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The impact of air quality on innovation activities in China

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Listed:
  • Cui, Jingbo
  • Huang, Shaoqing
  • Wang, Chunhua

Abstract

Severe air quality hurts human capital and threatens innovative outcomes. Using unique data containing 12.8 million patent applications in China, this paper examines the causal effect of particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 μm or less (PM2.5) on patent innovation. We estimate a two-stage least square model with thermal inversion as an instrumental variable. Our findings show that a one μg/m3 increase in the annual average PM2.5 concentration leads to a 1.3% decrease in the number of patents. Annual fluctuations in PM2.5 concentration levels across cities caused the total number of patents to decrease by 1.1% during the 2006–2010 period. From 2011 to 2015, the improvement in air quality increased the number by about 2.0%. It demonstrates another innovation co-benefit of improving air quality due to the tightened regulation.

Suggested Citation

  • Cui, Jingbo & Huang, Shaoqing & Wang, Chunhua, 2023. "The impact of air quality on innovation activities in China," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:122:y:2023:i:c:s0095069623001110
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2023.102893
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    Cited by:

    1. Cavalcanti, T. & Mohaddes, K. & Nian, H. & Yin, H., 2024. "How Air Pollution Makes Firms Less Innovative: Human Capital and Adaptive Strategies," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2466, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    2. Sandra Aguilar-Gomez & Nathaly M. Rivera, 2024. "Air Pollution in the Global South: An Overview of Its Sources and Impacts," Working Papers wp561, University of Chile, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Air pollution; Patent innovation; Thermal inversions;
    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
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes

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