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Turnover of Local Government Officials and Local Air Quality

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  • Lingyun He
  • Nini Chen

Abstract

This paper constructs a fixed effect model to study the impact of turnover of local government officials on local air quality, and the mechanism through which this effect takes place, using data from 282 prefecture‐level cities in China from 2015 to 2019. This research shows that turnover of local government officials led to a decline in local air quality, mainly due to a “responsibility gap period.” It also found that the heterogeneity of officials and the difference in the implementation of political initiatives by cities affected the length of the “responsibility gap period” – the shorter it was, the lower the air pollution was during official turnover. Air pollution in China is still severe and the Chinese central government should therefore further reform the turnover system to improve local air quality during the turnover of key local officials by shortening the “responsibility gap period.”

Suggested Citation

  • Lingyun He & Nini Chen, 2022. "Turnover of Local Government Officials and Local Air Quality," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 30(4), pages 100-121, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:chinae:v:30:y:2022:i:4:p:100-121
    DOI: 10.1111/cwe.12429
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    Cited by:

    1. Liangxiong Huang & Peilun Li & Xianbin Wang & Caiting Yang, 2023. "The Geographical Rotation of Local Officials and Enterprise Cross‐city Mergers and Acquisitions in China," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 31(4), pages 66-89, July.
    2. Binkai Chen & Ming Lu, 2022. "Guest Editors' Words," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 30(4), pages 1-3, July.

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