IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v16y2019i21p4059-d279288.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of Haze Pollution on Regional Eco-Economic Treatment Efficiency in China: An Environmental Regulation Perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Jian Hou

    (School of Economics and Management, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China)

  • Yifang An

    (School of Economics and Management, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China)

  • Hongfeng Song

    (School of Economics and Management, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China)

  • Jiancheng Chen

    (School of Economics and Management, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China)

Abstract

“The Gray Great Wall” formed by haze pollution is an increasingly serious issue in China, and the resulting air pollution has brought severe challenges to human health, the socio-economy and the world ecosystem. Based on the facts above, this paper uses China’s province-level panel data from 2009 to 2016, systematically measures the heterogeneous structure of regional ecological economic (eco-economic) treatment efficiency through a Super Slacks-Based Measure (SBM) model and dynamic threshold models, and analyzes the forcing mechanism of haze pollution pressure on regional eco-economic treatment efficiency from an environmental regulation perspective. Results indicated that China’s eco-economic treatment has been vigorously promoted, which is significantly conducive to green growth upgrading. However, the process has a large developmental scope due to regional heterogeneity. Interestingly, the forcing impact of haze pollution on regional eco-economic treatment efficiency is limited by the “critical mass” of environmental regulations: a weak degree of regulation will facilitate an increase in regional eco-economic treatment efficiency through the forcing effect of haze pollution pressure. Once environmental regulation reaches a critical level, a stronger degree of regulation will suppress the forcing effect of haze pollution in turn and it will decrease the regional eco-economic treatment efficiency. This paper endeavors to clarify the differences, suitability and dependency in the process of ecological transformation for Chinese local governments in different regions and provide policy references for a regional ecological transformation matching system.

Suggested Citation

  • Jian Hou & Yifang An & Hongfeng Song & Jiancheng Chen, 2019. "The Impact of Haze Pollution on Regional Eco-Economic Treatment Efficiency in China: An Environmental Regulation Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-18, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:21:p:4059-:d:279288
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/21/4059/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/21/4059/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chen, Su-Mei & He, Ling-Yun, 2014. "Welfare loss of China's air pollution: How to make personal vehicle transportation policy," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 106-118.
    2. Hansen, Bruce E., 1999. "Threshold effects in non-dynamic panels: Estimation, testing, and inference," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 345-368, December.
    3. Lu-Yi Qiu & Ling-Yun He, 2017. "Are Chinese Green Transport Policies Effective? A New Perspective from Direct Pollution Rebound Effect, and Empirical Evidence From the Road Transport Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-11, March.
    4. Stern, David I. & Zha, Donglan, 2016. "Economic growth and particulate pollution concentrations in China," Working Papers 249522, Australian National University, Centre for Climate Economics & Policy.
    5. Hillman, Joanne & Axon, Stephen & Morrissey, John, 2018. "Social enterprise as a potential niche innovation breakout for low carbon transition," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 445-456.
    6. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    7. Jiang, Jingyuan & Li, Shiyu & Hu, Jiatang & Huang, Jia, 2014. "A modeling approach to evaluating the impacts of policy-induced land management practices on non-point source pollution: A case study of the Liuxi River watershed, China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 1-16.
    8. Tang, Erzi & Liu, Fengchao & Zhang, Jingjing & Yu, Jiao, 2014. "A model to analyze the environmental policy of resource reallocation and pollution control based on firms' heterogeneity," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 88-91.
    9. Yan Li & Shenglu Zhou & Zhenyi Jia & Liang Ge & Liping Mei & Xueyan Sui & Xiaorui Wang & Baojie Li & Junxiao Wang & Shaohua Wu, 2018. "Influence of Industrialization and Environmental Protection on Environmental Pollution: A Case Study of Taihu Lake, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-12, November.
    10. Daxuan Zhao & Tien Foo Sing, 2017. "Air pollution, economic spillovers, and urban growth in China," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 58(2), pages 321-340, March.
    11. Maximilian Auffhammer & Ryan Kellogg, 2011. "Clearing the Air? The Effects of Gasoline Content Regulation on Air Quality," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(6), pages 2687-2722, October.
    12. Huang, Shihping Kevin & Kuo, Lopin & Chou, Kuei-Lan, 2018. "The impacts of government policies on green utilization diffusion and social benefits – A case study of electric motorcycles in Taiwan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 473-486.
    13. Hans-Werner Sinn, 2008. "Public policies against global warming: a supply side approach," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 15(4), pages 360-394, August.
    14. Yu, Feifei & Guo, Yue & Le-Nguyen, Khuong & Barnes, Stuart J. & Zhang, Weiting, 2016. "The impact of government subsidies and enterprises’ R&D investment: A panel data study from renewable energy in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 106-113.
    15. Michael Breen & Catherine Seppanen & Vlad Isakov & Saravanan Arunachalam & Miyuki Breen & James Samet & Haiyan Tong, 2019. "Development of TracMyAir Smartphone Application for Modeling Exposures to Ambient PM 2.5 and Ozone," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-17, September.
    16. Jian Hou & Heng Chen & Jianzhong Xu, 2017. "External Knowledge Sourcing and Green Innovation Growth with Environmental and Energy Regulations: Evidence from Manufacturing in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-17, February.
    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. Dongdong Ma & Guifang Li & Feng He, 2021. "Exploring PM2.5 Environmental Efficiency and Its Influencing Factors in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-15, November.
    2. Jinling Yan & Junfeng Zhao & Xiaodong Yang & Xufeng Su & Hailing Wang & Qiying Ran & Jianliang Shen, 2021. "Does Low-Carbon City Pilot Policy Alleviate Urban Haze Pollution? Empirical Evidence from a Quasi-Natural Experiment in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-20, October.

    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. Wang, Qunwei & Fan, Zining, 2023. "Green finance and investment behavior of renewable energy enterprises: A case study of China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    2. Wu, Haitao & Xu, Lina & Ren, Siyu & Hao, Yu & Yan, Guoyao, 2020. "How do energy consumption and environmental regulation affect carbon emissions in China? New evidence from a dynamic threshold panel model," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    3. Xueping Wu & Ming Gao, 2021. "Effects of different environmental regulations and their heterogeneity on air pollution control in China," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 140-166, December.
    4. Kelbesa Megersa & Danny Cassimon, 2015. "Public Debt, Economic Growth, and Public Sector Management in Developing Countries: Is There a Link?," Public Administration & Development, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 35(5), pages 329-346, December.
    5. Baharumshah, Ahmad Zubaidi & Slesman, Ly & Wohar, Mark E., 2016. "Inflation, inflation uncertainty, and economic growth in emerging and developing countries: Panel data evidence," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 638-657.
    6. Combes, Jean-Louis & Minea, Alexandru & Sawadogo, Pegdéwendé Nestor, 2021. "Does the composition of government spending matter for government bond spreads?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 409-420.
    7. Samargandi, Nahla & Fidrmuc, Jan & Ghosh, Sugata, 2015. "Is the Relationship Between Financial Development and Economic Growth Monotonic? Evidence from a Sample of Middle-Income Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 66-81.
    8. Dang, Viet Anh & Kim, Minjoo & Shin, Yongcheol, 2014. "Asymmetric adjustment toward optimal capital structure: Evidence from a crisis," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 226-242.
    9. Carmela D'Avino, 2015. "Net Interoffice Accounts of Global Banks: The Role of Domestic Funding," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 3(3), pages 1-17, June.
    10. Abdulqadir, Idris A. & Asongu, Simplice A., 2022. "The asymmetric effect of internet access on economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 44-61.
    11. Thanh Quang Phung & Ehsan Rasoulinezhad & Hang Luong Thi Thu, 2023. "How are FDI and green recovery related in Southeast Asian economies?," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 56(6), pages 3735-3755, December.
    12. Cailou Jiang & Ying Zhang & Maoliang Bu & Weishu Liu, 2018. "The Effectiveness of Government Subsidies on Manufacturing Innovation: Evidence from the New Energy Vehicle Industry in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-11, May.
    13. Cristina JUDE & Grégory LEVIEUGE, 2013. "Growth Effect of FDI in Developing Economies: the Role of Institutional Quality," LEO Working Papers / DR LEO 2251, Orleans Economics Laboratory / Laboratoire d'Economie d'Orleans (LEO), University of Orleans.
    14. Isaac K. Ofori & Francesco Figari & Nathanael Ojong, 2023. "Towards sustainability: The relationship between foreign direct investment, economic freedom and inclusive green growth," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 23/023, African Governance and Development Institute..
    15. Junbai Pan & Kun Lv & Shurong Yu & Dian Fu, 2022. "What Mechanisms Do Financial Marketization and China’s Fiscal Decentralization Have on Regional Energy Intensity? Evidence Based on Spatial Spillover and Panel Threshold Effects Perspectives," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-27, May.
    16. Khan, Muhammad Atif & Gu, Lulu & Khan, Muhammad Asif & Oláh, Judit, 2020. "Natural resources and financial development: The role of institutional quality," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    17. Rui Guo & Lutao Ning & Kaihua Chen, 2022. "How do human capital and R&D structure facilitate FDI knowledge spillovers to local firm innovation? a panel threshold approach," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 47(6), pages 1921-1947, December.
    18. Petra Sauer & Martin Zagler, 2014. "(In)equality in Education and Economic Development," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 60(S2), pages 353-379, November.
    19. Vinayagathasan, Thanabalasingam, 2013. "Inflation and economic growth: A dynamic panel threshold analysis for Asian economies," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 31-41.
    20. Ofori, Isaac K. & Figari, Francesco & Ojong, Nathanael, 2023. "Towards sustainability: The relationship between foreign direct investment, economic freedom and inclusive green growth," MPRA Paper 116956, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    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:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:21:p:4059-:d:279288. 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.