Reasonable Policy Research Articles

1 + 1 > 2? The synergistic effect of carbon emissions reduction policies: empirical evidence from China

ABSTRACT The low-carbon city pilot policy (LCCPP) and the carbon emissions trading pilot policy (CETPP) are important measures for China to reduce its carbon emissions. However, the existing literature typically focuses narrowly on the effect of a single policy tool, leaving it unclear whether the LCCPP and CETPP are in conflict or complementary. Therefore, we investigated the synergistic effect of the LCCPP and CETPP in China using the difference-in-differences (DID) method. Compared with the 5.4% reduction of the LCCPP and the 5.1% reduction of the CETPP, the dual pilot policy (DPP) can improve the carbon emissions reduction effect to 11.9%. However, the effect of the DPP takes time to become apparent owing to a policy lag. The DPP primarily achieves its effect by promoting technological progress and optimizing energy allocation. In addition, the carbon emissions reduction effect of the DPP is more evident in large, high-ranking, and resource-based cities. Our work can help policymakers fully consider the coordination between future climate policies and design reasonable mixed policy tools.

Narrowing the gaps between perception and adoption behavior of integrated pest management by farmers: Incentive and challenge

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an important strategy in global agriculture, aimed at maintaining the growth trend of food production without compromising environmental integrity or human health. Despite various measures taken by the government to encourage farmers to adopt IPM technologies, the adoption rate of IPM in China remains insufficient. This study finds that the number of farmers who adopt IPM to a high degree is significantly lower than those who view IPM as a win-win solution for profits and the environment. To address the gap between attitudes and behaviors, this research utilizes data from a survey of 480 households in Dengkou County, Inner Mongolia, China, employing structural equation modeling to analyze the impact of farmers' perceived factors on IPM adoption rates. Additionally, a generalized linear mixed model is used to assess farmers' attitudes toward financial subsidies, while an Ordered Logit model conducts an empirical analysis of the factors influencing barriers to IPM adoption. The findings indicate that: (1) Farmers' overly optimistic expectations regarding the initial costs of IPM hinder their adoption; (2) Farmers who are skeptical about the economic benefits of IPM demonstrate greater interest in cash subsidies; (3) Land characteristics and farmer attributes influence farmers' evaluations of barriers to IPM adoption. To develop reasonable and effective policies aimed at narrowing the adoption gap for IPM, it is essential to thoroughly understand the characteristics of farmers and their perceptions of IPM, and to design incentive measures that account for group differences. Findings of the study provide information regarding the IPM adoption gap among farmers in China, thereby offering practical insights and empirical evidence to assist policymakers in developing appropriate policies. It also provides a framework for countries in similar situations globally to examine and address the adoption gap.

CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: MYTHS AND CHALLENGES

The aim of this research article includes the critical scrutiny of the existing solid waste management system in developing countries to determine the potential impacts of challenges on the functionality of the system of solid waste management. The paper pinpoints corruption, departmental dishonesty, mismanagement, lawlessness and lack of reasonable policies as the major challenges that are required to be discussed and addressed for the protection of the environment and public health. With this aim, this research article conducts a qualitative study in the form of interviews with closed-end questions and filled from 175 solid waste management organizations officials to highlight the challenges that are being faced by developing countries concerning the solid waste management system. Currently, the management of solid waste is not an easy task to perform, therefore, the situation of the system of solid waste management is quite dire in developing countries in comparison to developed countries. Hence, there is a need for the acknowledgment of the impact of unreasonable solid waste management systems and there is a need to change it for sustainability of the public health and environment. The betterment of the system of solid waste requires endeavours in increasing the funds, awareness in the public, recognition of new innovative technology, and development of an infrastructure. For the progress of the countries, there is a need to accept a new system for solid waste management. Along with this, there is a need to recognize the problem in the existing system.

Temporal Evolution Pathway and Forecasting of Non‐Fossil Energy Consumption and Carbon Emission Under China's Carbon Peak Target: A Markov Switching AR and RNN Approach

ABSTRACTTo fulfil the commitments of the Paris Agreement, China will strive to achieve carbon peak (CP) by 2030. It is necessary to identify the evolution characteristics of China's carbon emissions and provide a scientific path prediction for the formulation of reasonable emission reduction policies and measures. This study summarises and predicts the pathway of China's carbon peak (CP) using carbon emission intensity (CEI) and the percentage of non‐fossil energy consumption (NEC) as indicators, and combining MSIH(3)‐AR(2) model and recurrent neural network. The results show that: (1) China's CEI experiences a ‘low decline regime’ (LDR), a ‘medium decline regime’ (MDR) and a ‘high decline regime’ (HDR), while the share of NEC goes through a ‘low fluctuation regime’ (LFR), a ‘medium growth regime’ (MGR) and a ‘high growth regime’ (HGR). (2) For CEI, the switching probability from MDR to the HDR is 74.88%, illustrating a substantial improvement. For NEC, the switching probability from MGR to HGR is 28.92%, but the probability of returning to MGR is 61.76%, indicating an adjustment. (3) By 2030, CEI will reach 0.9896 tons/100 million CNY, decreased by 66.35% compared with 2005. While the percentage of NEC will rise to 26.61%. Based on these, policy suggestions such as strengthening the top‐level design, upgrading energy mix and accelerating green technological changes are proposed to break the bottlenecks of reaching CP and further zero carbon goal. This study is expected to provide theoretical support and empirical evidence for the achievement CP in China, and to provide empirical references for promoting the ‘dual carbon’ process in other countries.

A figurational analysis of Health and/or Physical Education teacher educators’ conceptualisations of policy, and their sociogenesis

ABSTRACT Policy engagement is key to promoting quality physical education yet it has been identified as a ‘grand challenge’ for Health and/or Physical Education (H/PE) internationally. All H/PE professionals, including teacher educators, have a collective responsibility to engage with policy but existing research tells us little about how H/PE teacher educators (H/PETEs) understand and engage with policy. It is important to examine H/PETEs conceptualisations of policy for a few reasons, not least because teacher educators play a crucial role in supporting future generations of teachers who themselves will need to engage with policy as a core feature of their professional lives. Drawing on figurational sociology, and the concept of assemblage, this paper offers insights into the nature and development – or sociogenesis – of teacher educators’ conceptualisations of policy. The data shared in this paper was generated through semi-structured interviews with 12 H/PETE from 7 countries. Inductive-deductive analysis – drawing largely on figurational concepts such as interdependence, power, habitus and sociogenesis – revealed that H/PETEs conceptualised policy as: (i) informing intended action and change; (ii) a way to govern practice; (iii) imposition and possibility. In terms of how these conceptualisations came to be, key features of the H/PETE figuration that were identified as influential include: (i) interdependence with human and non-human elements; (ii) balances of power and (iii) social and individual habitus. It is concluded that capitalising on these elements through professional learning, for example, could support H/PETEs in engaging with policy in productive and meaningful ways. Given that engaging with policy is viewed as a collective responsibility of H/PETEs, and many – if not all – of the H/PETEs felt they needed support in this regard, this should be a key focus for the field.

Research on Refined Water Injection Technology for Medium and High Water Cut Reservoirs in Nanpu 4 Block

Abstract For water injection development reservoir, the key is to control the di-rection and flow field of the injected water in the reservoir to adjust the tapping of the remaining oil between wells. This paper presents that, by applying the comprehensive discrimination technique of inefficient cir-culation flow field, a flow field evaluation model containing permeabil-ity, overwater multiplier and water saturation seepage characteristics parameters is established and the small layer flow field distribution is quantitatively evaluated by numerical simulation. Based on the geo-logical characteristics, development characteristics and grid inefficient circulation coefficients, the flow field is qualitatively classified into three types: streamline not established, streamline primary and sec-ondary, and streamline fixed and difficult to adjust. Based on the re-search of domestic and foreign literature and numerical simulation, the management system of different types of flow fields is studied to clari-fy the reasonable development technology policy of reservoir flow field adjustment and tapping the remaining oil between wells, so as to achieve the purpose of controlling the reservoir water content rise rate, reducing the water content rate and improving the recovery rate. The mine field experiments conducted in Nanpu 4 block showed that the recovery rate of the block increased by 4 percentage points, indicating that the block development achieved significant results. This is an im-portant guideline for reservoir development in low recovery, medium to high water-bearing reservoirs with water injection development.

The Hungarian Retail Sales Tax in the Changing EU Context

In the last twenty years, Hungary has had three periods of special taxes (introduced as a result of the crises), but before and after 2010, and after the recession following the COVID-19 epidemic and the Russian-Ukrainian war, there were different legal policy reasons behind special taxes (including the retail sales tax). This raises questions as to whether the regulatory solutions implemented to address market failures during the first period are playing the same role today as they did in the past, and how their role has changed over the years. The introduced taxes often remain part of the general tax system, i.e. they are applied on a permanent basis (rather than on a temporary basis, as is usual with special taxes), and in 2023 they already accounted for almost 14% of total tax revenue (a higher proportion than, for example, corporate tax), which puts their role in the tax system in a different light. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has repeatedly examined the EU framework, but it appears that the control has been weakened, mainly due to the impact of the current crises. At the same time, the Hungarian Constitutional Court is bound by the limits of the debt brake when examining the constitutional framework. The study explores the regulation of the Hungarian retail sales tax and its EU context, in particular with regard to the changes triggered by the crises. The introduced taxes often remain part of the general tax system, i.e. they are not applied on a temporary basis, and in 2023 they already accounted for almost 14% of total tax revenue (a higher rate than, for example, corporate tax), which puts their place in the tax system in a different light. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has repeatedly examined the EU framework, but it appears that the control has been weakened, mainly due to the impact of the current crises, while the Hungarian Constitutional Court is bound by the limits of the debt brake when examining the constitutional framework.The study deals with the regulation of the Hungarian retail sales tax and its EU context, in particular with regard to the changes induced by the crises.

The Economic Impact of AI Technology – Take Claude and GPT-4 As Examples

With the rapid development of science and technology, artificial intelligence (AI) technology has become the core field of global economic competition. Especially in recent years, the emergence of advanced AI models such as Claude and GPT-4 has not only led to a new round of technological revolution, but also had a profound and extensive impact on the global economy. The competition in these AI technologies is reshaping the economic pattern of various industries, creating new growth drivers, but also bringing many challenges and uncertainties. In the manufacturing sector, the application of AI technology has greatly improved production efficiency and quality, but it also requires companies to constantly update equipment and train employees to adapt to new production models. In the service industry, the application of AI customer service, intelligent recommendation and other technologies has improved the customer experience, but also put forward higher requirements for the skills and quality of employees. In addition, the wide application of AI technology also poses new challenges to data security, privacy protection and other aspects. How to enjoy the convenience brought by technology while ensuring data security and personal privacy has become an urgent problem to be solved. Therefore, in the face of the economic changes brought about by AI technology competition, policy makers, entrepreneurs and researchers need to conduct in-depth research and discussion, formulate reasonable policies and strategies, to better respond to challenges, seize opportunities, and promote the sustainable and healthy development of the economy.

Measurement and coupling analysis of the efficiency of resource‐based treatment of municipal solid waste in Chengdu–Chongqing area

AbstractMunicipal solid waste (MSW) is crucial for carbon cycle, residents' lives, and green circular economy development, but quantitative research is limited in efficiency and regional synergy. Considering the regional characteristics of Chengdu and Chongqing, this study establishes the input–output indicator system of MSW treatment in 16 cities in the Chengdu–Chongqing area, constructs the Data Envelopment Analysis model and the coupling coordination degree model, and makes an in‐depth study on the efficiency and environmental benefits of MSW resource treatment from 2012 to 2021. The research conclusion is as follows: first, the improvement of MSW treatment efficiency can be enhanced through reasonable policies and measures to promote sustainable urban development and socioeconomic benefits. The input and output levels of MSW treatment in 16 cities all show an upward trend. Second, the 16 MSW treatment systems have good average pure technical efficiency (Chongqing 0.9879, Chengdu 0.9805), average scale efficiency (Nanchong 0.9396), and average comprehensive efficiency (Nanchong 0.9148), but the overall comprehensive efficiency needs improvement. Third, in 2021, Chengdu's ecological and environmental benefits are better than Chongqing's, while Chongqing has a certain degree of input redundancy and output deficiency. Fourth, in the coupling analysis of resource treatment efficiency and environmental improvement benefits in Chengdu and Chongqing between 2012 and 2021, the coordination between resource treatment and environmental improvement in Chengdu lags behind that in Chongqing, but overall, the coupling is improving. Finally, suggestions for improving the efficiency of MSW resource treatment and promoting environmental improvement are presented from the front, middle, and back ends, respectively, to provide a reference for the policy‐making of city managers.

Promotion of Intellectual Activity Results of Scientific Organizations. Value Estimation

We consider approaches to assessing the value of intellectual activity results (IAR) from the points of view of the seller and the buyer. The analysis was carried out on the basis of a comparison of the total costs of implementing IAR in which the purchase of a license may be only a part of the costs. The analysis takes into account the risks associated with the implementation of IAR. They can potentially lead to reducing the economic performance in the realization of IAR. The authors examine choices of buyers and sellers in relation to the purchase and sale of IAR, taking into account the scale of the markets available to them. Some considerations explaining the low activity on the IAR market in Russia by the scale of business and the size of manufacturing companies are presented. We define the reasons for the low interest of scientific organizations in promoting IAR for sale. They are a consequence of the small volume of markets and can also be explained by the fact that using budgetary funds, research institutions can cover the costs of creating IAR more substantially than they can by selling IAR on the market. We have formulated proposals that make it possible to increase the efficiency of the work of scientific organizations with IAR. In particular, a reasonable economic policy focuses on sales of IAR through R&D (including with the assistance of extra-budgetary funds). With regard to the reserves being created, it is advisable to use protection options that do not disclose the essence of the IAR and uphold the protection period with significant time spent on searching. This, for instance, may be an option to set up a trade secret regime with subsequent patenting within the framework of R&D for the benefit of a particular buyer. This approach reduces the risks not only for the seller, but also for the buyer. For government agencies, it can be recommended to increase the importance of license sales while assessing efficiency in comparison with simple registration of IAR. It is advisable to finance applied R&D involving the creation of IAR if there is a guarantee for the implementation of the corresponding IAR by developers or industrial partners.

Using ROC Analysis to Refine Cut Scores Following a Standard Setting Process

In educational assessment, cut scores are often defined through standard setting by a group of subject matter experts. This study aims to investigate the impact of several factors on classification accuracy using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis to provide statistical and theoretical evidence when the cut score needs to be refined. Factors examined in the study include the sample distribution relative to the cut score, prevalence of the positive event, and cost ratio. Forty item responses were simulated for examinees of four sample distributions. In addition, the prevalence and cost ratio between false negatives and false positives were manipulated to examine their impacts on classification accuracy. The optimal cut score is identified using the Youden Index J. The results showed that the optimal cut score identified by the evaluation criterion tended to pull the cut score closer to the mode of the proficiency distribution. In addition, depending on the prevalence of the positive event and cost ratio, the optimal cut score shifts accordingly. With the item parameters used to simulate the data and the simulated sample distributions, it was found that when passing the exam is a low-prevalence event in the population, increasing the cut score operationally improves the classification; when passing the exam is a high-prevalence event, then cut score should be reduced to achieve optimality. As the cost ratio increases, the optimal cut score suggested by the evaluation criterion decreases. In three out of the four sample distributions examined in this study, increasing the cut score enhanced the classification, irrespective of the cost ratio when the prevalence in the population is 50%. This study provides statistical evidence when the cut score needs to be refined for policy reasons.

Invasion Characteristics of Marginal Water under the Control of High-Permeability Zones and Its Influence on the Development of Vertical Heterogeneous Gas Reservoirs

In-depth understanding of the gas–water seepage law caused by different degrees of gas layer perforation and varying gas production rates is key to determining a reasonable development technology policy for vertical heterogeneous edge-water gas reservoirs. Based on core physical data from the entire section of the X2 well, a large-scale high-pressure positive-rhythm profile model that takes into account the influence of “discontinuous interlayer” was innovatively established. The water intrusion process of the gas layer profile under different gas production rates and degrees of gas layer perforation was simulated using an electrical resistivity scanning device. The experimental model has an area of 3000 cm2, with a maximum pressure of 70 MPa and a maximum temperature resistance of 150 °C. It includes 456 evenly distributed fluid saturation test points to accurately monitor the gas–water distribution, addressing the issues of small bearing pressure and insufficient saturation monitoring points found in other large-scale models. The experimental results show that, in heterogeneous reservoirs, the high-permeability zone controls the invasion path of edge water, which is the main reason for the uneven invasion of edge water. For the positive-rhythm profile of the F layer, a higher gas production rate (1000 mL/min) shortens the water-free gas recovery period of the gas well and reduces the recovery rate. Perforating the upper two-thirds of the layer can inhibit edge-water breakthrough, prolong the water-free gas recovery period of the gas well, enable the gas–water interface to advance more uniformly, and enhance the recovery degree. The results of this study greatly enhance our understanding of the water invasion characteristics of positive-rhythm reservoirs under the influence of different gas production rates and varying degrees of gas layer perforation.

Understanding the Local Complexities in Land Law Reforms: The Case of Land Inalienability in Ethiopia, 1991–2018

Abstract Postcolonial governments often restrict the market alienability of land rights for various policy reasons. One policy aims to treat all citizens equivalently and safeguard vulnerable social communities equally, as an unrestrained land market could allow one affluent social group to buy out one that is less affluent. Another policy is to set a standard that is easy to apply in the same way in every case, as a bright-line rule banning land alienation is simpler to administer than a standard that requires case-by-case considerations. Today, in Ethiopia, such laws face opposition from proponents of a free market economy and private property rights. Thus, international development institutions and influential Ethiopians are spearheading an ambitious reform to Ethiopia’s post-socialist law that bans land alienability, arguing that the law has impeded social and economic progress. This article shows, however, that the legal ban has never prevented land transfers. Many people have utilized legal constructs such as gifts, bequests, loans, and leases to sell their land. Such transfers have circumvented the ban amidst aggressive land expropriation by the state and other agents. These intricate local and national dynamics undercut the misleading sense of regularity created by the inalienability law, raising serious questions about the persistent demand by international development institutions to privatize land rights and create land markets through law reform without paying close attention to the lived experiences at the local level.

An analysis of how digital technology impacts trade costs—Based on the empirical data of RCEP member countries

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;">This paper explores how digital technology reduces trade costs using bilateral trade data from RCEP member countries and a panel fixed effects model. The findings show that digital technology significantly lowers trade costs, a conclusion that holds even after accounting for lag effects and various robustness checks. The impact of digital technology on trade costs follows an inverted U-shape: the effect is most significant in the current period, especially with a one-period lag, and diminishes over time. Larger economies and higher export levels strengthen this negative impact due to their reliance on exports and continuous improvements in domestic digital technology. The study recommends investing in digital infrastructure, formulating reasonable internet access policies, supporting digital skills development, and enhancing digital connectivity to bridge the digital divide, thereby promoting trade facilitation and efficiency.</span></p>

Analysis of the Spatial Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Large-Scale Land Acquisition Projects in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia is an essential region for companies carrying out large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs). Exploring the distribution patterns and influencing factors of LSLA projects in this region is of great practical significance for summarizing the characteristics of LSLA projects in Southeast Asia, for gaining a thorough understanding of LSLA project development rules, and for formulating reasonable policies to guide local LSLA projects. This study explores the spatial distribution and influencing factors of LSLA projects in Southeast Asia using the mean center method, the kernel density estimation method, and the grey correlation method. The findings indicate the following: Firstly, the majority of LSLA projects in Southeast Asia are located in the Indo-China Peninsula, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, and other countries, which represent significant regions of interest for LSLA projects in this region. Secondly, the spatial distribution of LSLA intention projects and LSLA contract projects in Southeast Asia is similar, whereas LSLA production projects differ from the former two. Thirdly, the scale of LSLA projects in Southeast Asia is closely related to the host country’s natural resources, socio-economic conditions, governance, and market environment. The total GDP, per capita arable land area, net foreign direct investment inflow, and political stability have been identified as exerting a significant influence on investment corporations’ selection of LSLA host countries.

The Impact of Policies Regulating the Development of Private Equity on the Growth of Investment Firms

In the current economic environment, there are many kinds of private investment. The importance of how to ensure that investment companies operate rationally and invest successfully, regulate investment behavior and private equity fund managers of investment companies is becoming more and more apparent. Stable and reasonable regulatory policies are conducive to the promotion of improved profitability of investment companies and the long-term stable development of the capital market, among which the promulgation of the Regulations on Supervision and Administration of Private Investment Funds (the "Regulations") has had a profound impact on the growth of investment companies. This paper focuses on the positive and negative impacts of the Regulations on the growth of companies, and selects representative companies in the capital market services for comparative analysis. The results of the study show that the promulgation of the Regulations further regulates the development of the private equity fund industry, making investors more cautious in their decision-making, and thus promotes the development of the growth of private equity fund investment companies.

The Influence of Descriptive Representation on Support for Judicial Nominees and the US Supreme Court

AbstractWe argue that characteristics of unelected officials directly influence individuals’ perceptions and evaluations of them. These evaluations then have indirect, downstream consequences on evaluations of the institution. To test this, we fielded a unique survey with an oversample of Black Americans after the nomination of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. Using a conjoint experimental design to randomize nominee race, we find that increased racial descriptive representation elicits more favorable views of the nominee and Court among Black respondents. Causal mediation analysis confirms our theoretical expectation that descriptive representation indirectly influences views of the Court through its effects on views of nominees. The effects we uncover are not confined to co-partisan nominees, indicating that descriptive representation may matter for more than policy reasons alone. Finally, our external validity test suggests these effects generalize beyond our experimental setting, with Black (but not white) respondents equally as supportive of an anonymous profile matching Justice Jackson’s characteristics as they are of Jackson herself.

Economic Assessment of Hybrid and Non-Hybrid Maize Crop in Sahiwal Division Under Changing Climate

It is a fine admissible verity all over the world that the changing climate exerts influence on all the kinds of survivals. As an agricultural based economy Pakistan rely on well-being of agriculture and it makes huge contribution in the gross domestic product (GDP) of Pakistan. Agriculture totally nature based and it is straight exaggerated by the exchange behavior of different climatic variables i.e. humidity, rainfall as well as temperature. Minor alter in one of these variables can cause extreme alter in the production of crops and the country’s economy damaged in the result of yield loss. This study will be focused on climate changing impact on hybrid as well as non- hybrid maize crop within Sahiwal division, in the province of Punjab, Pakistan. Sahiwal division is the well-known agricultural production location and on the other side, it is very sensitive to climate change. That is the reason behind the study of the economic assessment of hybrid and non-hybrid maize crop under the climate change in Sahiwal division. With the help of arranged set of questions, check the impact of crop production on net farm revenue and Ricardian analysis operated to quantify the supposed impact due to changing climate. After estimating net farm revenue, it is a regressed against climate, soil and socio-economic variables. Study helps out in assessing the climate changing impact on hybrid as well as non-hybrid maize crop and plus suggesting adoption practices to farmers and thus giving reasonable policy support in the end.

Hành vi chia sẻ tri thức của sinh viên đại học tại Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh

Knowledge sharing is a crucial activity that not only helps organizations increase productivity but also assists participating members in enhancing their work efficiency. And to achieve this, the knowledge-sharing behavior of employees should be cultivated from their time in academia. The article applies quantitative research methods with a survey sample of 626 students currently enrolled at Ho Chi Minh city regarding their knowledge-sharing behavior. The research findings have indicated that the knowledge sharing behavior of university students in Ho Chi Minh City is influenced by the following factors: Attitude, Pressure from lecturers, Trust, Self-efficacy and Reward. Based on the research findings, the article provides managerial implications to help university leaders promote knowledge-sharing activities among students, such as implementing appropriate policies to enhance positive attitudes and capabilities of students, providing suitable pressures, creating a safe and respectful sharing environment, and establishing reasonable reward policies.

Environmental and economic impact analysis of levying VOCs environmental protection tax in China

China is one of the largest volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitters worldwide. The emission levels of and harm caused by VOCs have attracted much attention. China has implemented multiple policies for VOCs prevention and control but lacks economic control measures for VOCs In this study, the input-output (IO) price model was used to simulate and analyze the emission reduction and economic effects resulting from the imposition of a VOCs environmental protection tax (EPT) in 31 provinces in China. The results show that, first, the collection of a VOCs-EPT can achieve not only VOCs emission reductions but also the synergistic emission reductions of other major pollutants. Second, the collection of a VOCs-EPT could have a negative impact on the macroeconomy, i.e., the greater the tax scope and the higher the tax rate are, the greater the negative economic impact. Third, differences in the level of economic development, the structure of pollution emissions and the stringency of tax policies among regions would cause the emission reduction effect and related negative economic impact to vary across regions. Finally, the collection of a VOCs-EPT could have heterogeneous impacts on various industries, as high-emission industries would suffer greater negative impacts. Therefore, each region should set tax rates that match its provincial economic and environmental development levels. Furthermore, a VOCs-EPT can be levied on key industries, and reasonable preferential tax policies can be formulated to reduce negative macroeconomic benefits.