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Does environmental regulation reduce China’s haze pollution? An empirical analysis based on panel quantile regression

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  • Congxin Li
  • Guozhu Li

Abstract

Haze pollution in China is very serious and has become the source of mortality, affecting the health and lives of residents. The Chinese government adopts different policy measures to reduce haze pollution. The impact of different types of environmental regulations on haze pollution has become a hot topic for academics and government departments. Based on panel data from 2005–2017, this paper studies the effect of different types of environmental regulations on haze pollution in 30 provinces of China using a panel quantile model. The results show that when haze pollution changes from a low quantile to a high quantile, the marginal impact of command-and-control environmental regulation on haze pollution changes from 0.122 to -0.332. Command-and-control environmental regulation can reduce haze pollution, but its impact is not significant. The main reason for this finding is that environmental law enforcement is not strict. The marginal impact of economically restrained environmental regulation on haze pollution changes from -14.389 to 49.939. Economically restrained environmental regulation can reduce haze pollution in low quantiles, but not in high quantiles. The collection of sewage charges fees is far less than the total profit, which has no deterrent effect on enterprises. The marginal impact of public participation in environmental regulation on haze pollution changes from 0.154 to -0.002. Public participation in environmental regulation cannot reduce haze pollution in low quantiles, but can in high quantiles; however its impact becomes insignificant. This study reveals the quantile-based discrepancy in the effect of environmental regulation on haze pollution, and offers a new perspective for research on the effects of environmental regulation.

Suggested Citation

  • Congxin Li & Guozhu Li, 2020. "Does environmental regulation reduce China’s haze pollution? An empirical analysis based on panel quantile regression," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(10), pages 1-14, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0240723
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0240723
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Xinjin Li & Ruyin Long, 2021. "Dynamic Impact of Environmental Regulation on Environmental Performance in China: New Evidence from a Semiparametric Additive Panel Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-14, September.
    2. Xiaolin Wang & Zhenyang Li, 2024. "Re-Examination of the Relationship between Industrial Agglomeration and Haze Pollution: From the Perspective of the Spatial Moderating Effect of Environmental Regulation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-19, September.

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