IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v14y2021i7p1878-d526047.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Analysis of the Spatial Effect of Fiscal Decentralization and Environmental Decentralization on Carbon Emissions under the Pressure of Officials’ Promotion

Author

Listed:
  • Sailian Xia

    (School of Business, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China
    Department of Transportation Management, Hunan Transportation Vocational and Technical College, Changsha 430132, China)

  • Daming You

    (School of Business, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China)

  • Zhihua Tang

    (Key Laboratory of Renewable Energy, Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China)

  • Bo Yang

    (Department of Transportation Management, Hunan Transportation Vocational and Technical College, Changsha 430132, China
    Laboratory of Traffic Safety on Track, Central South University Ministry of Education, Changsha 410075, China)

Abstract

Using panel data of 30 provinces and regions in Mainland China (excluding Tibet) from 2006 to 2016, the Spatial Durbin Model was employed for the empirical research, and the spatial impact of fiscal decentralization and environmental decentralization on regional carbon emissions were analyzed from the perspective of promotion pressure of officials. The empirical study concludes: ① Fiscal decentralization, both within the region and in its neighborhood, will contribute to carbon emissions in the region; ② Environmental decentralization will help reduce carbon emissions, while environmental decentralization in neighboring regions will increase carbon emissions in the region; ③ The promotion pressure of officials plays a positive role in moderating the impact of fiscal decentralization on carbon emissions, and at the same time weakens the suppression of carbon emissions by environmental decentralization; ④ From a regional point of view, there is a positive relationship between fiscal decentralization and carbon emissions in various regions; but environmental decentralization has obvious spatial heterogeneity. The research suggests that reducing the degree of local fiscal decentralization, investment in major infrastructure projects involving high carbon emissions should be relatively centralized; appropriately increase the environmental management authority of local environmental protection agencies, fully use the advantages of local environmental protection departments to protect the environment according to local conditions; gradually improve the assessment system for local officials, moderately reduce the proportion of fiscal revenue and GDP assessment in areas with fragile ecological environment, and increase incentives for ecological performance assessment, put the development of low-carbon economy into practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Sailian Xia & Daming You & Zhihua Tang & Bo Yang, 2021. "Analysis of the Spatial Effect of Fiscal Decentralization and Environmental Decentralization on Carbon Emissions under the Pressure of Officials’ Promotion," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-21, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:7:p:1878-:d:526047
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/7/1878/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/7/1878/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gray, Wayne B. & Shadbegian, R.J.Ronald J., 2004. "'Optimal' pollution abatement--whose benefits matter, and how much?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 510-534, May.
    2. Longyu Shi & Fengmei Yang & Lijie Gao, 2020. "The Allocation of Carbon Intensity Reduction Target by 2030 among Cities in China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-14, November.
    3. Zhang, Bing & Chen, Xiaolan & Guo, Huanxiu, 2018. "Does central supervision enhance local environmental enforcement? Quasi-experimental evidence from China," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 70-90.
    4. Cole, Matthew A. & Elliott, Robert J.R. & Okubo, Toshihiro & Zhou, Ying, 2013. "The carbon dioxide emissions of firms: A spatial analysis," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 290-309.
    5. Hilary Sigman, 2014. "Decentralization and Environmental Quality: An International Analysis of Water Pollution Levels and Variation," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 90(1), pages 114-130.
    6. Shahzad, Syed Jawad Hussain & Kumar, Ronald Ravinesh & Zakaria, Muhammad & Hurr, Maryam, 2017. "Carbon emission, energy consumption, trade openness and financial development in Pakistan: A revisit," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 185-192.
    7. David M. Konisky, 2007. "Regulatory Competition and Environmental Enforcement: Is There a Race to the Bottom?," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 51(4), pages 853-872, October.
    8. Yingyi Qian & Barry R. Weingast, 1997. "Federalism as a Commitment to Reserving Market Incentives," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 11(4), pages 83-92, Fall.
    9. Chang, Howard F. & Sigman, Hilary & Traub, Leah G., 2014. "Endogenous decentralization in federal environmental policies," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 39-50.
    10. Xie, Rong-hui & Yuan, Yi-jun & Huang, Jing-jing, 2017. "Different Types of Environmental Regulations and Heterogeneous Influence on “Green” Productivity: Evidence from China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 104-112.
    11. Levinson, Arik, 2003. "Environmental Regulatory Competition: A Status Report and Some New Evidence," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 56(1), pages 91-106, March.
    12. Alessio D’Amato & Edilio Valentini, 2011. "Enforcement and environmental quality in a decentralized emission trading system," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 40(2), pages 141-159, October.
    13. Wallace E. Oates & Paul R. Portney & Wallace E. Oates & Paul R. Portney, 2004. "The Political Economy of Environmental Policy," Chapters, in: Environmental Policy and Fiscal Federalism, chapter 1, pages 3-30, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    14. Zhang, Kun & Zhang, Zong-Yong & Liang, Qiao-Mei, 2017. "An empirical analysis of the green paradox in China: From the perspective of fiscal decentralization," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 203-211.
    15. Cheng, Shulei & Fan, Wei & Chen, Jiandong & Meng, Fanxin & Liu, Gengyuan & Song, Malin & Yang, Zhifeng, 2020. "The impact of fiscal decentralization on CO2 emissions in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    16. Fredriksson, Per G. & Millimet, Daniel L., 2002. "Strategic Interaction and the Determination of Environmental Policy across U.S. States," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 101-122, January.
    17. Zhang, Xiaobo, 2006. "Fiscal decentralization and political centralization in China: Implications for growth and inequality," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 713-726, December.
    18. Sigman, Hilary, 2005. "Transboundary spillovers and decentralization of environmental policies," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 82-101, July.
    19. Charles M. Tiebout, 1956. "A Pure Theory of Local Expenditures," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(5), pages 416-416.
    20. He, Qichun, 2015. "Fiscal decentralization and environmental pollution: Evidence from Chinese panel data," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 86-100.
    21. Neal D. Woods, 2006. "Interstate Competition and Environmental Regulation: A Test of the Race‐to‐the‐Bottom Thesis," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 87(1), pages 174-189, March.
    22. Muhammad Kamran Khan & Muhammad Imran Khan & Muhammad Rehan, 2020. "The relationship between energy consumption, economic growth and carbon dioxide emissions in Pakistan," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 6(1), pages 1-13, December.
    23. H. Spencer Banzhaf & B. Andrew Chupp, 2010. "Heterogeneous Harm vs. Spatial Spillovers: Environmental Federalism and US Air Pollution," NBER Working Papers 15666, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    24. K. G. Mäler & J. R. Vincent (ed.), 2003. "Handbook of Environmental Economics," Handbook of Environmental Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1.
    25. Pao, Hsiao-Tien & Tsai, Chung-Ming, 2011. "Modeling and forecasting the CO2 emissions, energy consumption, and economic growth in Brazil," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 2450-2458.
    26. Yao, Xin & Zhou, Hongchen & Zhang, Aizhen & Li, Aijun, 2015. "Regional energy efficiency, carbon emission performance and technology gaps in China: A meta-frontier non-radial directional distance function analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 142-154.
    27. David Malueg & Andrew Yates, 2009. "Strategic Behavior, Private Information, and Decentralization in the European Union Emissions Trading System," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 43(3), pages 413-432, July.
    28. Feng, Suling & Sui, Bo & Liu, Huimin & Li, Guoxiang, 2020. "Environmental decentralization and innovation in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 660-674.
    29. Gornik V.G., 2015. "Organization Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations With Principles Of The Theory Of Fiscal Federalism," Management, Academy of Municipal Administration, vol. 9(3-4), pages 221-229, October.
    30. Song, Malin & Du, Juntao & Tan, Kim Hua, 2018. "Impact of fiscal decentralization on green total factor productivity," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 359-367.
    31. John A. List & Shelby Gerking, 2000. "Regulatory Federalism and Environmental Protection in the United States," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(3), pages 453-471, August.
    32. Oates, Wallace E., 2008. "On the Evolution of Fiscal Federalism: Theory and Institutions," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 61(2), pages 313-334, June.
    33. Magnani, Elisabetta, 2000. "The Environmental Kuznets Curve, environmental protection policy and income distribution," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 431-443, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jianan Liu & Ni Dai & Yuan Sui & Asmatullah Yaqoubi, 2023. "A Study on the Impact of Fiscal Decentralization on Regional Green Development: A Perspective Based on the Emphasis on Sports," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-17, August.
    2. Yuling Gao & Man Cai & Xin He, 2023. "Influence of Financial Support to Agriculture on Carbon Emission Intensity of the Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-12, January.
    3. Liu, Xiaojing & Yang, Jie & Bilan, Yuriy & Shahzad, Umer, 2023. "Resources curse hypothesis and COP26 target: Mineral and oil resources economies COVID-19 perspective," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    4. Aihui Ma & Yaya He & Peng Tang, 2021. "Understanding the Impact of Land Resource Misallocation on Carbon Emissions in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-15, November.
    5. Yongming Zhu & Xiaoyu Zhou & Junjie Li & Fan Wang, 2022. "Technological Innovation, Fiscal Decentralization, Green Development Efficiency: Based on Spatial Effect and Moderating Effect," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-16, April.
    6. Xue, Mingfu & Razzaq, Asif & Afshan, Sahar & Yang, Xiaodong, 2023. "Fiscal pressure and carbon intensity: A quasi-natural experiment based on education authority reform," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    7. Xianpu Xu & Shan Li, 2022. "Neighbor-Companion or Neighbor-Beggar? Estimating the Spatial Spillover Effects of Fiscal Decentralization on China’s Carbon Emissions Based on Spatial Econometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-26, August.
    8. Yinuo Wang & Fengxiu Zhou & Huwei Wen, 2023. "Does Environmental Decentralization Promote Renewable Energy Development? A Local Government Competition Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-18, July.
    9. Maxwell Chukwudi Udeagha & Marthinus Christoffel Breitenbach, 2023. "The Role of Fiscal Decentralization in Limiting CO2 Emissions in South Africa," Biophysical Economics and Resource Quality, Springer, vol. 8(3), pages 1-30, September.
    10. Maxwell Chukwudi Udeagha & Edwin Muchapondwa, 2023. "Environmental sustainability in South Africa: Understanding the criticality of economic policy uncertainty, fiscal decentralization, and green innovation," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(3), pages 1638-1651, June.
    11. Wei Dong & Xiaomi Hou & Guowei Qin, 2023. "Research on the Carbon Emission Reduction Effect of Green Taxation under China’s Fiscal Decentralization," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-19, March.
    12. Shuhua Zhang & Jian Li & Bao Jiang & Tianmiao Guo, 2023. "Government Intervention, Structural Transformation, and Carbon Emissions: Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-19, January.
    13. Yuxin Fang & Hongjun Cao & Jihui Sun, 2022. "Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Regional Green Development under China’s Environmental Decentralization System—Based on Spatial Durbin Model and Threshold Effect," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-27, November.
    14. Hengzhou Xu & Xiaoyan Li, 2023. "Effect mechanism of Chinese-style decentralization on regional carbon emissions and policy improvement: evidence from China’s 12 urban agglomerations," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 474-505, January.
    15. Cao, Dongqin & Peng, Can & Yang, Guanglei, 2022. "The pressure of political promotion and renewable energy technological innovation: A spatial econometric analysis from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    16. Zhao Yang, 2023. "Can the Digitalization Reduce Carbon Emission Intensity?—The Moderating Effects of the Fiscal Decentralization," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-16, June.
    17. Shi Chen & Xun Liu & Chong Lu, 2022. "Fiscal Decentralization, Local Government Behavior, and Macroeconomic Effects of Environmental Policy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-18, September.
    18. Luiz de Mello & João Tovar Jalles, 2022. "Decentralisation and the environment: Survey-based and cross-country evidence," Working Papers REM 2022/0215, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, REM, Universidade de Lisboa.
    19. Keliang Wang & Bin Zhao & Tianzheng Fan & Jinning Zhang, 2022. "Economic Growth Targets and Carbon Emissions: Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-16, June.
    20. Maxwell Chukwudi Udeagha & Marthinus Christoffel Breitenbach, 2023. "Revisiting the nexus between fiscal decentralization and CO2 emissions in South Africa: fresh policy insights," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 9(1), pages 1-46, December.
    21. Maxwell Chukwudi Udeagha & Nicholas Ngepah, 2022. "Dynamic ARDL Simulations Effects of Fiscal Decentralization, Green Technological Innovation, Trade Openness, and Institutional Quality on Environmental Sustainability: Evidence from South Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-35, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wu, Haitao & Hao, Yu & Ren, Siyu, 2020. "How do environmental regulation and environmental decentralization affect green total factor energy efficiency: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    2. Millimet, Daniel L., 2013. "Environmental Federalism: A Survey of the Empirical Literature," IZA Discussion Papers 7831, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Haiqing Hu & Di Chen & Chun‐Ping Chang & Yin Chu, 2021. "The Political Economy Of Environmental Consequences: A Review Of The Empirical Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(1), pages 250-306, February.
    4. Cheng, Shulei & Fan, Wei & Chen, Jiandong & Meng, Fanxin & Liu, Gengyuan & Song, Malin & Yang, Zhifeng, 2020. "The impact of fiscal decentralization on CO2 emissions in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    5. Shan, Shan & Ahmad, Munir & Tan, Zhixiong & Adebayo, Tomiwa Sunday & Man Li, Rita Yi & Kirikkaleli, Dervis, 2021. "The role of energy prices and non-linear fiscal decentralization in limiting carbon emissions: Tracking environmental sustainability," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    6. James Alm & H. Spencer Banzhaf, 2012. "Designing Economic Instruments For The Environment In A Decentralized Fiscal System," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 177-202, April.
    7. Xiangfeng Ji & Muhammad Umar & Shahid Ali & Wajid Ali & Kai Tang & Zeeshan Khan, 2021. "Does fiscal decentralization and eco‐innovation promote sustainable environment? A case study of selected fiscally decentralized countries," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(1), pages 79-88, January.
    8. Zhang, Cuifang & Xiang, Xiandeng, 2023. "Fiscal decentralization, environmental policy stringency, and resource sustainability: Panacea or Pandora's box in high resource consuming countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    9. Meng Lingyan & Ze Zhao & Haider Ali Malik & Asif Razzaq & Hui An & Marria Hassan, 2022. "Asymmetric impact of fiscal decentralization and environmental innovation on carbon emissions: Evidence from highly decentralized countries," Energy & Environment, , vol. 33(4), pages 752-782, June.
    10. Fredriksson, Per G. & Wollscheid, Jim R., 2014. "Environmental decentralization and political centralization," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 402-410.
    11. Xianpu Xu & Shan Li, 2022. "Neighbor-Companion or Neighbor-Beggar? Estimating the Spatial Spillover Effects of Fiscal Decentralization on China’s Carbon Emissions Based on Spatial Econometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-26, August.
    12. Zhang, Jinning & Wang, Jianlong & Yang, Xiaodong & Ren, Siyu & Ran, Qiying & Hao, Yu, 2021. "Does local government competition aggravate haze pollution? A new perspective of factor market distortion," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    13. Fredriksson, Per G. & Matschke, Xenia & Minier, Jenny, 2010. "Environmental policy in majoritarian systems," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 59(2), pages 177-191, March.
    14. Mary-Françoise Renard & Hang Xiong, 2012. "Strategic Interactions in Environmental Regulation Enforcement: Evidence from Chinese Provinces," CERDI Working papers halshs-00672449, HAL.
    15. Zhang, Bing & Chen, Xiaolan & Guo, Huanxiu, 2018. "Does central supervision enhance local environmental enforcement? Quasi-experimental evidence from China," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 70-90.
    16. Lin, Boqiang & Zhou, Yicheng, 2021. "Does fiscal decentralization improve energy and environmental performance? New perspective on vertical fiscal imbalance," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 302(C).
    17. Han, Chao & Tian, Xian-Liang, 2022. "Less pollution under a more centralized environmental system: Evidence from vertical environmental reforms in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    18. Jiang, Weijie & Li, Yidong, 2023. "Effect of fiscal decentralization on pollution reduction: Firm-level evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    19. Juan Tang & Fangming Qin, 2022. "Analyzing the impact of local government competition on green total factor productivity from the factor market distortion perspective: based on the three stage DEA model," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(12), pages 14298-14326, December.
    20. Shufen Guo & Ludi Wen & Yanrui Wu & Xiaohang Yue & Guilian Fan, 2020. "Fiscal Decentralization and Local Environmental Pollution in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-17, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:7:p:1878-:d:526047. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.