Can Low-Carbon City Pilot Policies Reduce Environmental Pollution?  Evidence From Prefecture-Level Data in China

Ying Zhong

doi:10.54691/40crve68

Authors

Ying Zhong

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54691/40crve68

Keywords:

Low-carbon pilot cities, difference-in-differences, pollution reduction and emission reduction.

Abstract

Based on the second batch of low-carbon city pilot policies in 2013 as a quasi-natural experiment, this study adopts the panel data of 212 cities in China from 2007 to 2017, and uses the difference-in-differences model (DID) to carry out a policy evaluation of the pollution reduction and emission reduction effects of the low-carbon pilot policies and further analyzes the transmission mechanism. Based on the DID method, the actual impacts of the government's low-carbon call policy and low-carbon governance policy on the urban ecological environment are examined. It is found that compared with non-pilot cities, low-carbon governance construction in low-carbon pilot cities significantly reduces pollutant emissions in the region. Analysis of the transmission mechanism reveals that urban low-carbon governance strengthens the strength of environmental policies and reduces urban carbon and pollutant emissions through the low-carbon treatment of urban waste and the low-carbon industrial structure. The test of regional heterogeneity found that the effect of pollution reduction and emission reduction is more significant in the eastern cities, high population concentrated cities and more economically developed cities. The results are still significant after replacing the explanatory variables with sulphur dioxide content and excluding extreme outliers. Therefore, the emission reduction policy has a significant contribution to improving the urban environment and reducing pollution emissions.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

C.J. Liu, Z.B. Zhou, Q. Liu, et al. Can a low-carbon development path achieve win-win development: evidence from China Can a low-carbon development path achieve win-win development: evidence from China's low-carbon pilot policy, Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, vol. 25 (2019), 1199-1219.

T. Feng, Z.G. Lin, H.B. Du, et al.Does low-carbon pilot city program reduce carbon intensity? Evidence from Chinese cities, Research in International Business and Finance, vol.58(2021), 101450.

S. Saimova, G. Makenova, A. Skakova, et al. Towards a low-carbon economic sustainable development: scenarios and policies for kazakhstan, International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy,vol.10(2020), 638-646.

X.T. Sun, Z.H. Wang. Can Chinese families achieve a low-carbon lifestyle? An empirical test of china's low-carbon pilot policy, Frontiers in Energy Research,vol.9(2021),655733.

Q. Sun, Q.S. Wu, J.H. Cheng, et al. How Industrialization Stage Moderates the Impact of China's Low-Carbon Pilot Policy, Sustainability, vol.12(2020),10577.

R.R. Deng, A.X. Zhang, M. Chen. The impact and spillover effects of low-carbon pilot policies on ecological efficiency: an empirical analysis based on spatial double difference, Research World, vol.1(2022), 38-47.

H. Song, Y.J. Sun, D.K. Chen. Evaluation of the Effect of Government Air Pollution Control: An Empirical Study from the Construction of "Low Carbon Cities" in China, Management World, vol.35(2019), 95-108+195.

H. Zhang. Can pilot low-carbon city policies reduce carbon emissions? --Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment, Economic Management, vol.42(2020), 25-41.

H.X. Wang,D.Q. Shi. Does new urbanization help alleviate haze pollution - empirical evidence from low-carbon city construction, Journal of Shanxi University of Finance and Economics, vol.41(2019), 15-27

Y.P. Tian, W.J. Song, M. Liu. An assessment of how environmental policy affects urban innovation: Evidence from China's low-carbon pilot cities program, Carbon Pilot Cities Program, Economic Analysis and Policy, vol.71(2021),41-56.

Q.Q. Wei. Explaining the emergence of low carbon forerunner cities based on the interaction effects of different governance processes: a case study of China's low carbon pilot, Carbon Management, vol.12(2021), 81-92.

N. Chen, G.Y. Zhuang. Assessment of the effectiveness of low-carbon pilot cities in China, Urban Development Research, vol.25(2018), 88-95+156.

M.Q. Gong, H.Y. Liu, X. Jiang. A study on the impact of China's low-carbon pilot policy on foreign direct investment, China Population-Resources and Environment, vol.29(2019), 50-57.

Z.Y. Chen, G. Yang, X.W. Bow. Analysis of the impact of carbon trading price on closed-loop supply chain decision-making under low-carbon policy, Practice and Understanding of Mathematics, vol.51(2021),1-9.

Y.L. Yao, X.Y. Shen. Environmental protection and economic efficiency of low-carbon pilot cities in China, Environment, Development and Sustainability,vol.1(2021), 1-24.

M.M. Hu, J.B. Wu, S.Y. Shi, et al. Research on eco-efficiency of municipal construction waste treatment - A case study of Chongqing, Construction Economy,vol.37(2016),82-87.

X.C. Hu, Z.H. Zhen. Resourceful treatment of municipal waste in environmental protection, Resource Conservation and Environmental Protection, vol.38(2022), 38-40+44.

C.C. Liu, J.Z. Wu. Toward Carbon Neutral Low Carbon Policy Development of UK Government and Enterprises, International Petroleum Economics, vol.29(2021), 83-91.

J. Lu, X.F. Wang. The impact of low-carbon pilot policy on technological innovation in Chinese cities-a quasi-natural experimental study based on low-carbon city pilots, Journal of China University of Geosciences (Social Science Edition), vol.19(2019), 128-141.

J. Xu, J.B. Cui. Low-carbon city and enterprise green technology innovation, China Industrial Economy, vol.12(2020), 178-196.

J. Peng, J. Li, Y. Ding. Analysis of the impact and mechanism of low-carbon city pilot policy on environmental pollution, Urban Issues,vol.10(2020), 88-97.

J. Qian, Q. Zhang. Systematic analysis of low-carbon economic transition and low-carbon policy planning in China, China Soft Science, vol.04(2011), 22-28+21.

Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. Accelerating the construction of waste incineration power generation facilities to improve the efficiency of harmless treatment of domestic waste. (Jilin Daily), 2013-07-30 (015).

W.G. Wang, X.L. Wang. Analysis of energy saving and emission reduction policy of China's high energy consumption enterprises based on evolutionary game, Research on Financial Issues, vol.04(2012), 75-82.

D.Z. Zhao,C.G. Wang. Research on supply chain enterprises' emission reduction decision-making considering low-carbon policy, Industrial Engineering, vol.17(2014), 105-111.

C.B. Zhong, D.M. Hu, Y.Z. Huang. Assessment of green innovation effects of low-carbon pilot policies - An empirical study from data of Chinese listed companies, Science and Technology Progress and Countermeasures, vol.37(2020), 113-122.

G.F. Zhuang. The logic of policy design for pilot low carbon cities in China, China Population-Resources and Environment, vol.30(2020), 19-28.

D. Zhou, F.N. Zhou, X.Q. Wang . Impact assessment and mechanism analysis of low-carbon pilot policies on urban carbon emission performance, Resource Science, vol.41(2019), 546-556.