IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i22p15310-d976363.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

New Insights into the Impact of Local Corruption on China’s Regional Carbon Emissions Performance Based on the Spatial Spillover Effects

Author

Listed:
  • Xianpu Xu

    (School of Business, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan 411105, China)

  • Bijiao Yi

    (School of Business, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan 411105, China)

Abstract

The increase of carbon dioxide emissions (CO 2 ) is one of the greatest challenges facing mankind today. Although some studies have examined the factors influencing carbon emissions from various angles, research on the nexus between corruption and carbon pollution has not received enough attention. In this context, using provincial panel data for China from 2003 to 2017, this paper adopts spatial econometric methods to explore the effect and mechanisms of corruption on CO 2 emissions. The results indicate that: (1) China’s carbon emissions present significant spatial agglomeration characteristics; (2) Corruption not only directly exacerbates CO 2 emissions, but also, and more importantly, has a positive and significant spatial spillover effect on pollutant emissions, implying that corruption stimulates the production of carbon dioxide on a regional level, as well as in neighboring regions. As an internal mechanism, the influence of corruption on CO 2 emissions mainly reflects the “local competition” and “innovation distortion” effects; (3) Improvements at the economic level, the increase in FDI, and upgrades to the structure of industry can promote carbon emission reductions, while R&D investment has an inhibitory effect. Finally, this paper proposes countermeasures to promote sustainable and high-quality development of China’s economy by strengthening regional collaboration and intensifying institutional supervision.

Suggested Citation

  • Xianpu Xu & Bijiao Yi, 2022. "New Insights into the Impact of Local Corruption on China’s Regional Carbon Emissions Performance Based on the Spatial Spillover Effects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-26, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:22:p:15310-:d:976363
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/22/15310/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/22/15310/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Halicioglu, Ferda, 2009. "An econometric study of CO2 emissions, energy consumption, income and foreign trade in Turkey," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 1156-1164, March.
    2. Guokui Wang & Xingpeng Chen & Zilong Zhang & Chaolan Niu, 2015. "Influencing Factors of Energy-Related CO 2 Emissions in China: A Decomposition Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(10), pages 1-19, October.
    3. Mardones, Cristian & Baeza, Nicolas, 2018. "Economic and environmental effects of a CO2 tax in Latin American countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 262-273.
    4. 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.
    5. Wang, Yun & Sun, Xiaohua & Guo, Xu, 2019. "Environmental regulation and green productivity growth: Empirical evidence on the Porter Hypothesis from OECD industrial sectors," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 611-619.
    6. Dincer, Oguzhan C. & Fredriksson, Per G., 2018. "Corruption and environmental regulatory policy in the United States: Does trust matter?," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 212-225.
    7. Barrows, Geoffrey & Ollivier, Hélène, 2021. "Foreign demand, developing country exports, and CO2 emissions: Firm-level evidence from India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    8. Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Walter, Götz & Van de Graaf, Thijs & Andrews, Nathan, 2016. "Energy Governance, Transnational Rules, and the Resource Curse: Exploring the Effectiveness of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 179-192.
    9. Geniaux, Ghislain & Martinetti, Davide, 2018. "A new method for dealing simultaneously with spatial autocorrelation and spatial heterogeneity in regression models," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 74-85.
    10. Fisman, Raymond & Gatti, Roberta, 2002. "Decentralization and corruption: evidence across countries," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(3), pages 325-345, March.
    11. Robin Burgess & Matthew Hansen & Benjamin A. Olken & Peter Potapov & Stefanie Sieber, 2012. "The Political Economy of Deforestation in the Tropics," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 127(4), pages 1707-1754.
    12. Xu, Bin & Lin, Boqiang, 2015. "How industrialization and urbanization process impacts on CO2 emissions in China: Evidence from nonparametric additive regression models," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 188-202.
    13. Weitzel, Matthias & Ma, Tao, 2014. "Emissions embodied in Chinese exports taking into account the special export structure of China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 45-52.
    14. Miguel Angel Esquivias & Lilik Sugiharti & Hilda Rohmawati & Omar Rojas & Narayan Sethi, 2022. "Nexus between Technological Innovation, Renewable Energy, and Human Capital on the Environmental Sustainability in Emerging Asian Economies: A Panel Quantile Regression Approach," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-16, March.
    15. Burnett, J. Wesley & Bergstrom, John C. & Dorfman, Jeffrey H., 2013. "A spatial panel data approach to estimating U.S. state-level energy emissions," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 396-404.
    16. Qiang, Qiu & Jian, Chen, 2020. "Natural resource endowment, institutional quality and China's regional economic growth," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    17. Ren, Yi-Shuai & Ma, Chao-Qun & Apergis, Nicholas & Sharp, Basil, 2021. "Responses of carbon emissions to corruption across Chinese provinces," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    18. Wu, Haitao & Hao, Yu & Weng, Jia-Hsi, 2019. "How does energy consumption affect China's urbanization? New evidence from dynamic threshold panel models," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 24-38.
    19. Cole, Matthew A., 2007. "Corruption, income and the environment: An empirical analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(3-4), pages 637-647, May.
    20. Amri, Fethi & Zaied, Younes Ben & Lahouel, Bechir Ben, 2019. "ICT, total factor productivity, and carbon dioxide emissions in Tunisia," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 212-217.
    21. Wang, Guofeng & Deng, Xiangzheng & Wang, Jingyu & Zhang, Fan & Liang, Shiqi, 2019. "Carbon emission efficiency in China: A spatial panel data analysis," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 1-1.
    22. Sarkar, Biswajit & Ganguly, Baishakhi & Sarkar, Mitali & Pareek, Sarla, 2016. "Effect of variable transportation and carbon emission in a three-echelon supply chain model," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 112-128.
    23. Rajeev Goel & Daniel Rich, 1989. "On the economic incentives for taking bribes," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 61(3), pages 269-275, June.
    24. Biswas, Amit K. & Farzanegan, Mohammad Reza & Thum, Marcel, 2012. "Pollution, shadow economy and corruption: Theory and evidence," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 114-125.
    25. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Haouas, Ilham & Hoang, Thi Hong Van, 2019. "Economic growth and environmental degradation in Vietnam: Is the environmental Kuznets curve a complete picture?," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 197-218.
    26. Liang, Qiao-Mei & Fan, Ying & Wei, Yi-Ming, 2007. "Carbon taxation policy in China: How to protect energy- and trade-intensive sectors?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 311-333.
    27. Wang, Zhaohua & Yin, Fangchao & Zhang, Yixiang & Zhang, Xian, 2012. "An empirical research on the influencing factors of regional CO2 emissions: Evidence from Beijing city, China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 277-284.
    28. James P. LeSage & R. Kelley Pace, 2014. "The Biggest Myth in Spatial Econometrics," Econometrics, MDPI, vol. 2(4), pages 1-33, December.
    29. Cui, Lianbiao & Li, Rongjing & Song, Malin & Zhu, Lei, 2019. "Can China achieve its 2030 energy development targets by fulfilling carbon intensity reduction commitments?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 61-73.
    30. Zhou, Mengling & Wang, Bing & Chen, Zhongfei, 2020. "Has the anti-corruption campaign decreased air pollution in China?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    31. Rios, Vicente & Gianmoena, Lisa, 2018. "Convergence in CO2 emissions: A spatial economic analysis with cross-country interactions," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 222-238.
    32. J. Paul Elhorst, 2014. "Matlab Software for Spatial Panels," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 37(3), pages 389-405, July.
    33. Song, Malin & Zhu, Shuai & Wang, Jianlin & Zhao, Jiajia, 2020. "Share green growth: Regional evaluation of green output performance in China," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 219(C), pages 152-163.
    34. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Chang, Chi-Hung & Arouri, Mohamed & Lee, Chi-Chuan, 2016. "Economic growth and insurance development: The role of institutional environments," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 361-369.
    35. 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.
    36. Getis, Arthur, 2007. "Reflections on spatial autocorrelation," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 491-496, July.
    37. Jiandong Chen & Ming Gao & Ke Ma & Malin Song, 2020. "Different effects of technological progress on China's carbon emissions based on sustainable development," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 481-492, February.
    38. 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).
    39. López-Cazar, Ibeth & Papyrakis, Elissaios & Pellegrini, Lorenzo, 2021. "The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and corruption in Latin America: Evidence from Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, and Trinidad and Tobago," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    40. Maddison, David, 2006. "Environmental Kuznets curves: A spatial econometric approach," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 218-230, March.
    41. Du, Limin & Wei, Chu & Cai, Shenghua, 2012. "Economic development and carbon dioxide emissions in China: Provincial panel data analysis," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 371-384.
    42. 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.
    43. Feng Dong & Yifei Hua & Bolin Yu, 2018. "Peak Carbon Emissions in China: Status, Key Factors and Countermeasures—A Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-34, August.
    44. Xu, Le & Fan, Meiting & Yang, Lili & Shao, Shuai, 2021. "Heterogeneous green innovations and carbon emission performance: Evidence at China's city level," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    45. Harry Seldadyo & Jakob De Haan, 2011. "Is Corruption Really Persistent?," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(2), pages 192-206, May.
    46. Maurizio Lisciandra & Carlo Migliardo, 2017. "An Empirical Study of the Impact of Corruption on Environmental Performance: Evidence from Panel Data," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 68(2), pages 297-318, October.
    47. Wu, Linfei & Sun, Liwen & Qi, Peixiao & Ren, Xiangwei & Sun, Xiaoting, 2021. "Energy endowment, industrial structure upgrading, and CO2 emissions in China: Revisiting resource curse in the context of carbon emissions," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Ghazala Aziz & Zouheir Mighri, 2022. "Carbon Dioxide Emissions and Forestry in China: A Spatial Panel Data Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-40, October.
    2. Lv, Zhike & Gao, Zhenya, 2021. "The effect of corruption on environmental performance: Does spatial dependence play a role?," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 45(2).
    3. Shi Wang & Yizhou Yuan & Hua Wang, 2019. "Corruption, Hidden Economy and Environmental Pollution: A Spatial Econometric Analysis Based on China’s Provincial Panel Data," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-23, August.
    4. Yannan Zhou & Jixia Huang & Mingxiang Huang & Yicheng Lin, 2019. "The Driving Forces of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent Emissions Have Spatial Spillover Effects in Inner Mongolia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-14, May.
    5. Huynh, Cong Minh & Le, Quoc Nha & Lam, Thi Huong Tra, 2023. "Is air pollution a government failure or a market failure? Global evidence from a multi-dimensional analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    6. 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.
    7. Zhou, Mengling & Wang, Bing & Chen, Zhongfei, 2020. "Has the anti-corruption campaign decreased air pollution in China?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    8. Bo Sui & Chun-Ping Chang & Yin Chu, 2021. "Political Stability: an Impetus for Spatial Environmental Spillovers," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 79(2), pages 387-415, June.
    9. Wang, Zhaohua & Danish, & Zhang, Bin & Wang, Bo, 2018. "The moderating role of corruption between economic growth and CO2 emissions: Evidence from BRICS economies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 506-513.
    10. Hao, Yu & Zhang, Zong-Yong & Yang, Chuxiao & Wu, Haitao, 2021. "Does structural labor change affect CO2 emissions? Theoretical and empirical evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    11. Mohammad Reza Farzanegan & Tim Mennel, 2012. "Fiscal decentralization and Pollution: Institutions Matter," MAGKS Papers on Economics 201222, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    12. Zhao, Jing & Zhao, Ziru & Zhang, Huan, 2021. "The impact of growth, energy and financial development on environmental pollution in China: New evidence from a spatial econometric analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    13. Lapatinas, Athanasios & Garas, Antonios & Boleti, Eirini & Kyriakou, Alexandra, 2019. "Economic complexity and environmental performance: Evidence from a world sample," MPRA Paper 92833, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. 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).
    15. Boubaker, Sabri & Liu, Pei-Zhi & Ren, Yi-Shuai & Ma, Chao-Qun, 2024. "Do anti-corruption campaigns affect corporate environmental responsibility? Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    16. Ling Xiong & Shaozhou Qi, 2018. "Financial Development And Carbon Emissions In Chinese Provinces: A Spatial Panel Data Analysis," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 63(02), pages 447-464, March.
    17. Zhonghua Cheng & Xiaowen Hu, 2023. "The effects of urbanization and urban sprawl on CO2 emissions in China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(2), pages 1792-1808, February.
    18. Wang, Xiong & Wang, Xiao & Ren, Xiaohang & Wen, Fenghua, 2022. "Can digital financial inclusion affect CO2 emissions of China at the prefecture level? Evidence from a spatial econometric approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    19. Shunbin Zhong & Huafu Shen & Ziheng Niu & Yang Yu & Lin Pan & Yaojun Fan & Atif Jahanger, 2022. "Moving towards Environmental Sustainability: Can Digital Economy Reduce Environmental Degradation in China?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-23, November.
    20. Arminen, Heli & Menegaki, Angeliki N., 2019. "Corruption, climate and the energy-environment-growth nexus," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 621-634.

    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:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:22:p:15310-:d:976363. 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.