Local Environmental Regulations Research Articles

Government environmental attention, credit supply and firms' green investment

This study employs textual analysis to construct a dataset reflecting the level of environmental attention by local governments and utilizes data from Chinese A-share listed companies between 2003 and 2020 as a sample to investigate the impact of local government's environmental attention on firms' green investment. The findings demonstrate that local government's environmental attention positively influences companies' green investment. Mechanism analyses reveal that local government's environmental attention primarily stimulates enterprise green investment by expanding the scale of green credit supply and reinforcing local environmental regulations. The effect of local government's environmental attention is more pronounced for state-owned enterprises, heavily polluting firms, large-scale firms, and firms with higher cash reserves and low financing constraint. Moreover, the influence is particularly significant in eastern China as well as regions characterized by lower ecological levels and stronger enforcement of environmental regulations.

Stringent sustainability regulations for global supply chains are supported across middle-income democracies

Expanded international trade and globalised production networks are increasing the environmental and social impacts in middle-income countries (GNI per capita $1,136-$13,845). High-income countries (>$13,845) are seeking to mitigate the negative impacts of domestic consumption by imposing new sustainability regulations on global supply chains. Recent evidence suggests that these regulations are broadly supported across high-income countries. However, it remains unclear whether citizens of middle-income countries support aligning domestic sustainability regulations with the measures developed by high-income countries. Concerns about economic competitiveness and foreign imposition could increase public resistance toward such alignment. Alternatively, desires for continued market access in high-income countries and aspirations for strengthening local environmental and labour regulations could foster support for alignment. Based on survey-embedded experiments in the three largest democratic non-OECD economies (Brazil, India, Indonesia), we find surprisingly strong support for domestic-based measures that are aligned with emerging global supply chain sustainability regulations. Our findings suggest that support is largely driven by positive impact expectations, where the future benefits of alignment are perceived as outweighing concerns about increased costs. These results bode well for initiatives to install stricter sustainability regulations for global supply chains that are acceptable not only in high-income economies but also in non-OECD countries.

Towards cities' green growth: The combined influence of economic growth targets and environmental regulations

Cities' green growth hinges on both sustained economic growth and ongoing ecological improvement. This study uniquely examines the roles of economic growth targets and environmental regulations in fostering this growth. Using China as a case study, we found that economic growth targets have a limited impact on cities' green growth due to varying outcomes from resource allocation strategies aimed at meeting these targets. A closer look at China's economic growth targets management model reveals that the pressures from meeting the ill-fitted economic growth targets often leads to green growth setbacks, with local governments prioritizing economic over green growth by relaxing environmental regulations. Therefore, we propose that cities can achieve a balance by setting realistic economic targets, with the central government enhancing oversight of local environmental regulations and adopting an innovation-driven development strategy for economic growth targets. This approach can make economic targets and environmental regulations work together to achieve green growth. Our empirical findings offer new insights into cities' governance for sustainable development.

The impact of green finance and local regulations on industrial green innovation efficiency in China.

When the incentive mechanism of green finance fails to fully promote green technology innovation in industrial enterprises, local government environmental regulations become an important tool in correcting this market failure. However, due to the "follow the cost" hypothesis, the moderating effect of the local government environmental regulation is heterogeneous. In order to explore the impact mechanism of green finance development on the efficiency of green technology innovation in industrial enterprises, spatial effects as well as the heterogeneous moderating effect of local government environmental regulation, this paper systematically evaluates the development level of green finance in 30 provinces in China from 2009 to 2019. It estimates the efficiency of green technology innovation in industrial enterprises using the super-efficiency SBM model, and empirically analyzes the impact mechanism and moderating effect using the spatial Durbin model. The results show that: (1) green finance not only positively impacts the efficiency improvement of green technology innovation in industrial enterprises but also has significant spatial spillover effects; (2) local government environmental regulation has a nonlinear "inverted U-shaped" moderating effect between the green finance development and the efficiency of green technology innovation in industrial enterprises. Based on the research conclusions, this paper proposes policy recommendations from the perspectives of deepening the regional connectivity of green finance and promoting joint regulation by local governments.

Pollution Transfer under Intergovernmental Competition: Suppression or Opportunity

In recent years, the Sustainable Development Goals have introduced a “race to the top” mechanism to complement the “race to the bottom” in local governance and have an impact on pollution. This study utilizes the environmentally oriented accreditation of National Civilized Cities as a policy shock and applies the PSM-DID method to identify the pollution-relocation effects among cities triggered by the competition in local governance. The results indicate that environmentally oriented intergovernmental competition leads to the transfer of industrial enterprises to non-accredited cities, resulting in a significant increase in their pollution emissions and industrial pollution intensity. This indicates that the competition in asymmetric local governance will lead to the transfer of pollution to backward regions, which hampers the overall implementation efficiency of national environmental policies. Furthermore, heterogeneity analysis reveals that the impact is more significant for cities in the central and western regions. Being nominated for the National Civilized City accreditation helps to inhibit the influx of polluting enterprises. Cities that are not part of integrated environmental regulatory regions show a more pronounced increase in pollution emissions compared to other cities, indicating that symmetric local government environmental regulations and environmental collaborative governance contribute to restraining pollution transfer.

Understanding Citizens’ Perceptions and Attitudes toward Energy Restructuring under China’s NDC for Quality of Life: A Case of Linfen City

China updated its NDC in 2020, pledging to achieve carbon peaking before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. To achieve these targets, China must revise its energy mix planning to increase energy security and meet the demand for low-carbon energy production to combat climate change. Linfen is one of the most important economic cities in Shanxi Province, which is one of China's most important coal-producing regions and is plagued by high pollution and high energy consumption. Linfen was chosen as the city of interest for this study due to being a coal hub and one of the most polluted cities in the nation. To ensure effective policy implementation, it is essential to investigate citizens understanding and integrate their perceptions into policy formulation. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the perceptions and attitudes of Linfen citizens regarding China's National Determined Contributions (NDCs) on energy transformation for enhancing quality of life. The questionnaire, containing 27 questions, was distributed online, and received 402 valid responses. The finding revealed that 72.14% of respondents indicated that people were concerned about climate change, and more than 80% agreed with the China NDC's target of increasing the use of renewable energy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve carbon neutrality. They also revealed that developing renewable energy projects based on China's NDCs could improve their quality of life while also boosting the city's economic and social benefits. Nevertheless, it was observed that 10.34% of the participants showed a limited knowledge of the local environmental regulations and China's NDCs. To achieve the government's goals of carbon neutrality by 2030, it is essential to increase the awareness, engagement, and education of Chinese citizens. This will facilitate successful carbon neutrality efforts and necessitate the implementation of public outreach programs that foster communication among diverse stakeholder groups at the local level.

Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems by Constraining Nitrogen Pollution through Aquaculture Effluents

Recirculated aquaculture systems (RAS) have increased in preponderance in producing fish and shrimp protein. Yet, the economic sustainability of constraining RAS from negatively impacting aquatic ecosystems remains challenging. The future of RAS agriculture will eventually be settled by the relationship between water treatment costs and the impacts on downstream ecosystems. We present a user-friendly simulator of the costs of the treatment of water from RAS farms. This open-source freeware accounts for consumables and energy needed to protect the fish stock from ammonia and nitrite distress, as well as the cost of effluent treatments for specific nitrogen emission targets. This simulation platform uses information inflows about a RAS farm's layout, filters’ performance, toxicity limits, and operational costs. It monitors the budget of water, ammonium, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, as well as the cumulative costs of management decisions for controlling nitrogen inorganics. In combination with local environmental regulations, such an assessment is essential for making business projections that correspond with acceptable impacts on downstream ecosystems. This simulator helps determine whether a specific RAS farm is both financially sound and environmentally sustainable. Such analyses are key to constraining pollution in the surrounding ecosystems and contributing to the conservation of biodiversity.

How do the National Eco-Industrial Demonstration Parks affect urban total factor energy efficiency? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment

This study utilizes a non-radial Dynamic Slacks-Based Measure (DSBM) model to dynamically assess the total factor energy efficiency (TFEE) in each city using panel data from 265 prefecture-level cities in China from 2000 to 2018. We use the policy of building National Eco-Industrial Demonstration Parks (NEDPs) as a quasi-natural experiment and use the staggered difference-in-differences (DID) model to determine the policy's net impact on the urban TFEE. We find that the construction of NEDPs has greatly improved the urban TFEE, and the development of urban green finance has a positive regulatory effect on this impact. According to a heterogeneity analysis, the construction of NEDPs is more favourable to improving the TFEE of cities with local environmental regulations, and a high degree of openness. Further inspection of the mechanism test demonstrates that the economic agglomeration effect, the structural upgrading effect, and the innovation network effect are the transmission channels of NEDPs to facilitate the TEFF. In addition, the extended analyses show that the positive impact of NEDPs on promoting the TFEE stays robust under the consideration of heterogeneous treatment effect.

How does environmental legislation guide urban green transition development? Evidence from China

Based on the unique perspective of local environmental regulations promulgated in Chinese prefecture-level cities from 2000 to 2018, this paper examines the impact of urban environmental legislation on green total factor energy efficiency (GTFEE). The results show that implementing environmental legislation significantly improves local GTFEE, with comprehensive protection regulations contributing to local energy efficiency improvements, while the impact of pollution prevention regulations is insignificant. This conclusion remains robust to multiple scenarios. Potential mechanisms through which environmental legislation can guide urban green transition include the industrial upgrading effect represented by “clean industry development” and “polluting industry exit”, as well as the technical innovation effect achieved through “new technology generation” and “old technology upgrading”. Furthermore, environmental legislation with a higher degree of regulatory effectiveness has a greater potential for energy saving. Environmental legislation has a more significant impact on improving GTFEE in cities in non-old industrial bases, with less frequent turnover of officials, and in central and western regions in China. This study evaluates the positive impact of urban environmental legislation on GTFEE, aiming to advancing the rule of law in local environmental pollution governance and thereby promote urban green transition.

Shoreline master programs: A hindrance or a help to kelp conservation in Puget Sound?

The waters of Puget Sound are home to one of the most diverse assemblages of kelp species in the world, providing numerous ecosystem services. However, documented loss of bull kelp (Nereocystis luekeana) forests in South and Central Puget Sound and observed declines throughout Puget Sound, pose a threat to marine ecosystems dependent on kelp forests for habitat and primary production, and jeopardize economic activities reliant on kelp-based resources. Although the recently released Kelp Conservation and Recovery Plan highlights the need for action, local environmental regulations may complicate implementing restoration projects and may not adequately protect kelp. We used content analysis to examine 45 local Shoreline Master Programs in jurisdictions along Puget Sound to identify kelp protection and restoration actions, then compared local kelp protection and restoration potential to the best available science of linear extent of understory and canopy kelp in each county. Our assessment revealed generally low levels of both protection of kelp and support for kelp restoration across all Shoreline Master Programs. These results may reflect a bias toward freshwater restoration stemming from watershed restoration efforts in the late 1990 s and early 2000 s. Although support for kelp restoration is largely absent from current Shoreline Master Programs, recent legislative activity has paved the way for policy changes that reflect the emerging scientific consensus that nearshore kelp habitats in Puget Sound are vital for salmon, rockfish and other important species.

Have Industrial Robots Improved Pollution Reduction? A Theoretical Approach and Empirical Analysis

AbstractTo investigate whether industrial robots have improved the ecological environment, this study integrated the adoption of robot technology and pollution abatement into Melitz's heterogeneous firm model. This showed that using robots in production can lower firms' pollution intensity by increasing their abatement investments, and this reduction effect is greater for higher polluting firms and those subject to weaker local environmental regulations. These theoretical expectations were then confirmed through a series of empirical investigations based on Bartik instrument regressions, with multiple robustness checks as well as heterogeneity and mechanism analyses. This paper adds to the literature on the relationships between automation technologies and green transformation. It shows that in the pursuit of economic growth and environmental protection, it is necessary for policymakers to shift from pollution control to technical support for traditional manufacturing firms.

Greening through centralization of environmental monitoring?

This paper investigates the impact of China's environmental monitoring centralization on firms' greenwashing practices, by examining the causal relationship between environmental governance at the local level and effective environmental regulations for sustainable growth. Using a difference-in-difference (DID) model, we analyze data from Chinese-listed firms over a period spanning from 2010 to 2019. Our results show that environmental monitoring centralization can significantly reduce greenwashing practices, particularly in cases where there is a high level of environmental decentralization. Furthermore, we find that privately-owned firms with high levels of pollution and technology intensity are particularly motivated to reduce greenwashing practices as environmental decentralization levels increase due to the centralization of environmental monitoring policies. Finally, our study reveals that the centralization of environmental monitoring policy shock can effectively curb greenwashing practices by strengthening environmental regulation levels. These findings provide valuable insights for policymakers seeking to promote sustainable growth through effective environmental regulations.

The impact of green technology innovation on carbon dioxide emissions: The role of local environmental regulations

Environmental pollution has become a global issue attracting ever-increasing attention. Green technology innovation (GTI) is considered an effective strategy in countering this problem and helping achieve sustainability goals. However, the market failure suggests that intervention from the government is necessary to promote the effectiveness of technological innovation and hence, its positive social impacts on emissions reduction. This study investigates how the environmental regulation (ER) influences the relationship between green innovation and CO2 emissions reduction in China. Employing data from 30 provinces from the period 2003 to 2019, the Panel Fixed-effect model, the Spatial Durbin Model (SDM), the System Generalised Method of Moments (SYS-GMM) and the Difference-In-Difference (DID) models are applied to take issues relating to endogeneity and spatial impact into consideration. The results indicate that environmental regulations positively moderate the impact of green knowledge innovation (GKI) on CO2 emissions reduction but have a much weaker moderation effect when green process innovation (GPI) is considered. Among different types of regulatory instruments, investment-based regulation (IER) is the most effective in promoting the relationship between green innovation and emissions reduction, followed by command-and-control-based regulation (CER). Expenditure-based regulation (EER) is less effective and can encourage short-termism and opportunistic behaviour among firms, who can accept the paying of fines as a cheaper cost over the short-term than investment in green innovation. Moreover, the spatial spillover effect of green technological innovation on carbon emissions in neighbouring regions is confirmed, in particular when IER and CER are implemented. Lastly, the heterogeneity issue is further examined by considering differences in the economic development and the industrial structure across different regions, and the conclusions reached remain robust. This study identifies that the market-based regulatory instrument, IER, works best in promoting green innovation and emissions reduction among Chinese firms. It also encourages GKI which may assist firms in achieving long-term sustained growth. The study recommends further development of the green finance system to maximise the positive impact of this policy instrument.

CEO's marketing experience and firm green innovation

AbstractDrawing on upper echelons theory (UET), we examine whether and how chief executive office (CEO) marketing experience affects firm green innovation. Using a sample of Chinese‐listed manufacturing firms from 2008–2020 and hand‐collected data on CEO marketing experience, we find a positive relationship between CEOs' marketing experience and corporate green innovation. The positive relationship is robust after a series of robustness tests. Our further investigations reveal that the positive relationship is more pronounced when firms face higher‐level media coverage and stricter local environmental regulations. In addition, using textual analysis, we also find that market‐oriented culture plays a critical mediating role in this positive relationship. These findings enrich the relevant literature on strategic leadership and green innovation and are essential for companies and policymakers in developing green innovation strategies.

Does Soil Pollution Prevention and Control Promote Corporate Sustainable Development? A Quasi-Natural Experiment of “10-Point Soil Plan” in China

The Action Plan for Soil Pollution Prevention and Control (“10-point Soil Plan”) provides the top-level design for soil environmental protection in China and motivates heavy polluters to participate in soil pollution prevention and control. Using a sample of Chinese-listed firms with key soil pollution regulation from 2013 to 2020, this study utilized the Difference-in-Differences method to analyze the effect and mechanism of the “10-point Soil Plan” on corporate sustainable development. The “10-point Soil Plan” significantly promoted corporate sustainability via debt vacating and cash defense effects. However, this policy failed to achieve innovation compensation. Further, the promotion of corporate sustainability via the “10-point Soil Plan” is more significant in state-owned and large enterprises and depends on the intensity of local environmental regulations. This study provides a valuable reference for government and corporates to actively implement soil pollution prevention and control measures, which complements the systematic study of soil environmental planning and helps China integrate soil environmental planning with water and air environmental planning to build a comprehensive pollution prevention system.

Performance assessment and process optimization of a sulfur recovery unit: a real starting up plant

Sulfur recovery units (SRU) have an important role in the industrial production of elemental sulfur from hydrogen sulfide, whereas the generated acidic gas emissions must be controlled and treated based on local and international environmental regulations. Herein, Aspen HYSYS V.11 with Sulsim software is used to simulate the industrial and treatment processes in a refinery plant in the Middle East. In the simulation models, in temperature, pressure, flow, energy, and gas emissions were monitored to predict any expected change that could occur during the industrial processes. The simulation models were validated by comparing the obtained data with actual industrial data, and the results showed low deviation values. The simulation results showed that the current process temperature conditions can work efficiently for sulfur production without causing any environmental consequences. Interestingly, the simulation results revealed that sulfur can be produced under the optimized temperature conditions (20° less than design temperatures) with a total amount of steam reduction by 1040.12 kg/h and without any negative impact on the environment. The steam reduction could have a great economic return, where an average cost of 7.6 $ per ton could be saved with a total estimated cost savings by 69,247.03 $ per year. The simulation revealed an inaccurate production capacity calculated by real data in the plant during the performance test guarantee (PTG) where the real data achieved around 1 ton/h higher capacity than the simulation result, with an overall recovery efficiency of 99.96%. Based on this significant result, a solution was raised, and the level transmitters were calibrated, then the test was repeated. The simulation models could be very useful for engineers to investigate and optimize the reaction conditions during the industrial process in sulfur production facilities. Hence, the engineers can utilize these models to recognize any potential problem, thereby providing effective and fast solutions. Additionally, the simulation models could participate in assessing the performance test guarantee (PTG) calculations provided by the contractor.

Safety Implementation Analysis and Occupational Health at Kretek 2 Bridge Work In Bantul Regency

Construction work includes the implementation of construction work and the community organizing the construction work itself. The implementation of this construction work must comply with the provisions regarding engineering, occupational safety and health, labor protection, and local environmental regulations to ensure the realization of an orderly implementation of construction work. The construction of the Kretek 2 Bridge in Bantul Regency, Special Region of Yogyakarta Province has its own challenges, because the location of the bridge is in an area prone to earthquakes and liquefaction or ground movement. With so many workers on this very high-risk project, there is a high probability of an accident occurring. The purpose of the study was to analyze (1) the risky work that could occur in bridge construction work, (2) the work that has the highest possible risk, (3) risk control, (4) the amount of investment costs required. The method used is the HIRADC method. The results of the study were (1) Risky work that can occur was a. High level of risk, including drowning, being dragged by the river current, being hit by heavy equipment maneuvers and falling from a height. b. Moderate risk level, including being crushed by formwork, falling material, scratched hands. c. Low level of risk, including landslides, heavy equipment maneuvers, iron puncture. (2) Work that has the highest possible risk is Pile Cap Excavation Work, Work Floor Work and Pier Head Ironing Work. (3) Risk control in bridge work consists of: Using a boat when measuring in rivers, Conducting briefings before starting activities, Using PPE life vests and placing life ring buoys on boats, Installing signs and placing officers in areas that intersect with roads, Installing guardrail of the project area, installing scaffolding as a working platform and inspecting its feasibility, communicating hazards through signs, conducting refresh training for workers. (4) The investment cost required for implementing K3 on the Kretek 2 Bridge work in Bantul Regency was Rp. 6,545,998,310 or 1.795% of the contract value.

The relationship between public participation in environmental governance and corporations’ environmental violations

We explore the relationship in China between public participation in environmental governance and corporations’ environmental violations. We do so by collecting data on unlisted corporations’ environmental violations from 2012 to 2015 and manually matching these data with the number of environment-related proposals made by People's Congress deputies of different provinces. We find that public participation in environmental governance significantly decreases the number of environmental violations by corporations. We use the Eco-environmental Credit Policy as a policy shock in a difference-in-differences regression to confirm our finding. We conclude that public participation in environmental governance increases the number of local environmental regulations and thus restrains environmental violations by corporations.

The effect of strategic synergy between local and neighborhood environmental regulations on green innovation efficiency: The perspective of industrial transfer

Considering the environmental governance dilemma caused by environmental decentralization, this study aims to explore whether the strategic synergy between local and neighborhood environmental regulations can be an essential tool to improve green innovation efficiency and achieve sustainable development. Using the data of industrial firms from 2005 to 2019, and employing network slack-based measure and Tobit regression, this study provides empirical evidence that (1) the green innovation efficiency shows an upward trend in fluctuations but still has great room for improvement; (2) the direct impact of local environmental regulation on green innovation is positive, but the indirect impact through forcing firms to transfer into the neighborhood with loose regulation is negative, that is, the industrial transfer plays a suppression effect; (3) the strategic synergy of environmental regulations has U-shaped and direct effect on green innovation and also has a positive indirect effect through inhibiting the firm's behavior transferring into the neighborhood. This study reveals the influence mechanism of the strategic synergy of local-neighborhood environmental regulations and offers empirical evidence to explain the reason why synergistic environmental governance can effectively promote green innovation, which provides the theoretical guidance for government to formulate environmental policies and construct an environmental governance system.

State Preemption of Consumer Merchandise and Beverage Containers: New Strategy to Preempt Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Policies?

State legislators passed laws preempting, or prohibiting, local governments from regulating beverage containers. Although the primary purpose of these laws may be to ban local environmental regulations addressing single-use plastics, it is unknown the extent they also preempt public health policies aimed at reducing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption. In 2021, using LexisNexis, we assessed state legislation preempting local control over consumer merchandise and containers. We identified 8 laws (and 16 failed bills) with broad language preempting local regulation of the sale, use, or marketing of multiple container types, including beverage containers. Most legislative activity occurred during 2016-2021, with legislative intent to avoid a "patchwork" of local laws, avoid burdening retailers, and have a "refreshing drink." Local policy control was characterized as "personal choice." Broad preemption language may stifle local policy making aimed at reducing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and preempt public health policies such as restricting portion size, in-store promotion and display, and labeling measures.