Reduce Haze Pollution Research Articles

Can Low-Carbon Technological Innovation Reduce Haze Pollution?—Based on Spatial Econometric Analysis

Exploring the co-benefits of low-carbon tech-innovation in response to climate change on haze pollution is an important foundation for China’s ecological construction, and also a key path to the common goal of carbon and haze reduction. Based on the STIRPAT model and EKC hypothesis, the dynamic spatial Durbin model (SDM) is constructed to empirically analyze the co-benefits and the mechanism of low-carbon tech-innovation on haze pollution in 30 Chinese provinces from 2006 to 2018. The results show that 1) haze pollution in different regions of China shows significant temporal and spatial correlation. 2) China’s low-carbon tech-innovation brings the co-benefits of haze pollution suppression and long-term positive externalities between regions. 3) Environmental policy and industrial structure play a moderating and mediating role, respectively, the former produces the “innovation offset” effect. 4) Both types of low-carbon tech-innovation can suppress haze pollution, but gray tech-innovation shows better haze control ability and cross-regional diffusion ability. Therefore, a long-term mechanism for haze control and joint prevention and control should be established to prevent the rebound and agglomeration of haze, and balance the development of different types of low-carbon technologies to achieve coordinated control of carbon emissions and haze.

Study on Socio-Economic Factors of Haze Pollution in the Context of Sustainable Development: Based on Asymmetric Interaction Effects Perspective

Haze pollution has been a global problem plaguing people for nearly two centuries, especially in developing countries, where haze pollution is getting worse and has become the culprit that restricts global sustainable development. As the largest developing country in the world, China’s regional characteristics of haze pollution are increasingly prominent, and the coverage is expanding, which means that there is a strong spatial interaction of haze pollution. The real world is composed of asymmetric spatial relationships, and asymmetric spatial interactions are more consistent with the reality of haze pollution. To this end, this paper identifies the asymmetric spatial interaction effects of haze pollution by using the time series econometric analysis framework and then constructs asymmetric spatial weights. In this paper, the spatial panel Durbin model and spatial effect decomposition technique are used for the empirical investigation to provide new empirical evidence to reveal the socio-economic influences of haze pollution. The study finds that haze pollution in China has a significant asymmetric spatial interaction and the degree of influence varies among cities. During the sample period, there is a significant inverted U-shaped relationship between economic development and haze pollution. However, the vast majority of cities have not passed the top inflection point of the inverted U-curve and are still in the stage where haze pollution is gradually intensifying with economic growth. High population density, high energy consumption, and unreasonable energy consumption structure aggravate haze pollution, while fixed-asset investment and science and technology expenditure help to reduce haze pollution. However, only the spatial spillover effect of the energy consumption structure is significant. Therefore, the improvement and implementation of more effective socio-economic prevention and control policies in the case of asymmetric interaction is the key to effectively dealing with heavy pollution weather, fighting the defense of the blue sky, and achieving sustainable development.

Does vertical environmental protection pressure promote convergence of urban air pollution?

Recent research shows that the annual average concentration and winter average concentration of PM2.5 in Chinese cities have exhibited a convergence trend since 2013. However, the urban air situation in China remains far from ideal. For an authoritative government, vertical environmental protection pressure (VEPP) may be an important mechanism to motivate cities with high PM2.5 concentration levels to reduce haze pollution more rapidly compared to cities with low PM2.5 concentrations. Thus, VEPP could be considered an institutional advantage in China's vertical air pollution allocation strategy. To investigate the impact of the VEPP of Chinese local governments on the convergence of PM2.5 concentrations, this study uses the counterfactual distribution dynamics analysis framework, which combines parametric regression analysis with the nonparametric distribution dynamics technique. The results show that the Chinese government can promote the convergence of air pollution in local cities to a “favorable” level by increasing the pressure of environmental protection. However, merely increasing VEPP will not completely solve the problem of air pollution in Chinese cities during winter months. Compared with the central and western regions, the VEPP of local governments in the eastern region can promote the convergence of the average annual and winter PM2.5 concentrations.

Does new-type urbanization help reduce haze pollution damage? Evidence from China's county-level panel data.

Urban transformation is the key to sustainable urban development. China is currently undergoing massive urban transformation, that is, new-type urbanization. This study explored the relationship between new-type urbanization construction and haze pollution by constructing a time-varying DID model based on 2013-2018 district and county data. Our empirical results show that new-type urbanization can significantly improve haze pollution. We also examined the heterogeneous differences in new-type urbanization's effects on haze pollution. First, we find that new urbanization construction has no significant effect on haze pollution in cities rich in natural resources. Second, its effect on haze pollution was most pronounced in the eastern region, which had the highest urbanization rate. This study also explored the moderating effect of new urbanization and haze pollution from the urban governance perspective. The results show that the government's fiscal spending capacity is significant for new-type urbanization's ability to improve haze pollution. In addition, in the pilot year, the turnover of regional officials enhanced new-type urbanization construction to improve haze pollution. We also find that districts and counties implementing pilot new-type urbanization are conducive to reducing haze pollution in surrounding areas in the same city not implementing new-type urbanization; however, they exacerbate haze pollution in other provincial areas that have not implemented new-type urbanization. Finally, we propose relevant policy recommendations based on the empirical results.

Haze management: is urban public transportation priority effective?

Public transportation is often considered as a green travel mode to alleviate the negative externalities such as traffic congestion and haze pollution generated from transport. However, is prioritizing urban public transportation actually conducive to haze emission reduction? In this study, considering special emphasis on the cumulative effect of haze, a dynamic panel model is constructed to analyze and quantify the impact of public transportation on haze pollution by using the data of 284 cities in China, and the heterogeneity of the impact in cities with different pollution levels is examined. Several interesting findings are derived from the empirical results. First, the development of urban public transportation can significantly alleviate urban haze pollution. Second, the haze reduction effect of public transportation in cities with different pollution levels is non-universal. Comparatively speaking, the haze reduction effect of public transportation in lightly polluted cities is more evident than that in heavily polluted cities. Therefore, in order to reduce haze pollution in a more effective manner, China should continue to promote urban public transportation priority strategy. Moreover, the government should also formulate differentiated traffic development strategies to effectively alleviate the urban traffic burdens.

Does technology innovation reduce haze pollution? An empirical study based on urban innovation index in China.

Haze pollution is one of the most concerning environmental issues, and controlling haze pollution without affecting economic development is of immense significance. Using the panel data composed of PM2.5 concentration and other data from 278 cities in China between 2003 and 2016, this paper empirically investigates the impact of urban innovation on haze pollution and its transmission mechanism. Based on the fixed effect model, the research finds that increasing urban innovation significantly reduces haze pollution. Even after dealing with possible endogenous problems, the result still holds. Energy consumption and industrial agglomeration are two important transmission channels through which urban innovation affects haze pollution. Furthermore, time heterogeneity analysis shows that the negative effect of urban innovation on haze pollution increases with time. Spatial heterogeneity analysis shows that urban innovation has a more significant mitigation effect on haze pollution in eastern cities than in central and western cities in China. This paper indicates that technological innovation, as the main driving force for development, can provide vital support to China to improve the ecological environment.

The effect of the industrial structure and haze pollution: spatial evidence for China.

Based on provincial data pertaining to China from 2003 to 2018, this paper empirically analyzes the impact of the industrial structure on haze pollution by constructing static and dynamic spatial econometric models. The marginal contribution of this paper lies in the analysis based on two indicators: the upgrading and rationalization of the industrial structure. The results indicate that: at the overall level, haze pollution in China exhibits a significant positive spatial correlation and remains relatively stable, upgrading and rationalization of the industrial structure can significantly reduce haze pollution, the control variables of technological progress and trade openness yield obvious haze reduction effects, and the market-oriented haze reduction effect is better that of the government behavior. In terms of the robustness, the effect of industrial structure upgrading is not obvious in the eastern regions and even aggravates haze pollution in the central and western regions, while industrial structure rationalization can play a role in haze reduction in all regions. Industrial structure upgrading and rationalization achieve better effects in the southern region but can aggravate haze pollution in the northern region. Based on the results of the time period test, the effect is very obvious at the first stage but not that at the second stage because of the diminishing marginal effect. The robustness results of the replacement of the core variables and dynamic spatial Durbin model further validate the empirical results in this paper. Finally, according to the empirical results, we propose corresponding policy implications.

Can the construction of low-carbon cities reduce haze pollution?

Based on the relation analysis through the Vector Autoregressive (VAR) model, this study investigates the effect of the construction of low-carbon cities on haze pollution in China by using the Difference in Differences-Propensity Score Matching (PSM-DID) method. In addition, we examine the influencing mechanism of low-carbon city construction on haze pollution, namely technical innovation effect, industrial structure effect and population quality effect. The results show that the construction of low-carbon cities has not effectively reduced haze pollution in pilot cities. Further study shows that the failure of the reduction effect on haze pollution may lie in the ineffectiveness of technical innovation effect and population quality effect of low-carbon city construction, as well as the regional heterogeneity. Finally, we propose several recommendations in terms of overall construction strategies, green development of technology and industry, and regional heterogeneous policies to better alleviate China’s haze pollution through the construction of low-carbon cities.

Can transportation infrastructure reduce haze pollution in China?

Traffic emission is one of the main sources of haze pollution, but few studies have evaluated the dynamic impact and mechanism of transportation infrastructure on haze pollution based on a spatial perspective. This study selects the annual data of 30 provinces in China from 2000 to 2017 and uses a dynamic spatial Durbin model to study the dynamic impact of transportation infrastructure on haze pollution. The results show that transportation infrastructure has a significant spatial spillover effect on haze pollution, and the spatial spillover effect has regional heterogeneity. Specifically, whether long term or short term, highway traffic has a boosting effect on haze pollution, while railway traffic has an inhibitory effect on haze pollution. In addition, transportation infrastructure can affect haze pollution through three paths: expanding economic scale, promoting transformation of industrial structure, and promoting technological progress. At the regional level, the improvement of highway traffic density in eastern, central, and western regions will significantly increase haze pollution. The enhancement of railway traffic density has a significant inhibitory and boosting effect on haze pollution in central and western regions, respectively. For the eastern region, railway traffic construction can only restrain local haze pollution, but cannot exert the spatial spillover effect of railway traffic to reduce haze. The conclusions of this paper provide policy inspirations for giving full play to the haze reduction effect of transportation infrastructure and the development of green transportation.

Whether green technology innovation is conducive to haze emission reduction: empirical evidence from China.

With the acceleration of industrialization, haze pollution has become a severe environmental pollution problem, and green technology innovation is one feasible way to alleviate it. Based on the PM2.5 concentration data of 30 provinces in mainland China from 2011 to 2017, we use a spatial panel model to investigate the spatial characteristics of haze pollution and examine the impact of green technology innovation on it. Results show that haze pollution has spatial correlation and a time lag. Its spatial correlation is associated with geographical distance as well as the compound influence of distance and economic development. Green technology innovation and foreign investment have inhibitory and negative spillover effects on haze pollution. Industrial structure and energy consumption structure play a partial intermediary role between green technology innovation and haze pollution, and the former has a significant negative spillover, while the latter has a positive effect. To reduce haze pollution, China should improve the level of green technology innovation, use foreign investment wisely, and enhance policy support and guidance. It should also promote the rationalization of industrial structure, optimize energy structure, and implement energy substitution. Finally, it is crucial that it should strengthen regional collaborative governance and build a multi-agent governance system.

How to optimize provincial PM2.5 reduction targets and paths for emerging industrialized countries? Fresh evidence from China.

Taking China as an example, this paper aims to design a path to reduce haze pollution in newly industrialized countries. Combined the principles of efficiency and equity, this study develops a Game Cross Equity Fixed Cost Allocation Model (Game-EFCAM) to optimize provincial PM2.5 reduction targets and put forward haze reduction paths. The main results are as follows: (1) Among the three egalitarian principles, pay-ability egalitarianism is the fairest, which serves as the convergence principle of Game-EFCAM. (2) The "two mountains and two rivers" area has the largest PM2.5 emission quotas, while the provinces in western China have small PM2.5 emission quotas. In addition, the distributions of PM2.5 emission quotas per unit of population, per unit of gross domestic product, and per unit of area all show significant regional clustering. (3) Shandong and Hebei have the largest amount of PM2.5 emission reduction requirements, while Tianjin and Hainan have the smallest. Xinjiang and Beijing have the largest PM2.5 reduction pressure indexes, while Tianjin and Shanghai have the smallest. This study not only helps China optimize provincial PM2.5 reduction goals, but the proposed allocation method is also applicable to the overall planning of national resources utilization, and provides a reference to newly industrialized countries of haze reduction.

High-speed rail accessibility and haze pollution in China: A spatial econometrics perspective

With deteriorating air quality in Chinese cities, high-speed rail (HSR) has attracted serious attention as an efficient transportation system to contain haze pollution across the country. This study introduces the concept of HSR accessibility and applies the generalized spatial two-stage least square method to examine the effect of HSR on haze pollution in China. A time-varying difference-in-difference strategy is then employed to recognize the causality from HSR to the haze pollution and eliminate endogeneity. Based on a panel dataset comprising 285 cities over 2010–2018, we find a negative effect of HSR accessibility on haze pollution. An increase of one standard deviation in HSR accessibility reduces PM2.5 concentration by 0.22%. However, the HSR pollution reduction effect varies significantly across cities. It is found that HSR can reduce haze pollution by improving the efficiency of resource allocation as well as promoting industrial structure change and technological innovation. This study proposes a new solution for pollution, i.e., improving urbanization quality through intercity transport efficiency enhancement.

Can Industrial Collaborative Agglomeration Reduce Haze Pollution? City-Level Empirical Evidence from China.

We analyze the mechanism for industrial co-agglomeration in Chinese 283 cities to affect haze pollution from 2003 to 2016 and examine the possible mediating effects of urbanization and energy structure between haze pollution and industrial co-agglomeration, finally obtaining the following results. First, industrial co-agglomeration and haze pollution across China, including central and eastern regions keep a typical inverted U-shaped curve relationship. That is, industrial co-agglomeration first promotes haze pollution and then restrains it. However, the impact of industrial co-agglomeration on haze pollution in western China is still on the left side of the inverted U-shaped curve, reflecting a promotion effect. Second, industrial co-agglomeration has a significant spatial spillover effect on haze pollution. Additionally, industrial co-agglomeration can promote haze pollution in local regions but inhibit it in surrounding regions in both the short and long run. In contrast, when the industrial co-agglomeration index exceeds the inflection point (3.6531), it benefits the reduction of haze pollution in local regions, while not being conducive to it in the neighboring regions. Third, industrial co-agglomeration can affect haze pollution through urbanization and energy structure, that is, urbanization and energy structure play an intermediary role between them.

Assessing the influence of urban transportation infrastructure construction on haze pollution in China: A case study of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region

The construction of urban transportation infrastructure is bound to have an impact on air pollution. The purpose of this paper is to verify whether strengthening the construction of urban transportation infrastructure can reduce haze pollution. The core innovation of this paper is that the fixed asset investment of urban municipal public facilities and urban road areas are used as the proxy indicator of transportation infrastructure, which is rarely adopted in the existing literature. The relationship between transportation infrastructure and haze pollution is discussed, and the endogenous problems caused by variables omission are also considered. Based on the panel data of 13 prefecture-level cities of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region from 2005 to 2016, we use the slope index as the instrumental variable for urban transportation infrastructure, with the two-stage least squares method (2SLS) applied. The results suggest that: (i)increasing urban transportation infrastructure investment can significantly improve the air quality of the sample cities and mitigate haze pollution levels; (ii)After using the instrumental variable to alleviate endogenous bias, the inhibitory effect is more obvious; (iii)Compared with the fixed asset investment in the construction of public facilities, the increase of urban road area has a better effect on the improvement of haze pollution. What we learned from the conclusions is: traffic management department should strengthen the transportation infrastructure construction to realize the balance between urban construction and environmental protection.

Probabilistic Linguistic Term Envelopment Analysis Model

Data envelopment analysis is a useful model for efficiency evaluation. In order to improve the haze pollution in China, it is particularly essential to allocate the PM2.5 emission rights of various provinces according to the actual situation reasonably. However, the expressions of input and output information are often limited or incomplete. Probabilistic linguistic term sets are employed to increase the expression range of information. Therefore, the proposed probabilistic linguistic term envelopment analysis (PLTEA) model is divided into deviation-oriented probabilistic linguistic term envelopment analysis model and score-oriented probabilistic linguistic term envelopment analysis model. The dual form of the PLTEA model has obtained to solve the actual emission rights distribution problem. Finally, the optimization methods of the distribution efficiency of the PM2.5 emission rights in China in 2019, and some policy suggestions are given to reduce haze pollution.

Does environmental regulation reduce China's haze pollution? An empirical analysis based on panel quantile regression.

Haze pollution in China is very serious and has become the source of mortality, affecting the health and lives of residents. The Chinese government adopts different policy measures to reduce haze pollution. The impact of different types of environmental regulations on haze pollution has become a hot topic for academics and government departments. Based on panel data from 2005-2017, this paper studies the effect of different types of environmental regulations on haze pollution in 30 provinces of China using a panel quantile model. The results show that when haze pollution changes from a low quantile to a high quantile, the marginal impact of command-and-control environmental regulation on haze pollution changes from 0.122 to -0.332. Command-and-control environmental regulation can reduce haze pollution, but its impact is not significant. The main reason for this finding is that environmental law enforcement is not strict. The marginal impact of economically restrained environmental regulation on haze pollution changes from -14.389 to 49.939. Economically restrained environmental regulation can reduce haze pollution in low quantiles, but not in high quantiles. The collection of sewage charges fees is far less than the total profit, which has no deterrent effect on enterprises. The marginal impact of public participation in environmental regulation on haze pollution changes from 0.154 to -0.002. Public participation in environmental regulation cannot reduce haze pollution in low quantiles, but can in high quantiles; however its impact becomes insignificant. This study reveals the quantile-based discrepancy in the effect of environmental regulation on haze pollution, and offers a new perspective for research on the effects of environmental regulation.

Does local government competition aggravate haze pollution? A new perspective of factor market distortion

Haze pollution has become a new threat to China's sustainable development, but it may be that local government behaviour can play an important role in the prevention and control of pollutants. A dynamic spatial autoregressive (SAR) model is used to study the relationship between local government competition and haze pollution. To further explore the indirect impact of factor market distortion on haze pollution and control potential endogeneity problems, a newly developed intermediary effect model that incorporates the characteristics of the generalized method of moments (GMM) is utilized to explore how factor market distortion indirectly affects haze pollution. The research results show that regional haze pollution in China is characterized by significant spatial correlation, and local government competition has a positive impact on haze pollution; that is, local government competition exacerbates haze pollution. In general, local government competition not only directly leads to an increase in haze pollution but also further intensifies it by distorting the local factor market, and the intermediary role of factor market distortion is approximately 7.04%. The results of the regional inspection found that competition among local governments in the eastern region did not lead to haze pollution, and distortion of the factor market did not exist as an intermediary effect. However, both direct and intermediary effects are significant in the central and western regions. Therefore, an official performance appraisal system that includes ecological constraints should be established to guide the benign transformation of local government competition, and an environmental management mechanism must be developed for joint prevention and control to reduce haze pollution. In addition, the free flow of factors and marketization are equally important.

A spatial econometric empirical research on the impact of industrial agglomeration on haze pollution in China

Based on statistical data on 30 provincial administrative regions in China from 2000 to 2016, this paper conducts an empirical study of the impact of industrial agglomeration on haze pollution using the spatial Dubin model (SDM), spatial lag model (SLM), and spatial error model (SEM). The findings are as follows: (1) Industrial agglomeration can effectively reduce the degree of haze pollution. (2) Haze pollution has an inverted U-shaped relationship with economic development and population agglomeration. (3) The secondary industry has a positive correlation with haze pollution, while the tertiary industry can reduce haze pollution but not in an obvious manner. (4) The level of innovation and urbanization can help to reduce haze pollution, and the level of economic opening up and carbon dioxide emissions can exacerbate haze pollution. (5) Due to the insufficient commercialization of scientific and technological achievements, investment in science and technology is not obviously effective in preventing and controlling haze pollution. The relationship between environmental regulation and haze pollution is still unclear due to regional differences and the varied effectiveness of law enforcement. The study suggests that the government should guide industrial agglomeration in a reasonable manner, improve joint prevention and control across regions, and strengthen environmental regulation to prevent and control haze pollution.

Corruption, Economic Development and Haze Pollution: Evidence from 139 Global Countries

Long-term exposure to haze pollution will not only affect citizens’ health and shorten their life expectancy, but also cause unpredictable economic losses. In addition, it has become the focus of worldwide concern whether and how institutional quality affects haze pollution. In this study, we explored the impacts of political corruption on haze pollution in 139 global countries. We employed a geographical detector model to identify the driving factors of spatial differentiation in global haze pollution. In addition, corruption degree and per capita gross domestic production (GDP) were used as threshold variables to analyze whether there is a nonlinear relationship between corruption and haze pollution. The main results are as follows. (1) The corruption perception index (CPI) was negatively correlated with haze pollution and had a strong and stable explanatory power for the heterogeneity of haze pollution. Besides, the degree of corruption had a significant triple threshold effect on haze pollution. When the CPI crossed the double threshold value, strengthening institutional quality could inhibit haze pollution. (2) Per capita GDP significantly determined how institutional quality exerted an effect on haze pollution, which was also a key factor affecting spatial heterogeneity of PM2.5 concentration. In high-income countries, choosing a more honest ruling party could substantially reduce haze pollution, while in low-income countries, an incompetent government could increase the degree of haze pollution. (3) The “Matthew effect” was manifested in our study. It indicated that the higher was the level of economic development, the lower was the severity of haze pollution. Based on these results, we state that policy makers cannot simply alleviate haze pollution through anti-corruption construction. For low-income countries, ensuring economic growth is the prerequisite for the substantial alleviation of haze pollution. On the contrary, high-income countries should pay more attention to the integrity of government institutions and strengthen the awareness of anti-corruption.

Sustainability by High–Speed Rail: The Reduction Mechanisms of Transportation Infrastructure on Haze Pollution

Haze pollution impacts human health, as well as the competitive capabilities of firms and local economic development. Considerable attention has been given to the study of mechanisms for reducing haze pollution, but few studies have investigated the effect of city-to-city transportation infrastructures on environmental issues based on an institutional perspective. To address this research gap, this study advances our understanding by assessing the effect of city–to–city transportation on haze pollution caused by the operation of high-speed rail, which triggers the rapid flow of individuals and information, improves information transparency, as well as imposes institutional pressure on local governments and firms to reduce haze pollution. To further verify the underlying mechanisms, we tested the development of hard infrastructure (information communication technology) and soft infrastructure (market development level), which represent two conditions for which the mechanism is likely to be critical. We tested our hypotheses using a sample of 288 prefecture-level cities in China during the period from 2005 to 2016. The empirical results indicate that the operation of high-speed rail can reduce haze pollution by 17% on average.