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Does the Squeaky Wheel Get More Grease? The Direct and Indirect Effects of Citizen Participation on Environmental Governance in China

Author

Listed:
  • Mark Buntaine
  • Michael Greenstone
  • Guojun He
  • Mengdi Liu
  • Shaoda Wang
  • Bing Zhang

Abstract

We conducted a nationwide field experiment in China to evaluate the direct and indirect impacts of assigning firms to public or private citizen appeals when they violate pollution standards. There are three main findings. First, public appeals to the regulator through social media substantially reduce violations and pollution emissions, while private appeals cause more modest environmental improvements. Second, public appeals appear to tilt regulators’ focus away from facilitating economic growth and toward avoiding pollution-induced public unrest. Third, pollution reductions by treated firms are not offset by control firms, based on randomly varying the proportion of treatment firms at the prefecture-level.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark Buntaine & Michael Greenstone & Guojun He & Mengdi Liu & Shaoda Wang & Bing Zhang, 2022. "Does the Squeaky Wheel Get More Grease? The Direct and Indirect Effects of Citizen Participation on Environmental Governance in China," NBER Working Papers 30539, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:30539
    Note: DEV EEE LE PE POL
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    Cited by:

    1. Chen, Fanglin & Zhang, Tianzi & Chen, Zhongfei, 2024. "Assessment of environmental concern for enterprise pollution reduction," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 772-786.
    2. Fanlin Kong & Shaojun Chen & Jie Gou, 2023. "How Does Differential Public Participation Influence Outcome Justice in Energy Transitions? Evidence from a Waste-to-Energy (WTE) Project in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-15, December.
    3. Liu, Yazhou & Cheng, Yunqian & Li, Tianshu & Ni, Jinlan & Norman, Stephen, 2024. "Information disclosure and public participation in environmental management: Evidence from the river chief system in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    4. Rafael Araujo & Francisco Costa & Teevrat Garg, 2022. "Public Attention and Environmental Action: Evidence from Fires in the Amazon," CESifo Working Paper Series 9897, CESifo.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • K32 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Energy, Environmental, Health, and Safety Law
    • P28 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - Natural Resources; Environment
    • Q52 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Pollution Control Adoption and Costs; Distributional Effects; Employment Effects

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