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Fiscal spending and air pollution in Chinese cities: Identifying composition and technique effects

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  • Hua, Yue
  • Xie, Rui
  • Su, Yaqin

Abstract

Fiscal spending has both direct and indirect impact on the environment. Using city-level data in China, this paper investigates if education spending affects air pollution through human capital accumulation, known as the composition effect, and if R&D spending affects air pollution through clean-technology adoption, known as the technique effect. Contrasting theoretical predictions and previous empirical evidence, we find both effects of interest to be trivial in urban China. Composition effect appears to be slightly stronger relative to technique effect, while sub-sample analyses show some regional heterogeneities. The results remain robust when we switch between pollution measurements, examine only the regional central cities, instrument endogenous covariates, and adopt the spatial settings. We further discuss potential channel-blocking mechanisms that lead to weak estimates.

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  • Hua, Yue & Xie, Rui & Su, Yaqin, 2018. "Fiscal spending and air pollution in Chinese cities: Identifying composition and technique effects," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 156-169.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:47:y:2018:i:c:p:156-169
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2017.09.007
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    7. Shuai Liu & Fei Fan & Jianqing Zhang, 2019. "Are Small Cities More Environmentally Friendly? An Empirical Study from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-16, February.
    8. Nor Salwati Othman & Hussain Ali Bekhet, 2021. "Dynamic Effects of Malaysia's Government Spending on Environment Quality: Bridging STIRPAT and EKC Hypothesis," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 11(5), pages 343-355.
    9. Lin, Boqiang & Wang, Zhijun, 2024. "Do local government investment preferences influence renewable energy technology innovation? Evidence from China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
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    16. Fan, Wei & Li, Li & Wang, Feiran & Li, Ding, 2020. "Driving factors of CO2 emission inequality in China: The role of government expenditure," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    17. Weixiang Zhao & Yankun Xu, 2022. "Public Expenditure and Green Total Factor Productivity: Evidence from Chinese Prefecture-Level Cities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-27, May.
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    19. Ge, Tao & Li, Chunying & Li, Jinye & Hao, Xionglei, 2023. "Does neighboring green development benefit or suffer from local economic growth targets? Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Education spending; R&D spending; Air pollution; STIRPAT model;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
    • Q55 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Technological Innovation
    • R58 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Regional Development Planning and Policy

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