IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i14p5828-d1431384.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Testing the Effectiveness of Government Investments in Environmental Governance: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Yiguo Chen

    (Research Institute for Dual Circulation Development of the Greater Bay Area, Guangdong University of Finance & Economics, Guangzhou 510320, China)

  • Peng Luo

    (School of Finance, Hubei University of Economics, No. 8 Yangqiaohu Road, Jiang-Xia District, Wuhan 430205, China)

  • Tsangyao Chang

    (Department of Finance, Feng Chia University, Taichung 40724, Taiwan)

Abstract

The Chinese government has taken many measures to improve the environment, such as directly investing in pollution control infrastructure, but the effectiveness remains to be tested. This paper employs the Toda–Yamamoto test and the Fourier Toda–Yamamoto test to examine the link between environmental governance investment and environmental quality in China from 2003 to 2020. PM2.5, which measures air quality, is used here as an indicator of the environment. The results reveal that environmental governance investment has notably lessened the average concentration of PM2.5 in certain regions, indicating a positive effect on environmental quality, albeit with regional variations. Taking structural breaks into consideration, the relationship between environmental governance investment and environmental amelioration is significant in a smaller number of regions. Additionally, the cross-sectional correlation is further scrutinized to assess the essential robustness of the causality between the two variables. The findings lend support to the aforementioned conclusion. These conclusions provide valuable guidance for China’s policymakers in optimizing environmental governance investments to curb pollution and achieve sustainable development.

Suggested Citation

  • Yiguo Chen & Peng Luo & Tsangyao Chang, 2024. "Testing the Effectiveness of Government Investments in Environmental Governance: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-18, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:14:p:5828-:d:1431384
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/14/5828/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/14/5828/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Enders, Walter & Lee, Junsoo, 2012. "The flexible Fourier form and Dickey–Fuller type unit root tests," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 117(1), pages 196-199.
    2. Can Wang & Yuan Yang & Junjie Zhang, 2015. "China's sectoral strategies in energy conservation and carbon mitigation," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(sup1), pages 60-80, December.
    3. Hoffmann, Volker H., 2007. "EU ETS and Investment Decisions:: The Case of the German Electricity Industry," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 25(6), pages 464-474, December.
    4. M. Hashem Pesaran, 2007. "A simple panel unit root test in the presence of cross-section dependence," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(2), pages 265-312.
    5. Barry Anderson & Frank Convery & Corrado Di Maria, 2010. "Technological Change And The EU ETS: The Case Of Ireland," Economics Working Papers 10-06, Queen's Management School, Queen's University Belfast.
    6. Joachim Schleich & Regina Betz, 2004. "EU emissions trading and transaction costs for small and medium sized companies," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics;Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), vol. 39(3), pages 121-123, May.
    7. T. S. Breusch & A. R. Pagan, 1980. "The Lagrange Multiplier Test and its Applications to Model Specification in Econometrics," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 47(1), pages 239-253.
    8. Zivot, Eric & Andrews, Donald W K, 2002. "Further Evidence on the Great Crash, the Oil-Price Shock, and the Unit-Root Hypothesis," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 20(1), pages 25-44, January.
    9. M. Hashem Pesaran & Aman Ullah & Takashi Yamagata, 2008. "A bias-adjusted LM test of error cross-section independence," Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 11(1), pages 105-127, March.
    10. Pesaran, M. Hashem & Vanessa Smith, L. & Yamagata, Takashi, 2013. "Panel unit root tests in the presence of a multifactor error structure," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 175(2), pages 94-115.
    11. Lu, Yi & Tao, Zhigang, 2009. "Contract enforcement and family control of business: Evidence from China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 597-609, December.
    12. Toda, Hiro Y. & Yamamoto, Taku, 1995. "Statistical inference in vector autoregressions with possibly integrated processes," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1-2), pages 225-250.
    13. Gao, Zhiyuan & Li, Lianqing & Hao, Yu, 2024. "Resource industry dependence and high-quality economic development of Chinese style: Reexamining the effect of the “Resource Curse”," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 1-16.
    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. Durusu-Ciftci, Dilek & Ispir, M. Serdar & Kok, Dundar, 2019. "Do stock markets follow a random walk? New evidence for an old question," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 165-175.
    2. Nazlioglu, Saban & Karul, Cagin, 2017. "A panel stationarity test with gradual structural shifts: Re-investigate the international commodity price shocks," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 181-192.
    3. Xie, Zixiong & Chen, Shyh-Wei & Wu, An-Chi, 2020. "The foreign exchange and stock market nexus: New international evidence," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 240-266.
    4. Feyyaz Zeren & Nazlıgül Gülcan & Samet Gürsoy & İbrahim Halil Ekşi & Mosab I. Tabash & Magdalena Radulescu, 2023. "The Relationship between Geothermal Energy Consumption, Foreign Direct Investment, and Economic Growth in Geothermal Consumer Countries: Evidence from Panel Fourier Causality Test," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-15, January.
    5. Asiye Tutuncu & Yasar Bayraktar, 2024. "The effect of democracy and corruption paradox on economic growth: MINT countries," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 1-25, August.
    6. Muhammad Shahbaz & Syed Jawad Hussain Shahzad & Mantu Kumar Mahalik & Perry Sadorsky, 2018. "How strong is the causal relationship between globalization and energy consumption in developed economies? A country-specific time-series and panel analysis," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(13), pages 1479-1494, March.
    7. Durusu-Ciftci, Dilek & Soytas, Ugur & Nazlioglu, Saban, 2020. "Financial development and energy consumption in emerging markets: Smooth structural shifts and causal linkages," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    8. Schneider, Nicolas & Strielkowski, Wadim, 2023. "Modelling the unit root properties of electricity data—A general note on time-domain applications," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 618(C).
    9. Yuan, Shengjun & Musibau, Hammed Oluwaseyi & Genç, Sema Yılmaz & Shaheen, Riffat & Ameen, Anam & Tan, Zhixiong, 2021. "Digitalization of economy is the key factor behind fourth industrial revolution: How G7 countries are overcoming with the financing issues?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    10. Adekoya, Oluwasegun B. & Oliyide, Johnson A. & Fasanya, Ismail O., 2022. "Renewable and non-renewable energy consumption – Ecological footprint nexus in net-oil exporting and net-oil importing countries: Policy implications for a sustainable environment," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 524-534.
    11. Le, Thai-Ha & Chang, Youngho & Park, Donghyun, 2016. "Trade openness and environmental quality: International evidence," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 45-55.
    12. Samia Nasreen, 2021. "Association between health expenditures, economic growth and environmental pollution: Long‐run and causality analysis from Asian economies," International Journal of Health Planning and Management, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(3), pages 925-944, May.
    13. Tsangyao Chang & Chien-Chiang Lee & Hsiao-Ping Chu, 2015. "Revisiting the Defense-Growth nexus in European countries," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(3), pages 341-356, June.
    14. Andriansyah, Andriansyah & Messinis, George, 2019. "Stock Prices, Exchange Rates and Portfolio Equity Flows: A Toda-Yamamoto Panel Causality Test," MPRA Paper 97992, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Jean-François Hoarau & Nicolas Lucic, 2022. "Are real merchandise imports per capita a good predictor for the standard of living for the small island world: Testing for the imports-led growth and the growth-led imports hypotheses in panels over ," TEPP Working Paper 2022-16, TEPP.
    16. Haider Mahmood & Ateeq ur Rehman Irshad & Muhammad Tanveer, 2024. "Do innovation and renewable energy transition play their role in environmental sustainability in Western Europe?," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-9, December.
    17. Hossain, Mohammad Razib & Rao, Amar & Sharma, Gagan Deep & Dev, Dhairya & Kharbanda, Aeshna, 2024. "Empowering energy transition: Green innovation, digital finance, and the path to sustainable prosperity through green finance initiatives," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    18. Yixing Yang & Md. Qamruzzaman & Mohd Ziaur Rehman & Salma Karim, 2021. "Do Tourism and Institutional Quality Asymmetrically Effects on FDI Sustainability in BIMSTEC Countries: An Application of ARDL, CS-ARDL, NARDL, and Asymmetric Causality Test," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-29, September.
    19. Jide Zhang & Mushtaq Ahmad & Tufail Muhammad & Furqan Syed & Xu Hong & Muhmmad Khan, 2023. "The Impact of the Financial Industry and Globalization on Environmental Quality," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-18, January.
    20. Muhammad Azam, 2022. "Governance and Economic Growth: Evidence from 14 Latin America and Caribbean Countries," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 13(2), pages 1470-1495, June.

    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:16:y:2024:i:14:p:5828-:d:1431384. 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.