still room for improvement in foreign investment and the development of the tertiary industry.

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Data availability

The datasets used or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Notes

  1. The document is from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment,https://www.mee.gov.cn/ywgz/fgbz/fl/201811/t20181113_673567.shtml.

  2. The document is from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment,https://www.mee.gov.cn/gkml/sthjbgw/sthjbgg/201808/t20180815_451398.htm

  3. The data comes from the National Environmental Air Quality Monitoring Network of the China Environmental Monitoring Station.

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Funding

This work was supported by the World Bank and Ministry of Finance of China, “innovative research on budget performance evaluation under the background of comprehensive implementation of budget performance management” (No.32522109016).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Finance and Taxation, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, 182 Nanhu Avenue, East Lake High-tech Development Zone, Wuhan, 430073, China

    Liang Zhang

  2. School of Law and Literature, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, 150006, China

    Wubin Yuan

  3. Liberal Studies Core, New York University, New York, 10012, USA

    Zheqi Zhang

Authors
  1. Liang Zhang
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  2. Wubin Yuan
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  3. Zheqi Zhang
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Contributions

Liang Zhang (corresponding author) performed the experiment; Wubin Yuan contributed significantly to analysis and manuscript preparation; Zheqi Zhang reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Liang Zhang.

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Supplementary information

ESM 1:

Appendix Figure 1: Trends in Per Capita GDP and Employment Changes in Air Pollution Control in 2012. Appendix Figure 2:Trends in Per Capita GDP and Employment Changes in Air Pollution Control in 2013. Appendix Table 1:Desccriptive statistics of main variables.

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Zhang, L., Yuan, W. & Zhang, Z. Implementation effect of air pollution policy, long-term mechanism, and industrial structure promotion—a quasi-natural experiment based on ambient air quality standards. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 87368–87381 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-28428-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-28428-6

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