The impact of industrial distribution on the distribution of pollution: Evidence from China

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the effect of industrial development strategies on the distribution of pollution in China. For this purpose, it uses the Theil index to measure the degree to which pollution was concentrated in particular areas of China from 2003 to 2015. Using chart analysis, it shows that industries became more widely spread out over time, and finds water-polluted cities but no air-polluted cities in areas of high industry concentration. Employing estimates from the Theil indices, I find that, while the within-region and between-region imbalances of industrial output were both reduced by the strategic plan, the speed of water pollution diversion does not align with the overall movement of industries, and there is not much between-region movement in wastewater pollution. The distribution of soot emissions is found to differ significantly from that of industrial output, with negligible initial levels and subsequent changes in the between-region concentration of soot emissions. Most of the initial concentration and changes in concentration are within region, suggesting that industrial development strategies have helped spread industries out more evenly. Meanwhile, the distribution of industries is found to have changed the distribution of water pollution, but it did not have any impact on the concentration of air pollution.