Environmental Protection Expenditure Research Articles

Using an Artificial Neural Networks Approach to Assess the Links Among Environmental Protection Expenditure, Energy use and Growth in Finland

Using an Artificial Neural Networks Approach to Assess the Links Among Environmental Protection Expenditure, Energy use and Growth in Finland

Long-Term Elasticity of Environmental Demand: Environmental Protection Expenditures in Sweden, 1972–2020

This study uses reconstructions of historical Environmental Protection Expenditure Accounts (EPEA) in Sweden from 1970–2020 to present a time series approach that analyses the demand for environmental services. The paper’s aim is to analyse environmental adaptation as a historical, economic and environmental process and to explore structural shifts suggestive of an overall periodisation of environmental demand. The article contributes to a deeper understanding of demand-side factors in environmental adaptation as part of contemporary economic history. The investigation also provides evidence that the income elasticity of environmental demand was slightly higher than 1.0 and largely stable over time, and even though we were able to detect trend breaks, there is insufficient evidence for major structural breaks suggesting sharp shifts in societal environmental preferences. Policies requiring sharply rising environmental expenditures should consider this level of historical stability. This article was published open access under a CC BY licence: https://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0 .

Joint prevention and control, cross-regional governance: An evolutionary game analysis of fiscal environmental protection expenditure strategies

The ability to form a collaborative governance alliance is crucial to the in-depth promotion of pollution prevention and control. Starting from the perspective of regional development imbalance, this paper uses an evolutionary game model to explore how initial strategy choice, game order, financial and environmental protection expenditure efficiency, and total factor productivity affect the formation and stabilization of the cooperative alliance of “joint prevention and control, cross-regional governance”. The study shows that strategic interactions between governments can lead to “cooperative” or “collusive” outcomes and that game order and initial strategy play a key role in the formation of these outcomes. In addition, changes in parameters such as fiscal and environmental expenditure efficiency and total factor productivity can greatly affect the evolutionary path and the speed of convergence. Particularly in less developed regions, fiscal and environmental spending efficiency plays a crucial role in promoting government “cooperation”, which tends to be weakened by increases in total factor productivity. In contrast, economically developed regions tend to favor “cooperation” and “investment” strategies. This study provides valuable policy recommendations for enhancing interregional cooperation in environmental governance.

Analyzing the impact of tax-based vs. rent-based funding on the effectiveness of environmental protection policies

The necessity of government intervention, particularly through public spending, to address market failure in providing public goods like environmental quality is widely recognized. However, the effectiveness of fiscal environmental policies in improving the environment remains unclear. This paper aims to explore the impact of funding sources for government expenditures on environmental quality. Using a Ramsey growth model, we investigate the consequences of two alternative funding sources for environmental protection: Taxes and natural resources rents. The model highlights that along the balanced growth path, financing environmental spending through taxes enhances environmental quality, while funding from natural resources rents leads to its deterioration. Furthermore, the model emphasizes the crucial role of socio-political institutions governing the economy in understanding the link between environmental protection expenditures and environmental outcomes. To test the model's propositions, we utilize a panel dataset of 76 countries spanning from 1995 to 2018. Our empirical findings corroborate the notion that the funding sources of environmental protection expenditures significantly impact environmental outcomes. Additionally, the results indicate that higher institutional quality, such as greater state capacity, enhances the effectiveness of the government's environmental spending in improving environmental quality. Our findings offer valuable insights for policymakers and researchers seeking to design effective strategies for environmental preservation and sustainable growth.

Uncovering time-, frequency- and quantile-based impacts of energy, fiscal policy instruments, and economic growth on sustainable development

ABSTRACT Hampering environmental deterioration and limiting global warming has become a significant task for policymakers at the global level in order to achieve sustainable development. Dozens of studies have questioned various policy instruments, but the role of fiscal policy instruments for sustainable development has not yet been extensively examined. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the impact of fiscal policy tools, economic development, and renewable energy (REN) utilization on sustainable development, represented by the load capacity factor (LCF). The study focuses on Germany from 1995Q1 to 2021Q4 using novel wavelet- and quantile-based estimation methods. The empirical evidence shows a time- and frequency-based dependency between fiscal policy tools, economic growth, REN utilization, and sustainable development. Economic growth and REN utilization enhance sustainable development through their positive impacts, especially at higher quantiles. The potential positive impact of REN utilization offers hope for ensuring sustainable development and preserving the ecology for the well-being of future generations. Despite the limited positive impact of a specific tax-based fiscal policy instrument, the overall effect of tax-based policy instruments on sustainable development is negative across all quantiles. Protection-based fiscal policy instruments, namely environmental protection expenditures, promote ecological sustainability in higher quantiles. These findings have significant implications regarding ensuring a sustainable future for German policymakers. In this regard, German policymakers should not rely on tax-based fiscal policies to improve ecological sustainability. Instead, they should consider promoting ecological protection expenditures to strengthen sustainable development.

Measurement and Influencing Factors of Total Factor Water Resources Utilization Efficiency in the Yellow River Basin

This paper focuses on the total factor water resources utilization efficiency (WRUE) as the research object, employing the Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) model based on the transcendental logarithmic production function to measure the WRUE of nine provinces in the Yellow River Basin of China from 2012 to 2021, obtains WRUE values for each province. And then, we perform a regression analysis of influencing factors using the Tobit model. The results indicate that: (1) The average value of WRUE of nine provinces in the Yellow River Basin is 0.541, which deviates greatly from the fully effective frontier of SFA, with an overall downward trend during the study period. (2) There is a significant polarization of WRUE among the provinces. Inner Mongolia exhibits the highest WRUE at 0.978, close to the SFA efficient frontier, while Ningxia has the lowest WRUE at only 0.314; the remaining provinces display efficiency values between 0.4 and 0.6. (3) Among the influencing factors affecting the WRUE, the value added of the primary industry, per capita disposable income, and the number of reservoirs have a significant positive impact on the WRUE. In contrast, the value added of the secondary industry, local financial environmental protection expenditures, comprehensive water supply production capacity, and per capita daily water consumption negatively affect the WRUE.

Financial Commitment to a Greener Future: Investigating Environmental Protection Spending and Its Impact on Sustainable Development Goals

This research examines the role of environmental protection expenditure (EPE) in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within seven Asian countries: China, Indonesia, Israel, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand. Focusing on SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), SDG 14 (Life Below Water), and SDG 15 (Life on Land), the research assesses the impact of financial commitments on sustainable development outcomes. Using panel data analysis, the study evaluates the relationship between EPE and the selected SDGs while controlling for economic growth, foreign direct investment (FDI), income inequality, and trade as a percentage of GDP. Results show that increased environmental spending significantly improves clean water access, urban sustainability, responsible consumption, marine conservation, and terrestrial biodiversity. Countries with robust environmental protection frameworks and higher investments in green technologies demonstrate better SDG performance. South Korea's Green New Deal and China's renewable energy investments serve as successful models of integrating economic growth with environmental sustainability. Conversely, Indonesia and the Philippines face challenges in enforcing environmental regulations, underscoring the need for stronger governance. The study highlights the importance of strategic financial commitments to environmental protection in driving sustainable development. It provides insights for policymakers, businesses, and international organizations aiming to align economic activities with sustainability goals. Emphasizing effective governance, innovative financing, and public-private partnerships, the research contributes to the discourse on achieving a greener future for Asia

The Efficiency of Financing Environmental Protection Measures in the Context of Ukraine’s Future Membership in the EU

In recent decades, humanity has had a significant negative impact on the environment. This problem can be solved only by establishing a rational environmental management policy and ensuring an effective financial policy in the context of balancing emissions and expenditures on environmental protection measures. The purpose of this article is to analyze the efficiency of financing environmental protection measures by determining the dependence of pollutant emissions on environmental protection expenditures in Ukraine and the European Union. The following methods were used for the study: analysis, synthesis, generalization, comparison, specification, and statistical and graphical methods. The statistical information was systematized on the basis of open data from the Open Budget web portal, the State Statistics Service, and Eurostat. This study identified the dynamics of revenues from environmental taxes in Ukraine; taxes on air emissions prevail. Most of the expenditures are made from the state budget. According to the functional classification, environmental expenditures are mainly aimed at preventing and eliminating environmental pollution. The dynamics of capital investments in environmental protection were also studied. To assess the effectiveness of the state policy in the field of environmental protection, we analyzed the dependence of pollutant emissions in Ukraine, Poland, and Romania on the amount of environmental expenditures and investments in this area and revenues from environmental tax. In Ukraine, the amount of pollutants released into the atmosphere depends mostly on investments in this area; in Poland—on revenues from environmental taxes; and in Romania—on expenditures on environmental protection. It has been established that the obtained models are adequate and can be used to build future forecasts of pollutant emissions. Directions for the development of financial and environmental policy are proposed. Post-war restoration of the environmental situation should be carried out on the basis of sustainable development, focusing on the European Green Deal A triple-task approach should be implemented, including environmental restoration, the minimization of negative climate change and balanced use of resources, and the expansion of powers of the relevant ministry with a focus on the strategic goals of the state policy. It is necessary to develop methodological recommendations according to international standards to assess the real state of the environment.

EFFICIENCY OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION EXPENDITURE OF THE GENERAL GOVERNMENTS IN EUROPEAN UNION MEMBER STATES IN THE CONTEXT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN WASTE MANAGEMENT

Aim: Pursuing sustainable development justifies incurring expenditure in the field of environmental protection because the state’s active fiscal policy is an essential determinant of achieving sustainable development goals. The distribution of public funds should depend on the efficiency of their use. The purpose of the research procedure is (1) to analyze the structure of environmental protection expenditure of the general government in the European Union and the individual member states; (2) to assess the efficiency of environmental protection expenditure of the general government in the implementation of sustainable development goals in waste management. Methods: The study uses linear regression with regression confidence bounds. The indicator chosen to assess the efficiency of expenditure was the Recycling rate of municipal waste (SDG_11_60). Results: The structure of environmental protection expenditure of the general government in most member states in 2012–2021 was stable, which may result from the adopted national environmental policies or internal conditions of a given country. Waste management expenditure dominates the structure of environmental protection expenditure of the general government in many countries. The analysis of the efficiency of environmental protection expenditure of the general government in waste management confirmed its efficiency in a significant number of states. Conclusions: The research procedure indicated that positive relations between general spending on the environment and achieving sustainable goals can be confirmed. Unfortunately, there is a problem with data consistency of various indicators measuring sustainable goals. Therefore, extending such research to a multiple factor case, for example, can be difficult.

Peer effects of firm environmental protection expenditures

This study investigates the existence and influencing factors of peer effects in firms’ environmental protection expenditures (EPE). Using data from Chinese A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2021, we find that firm EPE decisions are positively influenced by the average level of peer firms within the same industry. Furthermore, we document that the peer effects of firm EPE are more significant when firms are covered by the new Environmental Protection Law and analysts. We also find that the peer effects of EPE can increase firm value, indicating that peer effects can enhance the scientificity and legitimacy of decision-making. To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first to investigate the influencing factors of firm EPE decisions from the perspective of peer effects, which can provide empirical evidence for firms’ green behavioral decisions and the formulation of environmental regulation policies.

Innovation and environmental protection: An EU perspective

The objective of this paper is to explore how environmental protection expenditures (EPE) affect innovation and investigate the potential causal relationship between the two variables. The novelty and main contribution of our paper to the literature stems from the fact that we look at total environmental protection expenditures from both the public and private sectors, and distinguishing between corporations and households in the private sectors. We also consider both inputs and outputs of innovation and address potential endogeneity issues in this relationship, which are both lacking in the current literature. Using a panel of EU countries over the period 2006–2020, this study generally finds a positive impact of EPE on innovation after controlling for the effects of trade, credit, education and inflation on innovation, and using the System GMM estimator to treat endogeneity. Moreover, EPE from the government sector drives the bulk of this positive impact. The core results are robust to alternative measures of innovation, alternative estimation techniques that address endogeneity (i.e., the Lewbel 2SLS, Mundlak, and Hausman-Taylor estimators) and the moderation effects of Climate Change Performance (CCPI). This study also provides a useful guide to policy makers engaged in environmental planning.

Spatio-temporal evolution and influencing factors of high quality economic development: Case study of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area

With the increase in global economic integration, high-quality economic development (HQED) has become a common goal of all countries. Based on these five development concepts, this paper uses the Gini coefficient, trend surface analysis, geographically weighted regression (GWR), the entropy weighting method, and standard deviation ellipse analysis to study the spatio-temporal pattern and driving mechanism of HQED in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). This paper examines the spatial and temporal patterns and driving mechanisms of HQED in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) based on five development concepts. The study revealed that (1) HQED is on the rise overall, but at the same time, it highlights the uneven development of multiple dimensions, especially in terms of significant differences in innovation, openness, and sharing. (2) HQED shows a clear center-periphery structure, with Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong as the core high-value areas; the growth rate of HQED capacity in the internal areas is significantly greater than that in the external areas, and HQED is prominent in the cities around Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong. (3) Factors such as agglomeration level, human capital, foreign investment, infrastructure development, financial and environmental protection expenditures, and financial inputs, and scientific, and technological inputs have a significant positive effect on HQED, and their interactions are further strengthened. This study reveals the importance of the realization of HQED in the GBA and the promotion of the overall development of the region.

Effectiveness of environmental protection expenditures and resource tax policy in the Netherland's load capacity factor: Do government effectiveness and renewable energy matter? Evidence from Fourier augmented ARDL

Several environmental policy actions are taken nationally and internationally to tackle environmental problems and ensure environmental sustainability. In this context, the importance of public economic instruments emerges. The Netherlands follows a stricter environmental protection expenditure and resource tax policy than the OECD and EU countries. Starting from this perspective, we investigate the effect of environmental protection expenditures, resource tax, government effectiveness, economic growth, and renewable energy on the load capacity factor in the Netherlands using data from 1996 to 2021. Methodologically, a Fourier-based econometric methodology is followed. The findings imply that environmental protection expenditures and resource tax implemented in the Netherlands are effective policies for ensuring environmental sustainability. Similarly, renewable energy policies and the level of government effectiveness contribute positively to environmental sustainability. Finally, economic growth negatively affects environmental sustainability by increasing environmental pressure. We subjected the findings to robustness analysis using Fourier-based methods and found that the findings were valid. To maximize the benefits of policies (resource tax and environmental protection expenditure), policymakers should make commitments to the use of the revenue generated and center efforts to build biocapacity on green technological innovations.

Comparative benefits of environmental protection expenditures and environmental taxes in driving environmental quality of the European countries

AbstractEnvironmental protection and tax policies are part of the crucial pillars and the evolving aspects of environmental sustainability drive. These policies are increasingly employed to counter the 21st century's global climate problem alongside providing economic relief for the implementing economies. Being on the frontier (i.e., the European Union [EU]) of these policies, the current study examines and compares the impacts of environmental protection expenditures and environmental tax on energy consumption on the ploy to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the panel of EU member countries. With the use of system generalized method of moments and panel causality analyses, the study established the effectiveness of both environmental protection expenditure and environmental tax at improving environmental quality by respectively mitigating GHG emissions by elasticities of ~2.08 and ~0.18. Importantly, environmental protection expenditure is found to be about two times more effective at mitigating GHG emissions than environmental tax policy, thus providing a novel perspective in the literature. Moreover, energy intensity and Gross Domestic Product help to improve environmental quality by mitigating GHG emissions while population causes more pollutant effects. Additionally, the investigation reveals evidence of Granger causality from environmental protection expenditure to GHG emissions in seven of the EU countries and Granger causality from environmental tax to GHG emissions in 10 European countries. Notably, measurable dimensions of policy guidelines that are relevant for globally and/or nationally defined sustainable development goals are induced from the result of this investigation.

A comparative study on the selection of the most suitable route for the collection and transportation of municipal solid waste

Worldwide, approximately US$410 billion is spent annually on the management of four billion tons of domestic solid waste (MSW). The transportation cost alone accounts for more than 50% of the total expenditure on solid waste management. This cost constitutes approximately 85% of the collection and transportation cost. 54.4% of environmental protection expenditures cover waste services. The population of the Barış neighborhood in the Kayapınar district of Diyarbakır, which is the subject of this study, is 23 581 according to the 2020 TUIK data. The average amount of waste produced per person in a month is 7.6 kg/person. In the results of these statistics, it has been seen that the investment costs in the transportation of wastes are increasing day by day. In this study, the performance of ant colony and genetic algorithms, which are among the artificial intelligence techniques, and route optimization using GIS (geographic information system) software were tried to be achieved to solve the GSP (traveling salesman problem), which is included in the route planning problems. The results of the study showed that savings were achieved with an improvement of 15.1576% in GIS, 29.8104% in GA (Genetic algorithm) and 40.5171% in ACS (Ant Colony System) compared to real life. As a result of the application, it has been observed that the ant colony algorithm is superior to the Genetic algorithm and GIS, as it draws a shorter route in terms of distance and obtains a better result in terms of improvement rate.

Financial assessment of the implementation of state policy measures in the field of environmental protection: macroeconomic aspect

In the current article, financial aspects of the state environmental policy in Russia at the present stage are observed. The authors study the scale of financial resources allocated for environmental protection at the macroeconomic level in the context of ensuring environmental safety. The review of periodical press materials allowed us to highlight the most pressing issues of eco-investment. When processing statistical data to conduct an analysis of the costs of implementing environmental measures and assessing dissipation of funds in the main categories of expenses, the authors used dyna mic and structural methods of economic analysis with determination of absolute and relative difference. A comparative method was implied in comparing retrospective information to monitor annual budget allocations for the needs of ecology alongside with the table method combined with the graphical one. The assessment of expenditures for environmental protection in Russia for 2017–2021 showed an annual stable growth with an almost twofold increase in the whole five years. A structural analysis in the context of environmental protection activities allowed us to identify the dominant cost items as the most significant in the implementation of state environmental policy. A comparative analysis of the unit costs of environmental protection in percentage of gross domestic product through international comparisons indicates the underfunding of this area by Russian state authorities. The limited amount of finance to ensure rational use of natural resources requires implementing principal measures in accordance with the main priorities of state policy in the field along with application of the most effective ecological and economic tools.

Zoning strategies for ecological restoration in the karst region of Guangdong province, China: a perspective from the “social-ecological system”

Ecological restoration holds great significance in addressing environmental degradation and rock desertification in karst areas. Zoning strategy is a fundamental task in understanding the interrelationship between human-environment to foster sustainable development. We explore “social-ecological” system and conduct a case study on the karst region in Guangdong Province, China. An evaluation framework consists of “development pressure”, “sensitivity status”, and “resilience potential” was established. The results show that: regions with high pressure of development are predominantly located in high-density urban areas. The generally distribution of the comprehensive status index exhibits significant spatial heterogeneity. Regions with low sensitivity are found on the eastern and western sides of the study area. The comprehensive resilience values are largely influenced by per capita energy-saving and environmental protection expenditures. The restoration zones mainly concentrated in the contiguous regions of the northwestern and southern parts, covering more than half of the total area. The conservation zones are more numerous and primarily situated in the northern and eastern parts. By integrating socio-economic and ecological factors, this study proposes ecological restoration strategies for specific zones. It helps for improve development issues arising from complex interactions between human-environment, facilitating the implementation of restoration practices.

Can Turkey’s Environmental Pollution be Mitigated by Carbon Footprint of Bank Loans, Environmental Protection Expenditures and Taxes?

Can Turkey’s Environmental Pollution be Mitigated by Carbon Footprint of Bank Loans, Environmental Protection Expenditures and Taxes?

Measurement and influencing factors of TFEE, and potentials of energy conservation and emission reduction in china based on GW-SBM and bootstrap model

With the aggravation of energy shortage and ecological deterioration, it becomes more and more essential for China to improve energy efficiency and realize the targets of energy conservation and emission reduction. This paper focuses on the measurement of the total factor energy efficiency (TFEE), the potentials of energy conservation and emission reduction, and the influencing factors of TFEE in China. Firstly, the model of Gray Weight Slack-Based Measure (GW-SBM) is established, with the weights of the indicators obtained via the grey relational analysis method, to calculate the TFEE of thirty provinces and six regions in China from 2009 to 2019. Then, the potentials of energy conservation and emission reduction are analyzed on the basis of TFEE measurements. Finally, the influencing factors of TFEE are identified via the truncated bootstrap model. The findings show that the TFEE values of 30 provinces fluctuate in the range of 0.20 and 1.0, varying significantly among provinces. Energy conservation potential reached 8.7490 million tons of standard coal (potential 39.06%), which means that more than one-third of energy consumption is inefficient. The top two factors in the TFEE measurement identified by the truncated bootstrap model, are energy consumption structure and environmental protection expenditure. Based on the research conclusions, this paper puts forward some countermeasures and suggestions.

Is there heterogeneity and moderating effect of carbon trading pilot in promoting total factor productivity?

In order to analyze what factors may affect the role of carbon trading pilot in promoting total factor productivity, this paper constructs DID model combining information of listed companies with city and industry characteristics. The moderating effect model is used to research the influence of firms' induced behavior. The results show that (1) the characteristics of a city can influence the impact of carbon trading pilot, which is associated with the city's dominant industry, resource endowment, and geographical location; (2) the effect of carbon trading pilot is heterogeneous, primarily indicating a stronger effect on high-emission industries, while having no significant impact on high-pollution industries; and (3) the induced behavior of businesses, such as increasing green innovation and environmental protection expenditure, potentially "crowding out" the effects of the carbon trading pilot.