Analyzing synergies and efficiency of reducing CO2 and air pollutants in the case of China’s three-year action plan to fight air pollution

Abstract

Different from existing studies that only analyze the emission reduction efficiency or mitigation of a single pollutant by the air pollutant control policy, this study focuses on synergies and efficiency of reducing CO2 and air pollutants. We select the panel data from 30 provinces and cities in China from 2013 to 2020, and apply the difference-in-differences model to assess China’s three-year action plan to fight air pollution (referred to as the three-year action plan). To distinguish the method of measuring single pollution emission efficiency, we calculate synergistic efficiency of reducing CO2 and air pollutants emissions through the super-efficiency slack-based measure model which considering various pollutants as undesirable outputs. Furthermore, this study conducted regional heterogeneity analysis of resource endowments by incorporating interactive items of regional dummy variables. The results of study demonstrate the three-year action plan achieve synergies and efficiency of reducing CO2 and air pollutants. And the policy effects are also more pronounced in non-resource-based regions. Furthermore, the three-year action plan enhances management level and the potential for synergistic mitigation, as well as the beneficial effects on resource allocation efficiency and capacity improvement in key regions.