Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Examining the Factors Affecting Air Pollution Emission Growth in China

  • Published:
Environmental Modeling & Assessment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this study, a structural decomposition method was applied to research the factors affecting the changes in air pollution emissions in China. Based on 1995–2009 data from the World IO Database, we combine China’s (Import) Noncompetitive IO Table and the Environmental Account Table. The results indicate that emission intensities represent the most important factor for reducing air pollution emissions in China. In contrast, economies of scale and the intermediate input product structure constitute the major causes for acceleration in the growth of air pollution emissions in China. From the perspective of final demand, the economic scale effect caused by investment demand is the main reason for this accelerated growth in China’s air pollution emissions in recent years. Consumption-driven economic growth is cleaner, while investment-driven economic growth is dirtier. This study constructed a structure decomposition model based on the input-output tables, which is suitable for studying the driving forces of various economic indicators, such as energy, carbon dioxide, and economic growth. At the same time, this method is helpful for analyzing the factors that influence changes in economic indicators that result from different economic pull modes, such as the final demand mode. However, the model does have limitations; for example, it does not consider the difference between general trade and processing trade in exports.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Technical coefficients are the part of the inputs i required to produce one monetary unit of product j. These technical coefficients reflect the technological level of each sector, and its essence is the direct consumption coefficients of various departments.

  2. This decomposition method is similar to Eqs. (7) and (8) in section II, and finally averages them.

  3. This is mainly from general-purpose, special equipment manufacturing industry, electrical and optical equipment manufacturing industry, and transport equipment manufacturing industry.

  4. Indeed, economies of scale in Table 1 include not only economic scale expansion, but also the impact from changes in China’s economic dependence structure.

References

  1. Antweiler, W., Copeland, B. R., & Taylor, M. S. (1998). Is free trade good for the environment? NBER Working Paper, No.6707, USA.

  2. Ang, B. W., & Zhang, F. Q. (1999). Inter-regional comparison of energy-related CO2 emission using the decomposition technique. Energy, 24(4), 297–305.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Butnar, I., & Llop, M. (2011). Structural decomposition analysis and input-output subsystems: Changes in CO2 emissions of Spanish service sectors (2000–2005). Ecological Economics, 70(11), 2012–2019.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Cole, M. A., Rayner, A. J., & Bates, J. M. (1997). The environmental Kuznets curve: An empirical analysis. Environment and Development Economics, 2, 401–416.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Cole, M. A. (2004). Trade, the pollution haven hypothesis and the environmental Kuznets curve: Examining the linkages. Ecological Economics, 48, 71–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Dietzenbacher, E., & Los, B. (1998). Structural decomposition techniques: Sense and sensitivity. Economic Systems Research, 10(4), 307–323.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Friedl, B., & Getzner, M. (2003). Determinants of CO2 emissions in a small open economy. Ecological Economics, 45, 133–148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Fujimagari, D. (1989). The sources of change in the Canadian industry output. Economic Systems Research, 1, 187–202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Grossman, G., & Krueger, A. (1991). Environmental impacts of a North American free trade agreement. NBER working paper, No: 3194, USA.

  10. He, J. (2006). Pollution haven hypothesis and environmental impacts of foreign direct investment: The case of industrial emission of sulfur dioxide (SO2) in Chinese provinces. Ecological Economics, 60(1), 228–245 (In Chinese).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. He, J. (2010). Environmental impacts of international trade: The case of industrial emission of sulfur dioxide (S02) in Chinese provinces. China Economic Quarterly, 9(2), 415–446 (In Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  12. He, H., Wang, X. M., Wang, Y. S., Wang, Z. F., Liu, J. G., & Chen, Y. F. (2013). Formation mechanism and control strategies of haze in China. Chinese Academy of Sciences, 28(3), 344–352 (In Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  13. Jalil, A., & Feridun, M. (2011). The impact of growth, energy and financial development on the environment in China: A co-integration analysis. Energy Economics, 33, 284–291.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Li, H., & Wei, Y. M. (2015). Is it possible for China to reduce its total CO2 emissions? Energy, 83, 438–446.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Liu, R. X., & Jiang, C. L. (2011). Understanding the accelerating growth of energy consumption in China from the input-output perspective. China Economic Quarterly, 10(3), 777–796.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Liu, L. C., Fan, Y., Wu, G., & Wei, Y. M. (2007). Using LMDI method to analyze the change of China's industrial CO2 emissions from final fuel use: An empirical analysis. Energy Policy, 35(11), 5892–5900.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Martin, J. C., & Becuwe, S. (2014). Regionalising the results of a national structural decomposition analysis of greenhouse gas emissions: An application to aquitaine region. Environmental Modeling and Assessment, 19(4), 257–269.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Pao, H. T., & Tsai, C. M. (2011). Multivariate granger causality between CO2 emissions, energy consumption, FDI and GDP: Evidence from a panel of BRIC countries. Energy, 36, 685–693.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Peters, G. P., Weber, C. L., Guan, D., & Hubacek, K. (2007). China's growing CO2 emissions a race between increasing consumption and efficiency gains. Environmental Science & Technology, 41(17), 5939–5944.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Ren, S. G., Yuan, B. L., Ma, X., & Chen, X. H. (2014). International trade, FDI (foreign direct investment) and embodied CO2 emissions: A case study of China’s industrial sectors. China Economic Review, 28, 123–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Shao, S., Yang, L. L., Yu, M. B., & Yu, M. L. (2011). Estimation, characteristics, and determinants of energy-related industrial CO2 emissions in shanghai (China), 1994–2009. Energy Policy, 39(10), 6476–6494.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Sheng, B., & Lv, Y. (2012). Impact of foreign direct investment on China’s environment: An empirical study based on industrial panel data. Social Sciences in China, 5, 54–75 (In Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  23. Shen, L. S., & Wang, H. (2006). What does it mean that China’s value added rate goes down. Economic Research, 3(59), 6 (In Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  24. Sun, J. W. (1998). Accounting for energy use in China, 1980–94. Energy, 23(10), 835–849.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Wang, C., Chen, J., & Zou, J. (2005). Decomposition of energy-related CO2 emission in China: 1957–2000. Energy, 30(1), 73–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Wang, F., Wu, L. H., & Yang, C. (2010). Driving factors for growth of carbon dioxide emissions during economic development in China. Economic Research Journal, 2, 123–136 (In Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  27. Wei, T., Yang, S., Moore, J. C., Shi, P., Cui, X., Duan, Q., & Yang, Z. (2012). Developed and developing world responsibilities for historical climate change and CO2 mitigation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(32), 12911–12915.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Xu, S. C., He, Z. X., & Long, R. Y. (2014). Factors that influence carbon emissions due to energy consumption in China: Decomposition analysis using LMDI. Applied Energy, 127, 182–193.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Xu, M., Li, R., Crittenden, J. C., & Chen, Y. S. (2011). CO2 emissions embodied in China's exports from 2002 to 2008: A structural decomposition analysis. Energy Policy, 39(11), 7381–7388.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Xu, Y., & Dietzenbacher, E. (2014). A structural decomposition analysis of the emissions embodied in trade. Ecological Economics, 101, 10–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Zhang, W., Wang, J. N., Zhang, B., Bi, J., & Jiang, H. Q. (2015). Can China comply with its 12th five-year plan on industrial emissions control: A structural decomposition analysis. Environmental Science and Technology, 49, 4816–4824.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Zhang, Y. G. (2009). The energy and environmental costs of China’s trade growth. China Economist, 03, 42–51.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Zheng, Y., & Xu, K. N. (2013). Analysis of the driving factors for changing carbon emission in China. Finance & Trade Economics, 2, 124–136 (In Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (71420107027, 71303076, and 71303174) and the Science and Technology Department of Hunan Province in China (2015zk2002). The responsibility for any errors rests solely with the authors.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Economics and Trade, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan, People’s Republic of China

    Rui Xie & Guomei Zhao

  2. Institute of Quantitative and Technical Economics CASS, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Rui Xie

  3. Collaborative Innovation Center of Resource-conserving and Environment-friendly Society and Ecological Civilization, Changsha, People’s Republic of China

    Rui Xie & Guomei Zhao

  4. Business School, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China

    Bang Zhu Zhu

  5. IPAG Business School, IPAG Lab, 184 Boulevard Saint-Germain, 75006, Paris, France

    Julien Chevallier

  6. Université Paris 8 (LED), 2 avenue de la Liberté, 93526, Saint-Denis Cedex, France

    Julien Chevallier

Authors
  1. Rui Xie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Guomei Zhao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Bang Zhu Zhu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Julien Chevallier
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Bang Zhu Zhu or Julien Chevallier.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Xie, R., Zhao, G., Zhu, B.Z. et al. Examining the Factors Affecting Air Pollution Emission Growth in China. Environ Model Assess 23, 389–400 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10666-018-9593-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10666-018-9593-7

Keywords

JEL Classification

Search

Navigation