Have driving restrictions reduced air pollution: evidence from prefecture-level cities of China

AbstractThis paper investigates the role of additional regulation in mitigating the ‘adverse scale effect’ associated with daily driving restrictions, which has become a popular regulatory tool used to control episodic air pollution internationally, especially in developing countries. We find that although an annual vehicle registration tax reduces the incentive to purchase additional vehicles among households whose sole purpose for doing so is to ‘cheat’ the restriction (i.e., the ‘adverse scale effect’), it does so with an external cost. The cost occurs because households whose purpose for purchasing an additional vehicle is not to cheat the restriction are given the same disincentive with the tax. We show how simple one- and two-stage lotteries can be used to not only discriminate between cheater and non-cheater households (in particular, to avoid providing a disincentive to the latter type of household), but also to provide an even stronger disincentive to the former.

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The More Stringent, the Better? Rationing Car Use in Bogotá with Moderate and Drastic Restrictions

The World Bank Economic Review ◽

10.1093/wber/lhw053 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 33 (2) ◽

pp. 516-534 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Jorge A Bonilla

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Carbon Monoxide ◽

Traffic Congestion ◽

License Plate ◽

Vehicle Ownership ◽

Gasoline Consumption ◽

Car Use ◽

Driving Restrictions ◽

The World ◽

Using Data

Abstract Rationing car use based on license plate number has become a popular policy in several cities around the world to address traffic congestion and air pollution. This paper studies the effects of the moderate and drastic driving restrictions imposed as part of the Pico y Placa program on car use and air pollution in Bogotá. Using data on ambient carbon monoxide, gasoline consumption, and vehicle sales and registrations, no evidence of an improvement in air quality or a reduction in car use is found in either phase of the program. On the contrary, there is some indication that, relative to the moderate phase, gasoline consumption, vehicle ownership, and carbon monoxide in the morning peak tended to increase slightly when drastic restrictions were implemented.

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New Evidence of the Effect of Beijing’s Driving Restriction and Other Olympic-Year Policies on Air Pollution

The B E Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy ◽

10.1515/bejeap-2019-0295 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 0 (0) ◽

Author(s):

Zheng Liu ◽

Haiyang Kong

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Difference In Differences ◽

Significant Drop ◽

Chinese Cities ◽

Driving Restrictions ◽

Long Run ◽

New Findings ◽

Short Run ◽

New Evidence ◽

The City

AbstractSeven Chinese cities have enacted One-Weekday Limit (OWL) driving restrictions following Beijing’s implementation shortly after the Olympics in 2008. Existing literature examines the short-run effect of the OWL or the long-run effect of the Olympic-year policy package on air pollution in Beijing. Using two difference-in-differences (DD) approaches, this study compares the long-run effect of the Olympic-year policy package with the effect of the OWL. Using the city of Tianjin as a control, this study finds a significant drop in pollution due to the Olympic-year policy package. Using weekends as a control, this study finds a much smaller and less significant drop due to the OWL. These new findings suggest that compared to the OWL, other policies enforced in the Olympic year account for a greater portion of the drop.

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