Air Pollution Pressure Research Articles

Digital transformation of enterprises under the pressure of air pollution

ABSTRACT Although the effects of air pollution on economics have been reflected in recent research, very little literature has explored whether enterprises are actively adopting digital transformation under the pressure of air pollution. Considering the serious air pollution in China and the importance of digital transformation, this study uses the panel data of Chinese A-share listed companies and air quality data, from 2014 to 2020, to investigate the impact of air pollution pressure on digital transformation. The results show that air pollution pressure forces enterprises to engage in digital transformation. The conclusion still holds after endogeneity and robustness tests. Further, a mechanism analysis indicates that air pollution pressure affects digital transformation through green cognition, green innovation, and government subsidies. Meanwhile, regional informatization positively moderates the relationship between air pollution pressure and three mechanisms. Finally, a heterogeneity analysis shows that air pollution significantly affects digital transformation in eastern regions, state-owned, capital-intensive, and technology-intensive enterprises.

How critical mineral supply security affects China NEVs industry? Based on a prediction for chromium and cobalt in 2030

As an important means to enhance energy security and air pollution pressure, new energy vehicles (NEVs) are regarded as a strategic emerging industry in China, as its industrial development is severely constrained by the availability of critical minerals. Nevertheless, the existing literature lacks empirical studies on the impact of supply security of critical minerals on the development of China's NEVs industry. In this paper, we investigated the influence mechanism of chrome and cobalt supply security on the development of China’s NEVs industry by using the multivariate stepwise regression method and predicted China’s NEVs long-term production scale in 2030 by adopting the gray prediction model. The results indicate that: (1) The supply security of chrome in China has a positive contribution to the production of NEVs; (2) As an important raw material for battery production, the growth rate of NEVs increases significantly when the supply of cobalt is secured, and is expected to be 30 times higher by 2030 than in 2020; and (3) Driven by the government's energy-saving and environmental protection policies, the production of NEVs is on a sharp upward trend, and it is expected that NEVs output will reach 485.883 million units in 2030. Finally, relevant policy recommendations are proposed based on these findings. The government should take various measures to expand the supply channels, improve the comprehensive utilization of mineral resources to ensure the safe supply of cobalt, chrome, and other mineral resources, and promote the growth of NEVs.

Is the sky of smart city bluer? Evidence from satellite monitoring data.

How to win the "Blue Sky Protection Campaign" is becoming the focus all over the world, especially in developing economies, while the implementation of the smart cities initiative (SCI) is seen to be a feasible program to address the negative environmental externalities through Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), but it lacks the quantitative evidence so far. This study aims to examine the impacts and potential mechanisms of SCI on air pollution governance from the objective satellite monitoring data within a quasi-natural experiment framework. We find that SCI directly reduces the air pollutants concentration such as PM2.5, SO2, NO2, and smog in urban China and improves the air quality very well, which also has significant and positive spillovers on air pollution governance in adjacent cities. This encouraging phenomenon can also be achieved through contributing to green technological innovation, industrial structure upgrading, and decentralizing urban spatial structure, such that most of can be attributed to the technological effect. Heterogeneity analyses demonstrate that the governance effect of air pollution is more obvious in large smart cities, and increases with the expansion of city size. Additionally, the effect performs better in resource-based smart cities and smart cities with stronger financing capacity and air pollution pressure.