Monitoring Technologies, Environmental Performance, and Health Outcomes: Evidence from China

In this study, we take the establishment of automatic surface water quality monitoring stations (automatic stations) in China as an example to explore the effects of adopting advanced monitoring technologies in enforcing environmental regulations. Automatic stations use real-time water quality monitoring and electronic-reporting technologies to go beyond traditional field inspection and monitoring and create novel enforcement approaches. We show that the establishment of downstream automatic stations significantly restrains industrial water pollution discharged and benefits human health. Specifically, the establishment of downstream automatic stations reduces wastewater emissions from upstream counties by 22%. Consequently, the death rate from digestive diseases decreases by 2.26 persons per 10,000 population and the life expectancy at birth increases by 3.14 years with the establishment of downstream automatic stations. This study provides clear evidence that advanced monitoring technology improves enforcement of environmental regulations, which brings significant health benefits and enhances social welfare.