Are State-Owned Enterprises Good Citizens in Environmental Governance? Evidence From the Control of Air Pollution in China

2021 ◽  
pp. 009539972110058
Author(s):  
Jiaqi Liang ◽  
Laura Langbein
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Sulfur Dioxide ◽  
Performance Management ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
State Ownership ◽  
Public Welfare ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Sulfur Dioxide Emissions ◽  
Corruption Case ◽  
And Performance

As profit-seeking corporations, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have incentives to maximize profits from economic activities. However, subject to state ownership, SOEs are expected also to be more accountable for public welfare than their private counterparts. This study examines whether SOEs’ relative provincial dominance reinforces government’s demand to reduce air pollution in China, in the context of anticorruption and performance management. The results suggest that greater relative SOE dominance reduces sulfur dioxide emissions, but this effect is significant only in provinces with a low level of corruption case investigations. Performance management has no discernible moderating impact on the effect of SOE relative dominance.

Air Pollution and Trade: The Case of China

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 307-346
Author(s):  
Jin Qin ◽  
◽  
Ivan T. Kandilov ◽  
Roger H. von Haefen ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Sulfur Dioxide ◽  
Great Recession ◽  
Fine Particulate Matter ◽  
Annual Data ◽  
Exogenous Shock ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Sulfur Dioxide Emissions ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Emissions Intensity

We estimate the effects of trade on air pollution in China. To address endogeneity concerns, we use an instrumental variable strategy that treats the Great Recession as an exogenous shock that differentially affected China’s coastal provinces, which export a greater volume of manufacturing as they are closer to navigable waters. In our empirical analysis, we employ annual data on emissions of sulfur dioxide as well as smoke and dust at the province level from 2003 to 2015 to measure air pollution intensity (the ratio of air pollution to GDP), and we also use fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations data derived from satellite imagery as a robustness check. We find that a decrease in trade intensity (the ratio of trade to GDP) by 10 percentage points (a negative trade shock similar to what occurred during the Great Recession) increases sulfur dioxide emissions intensity by about 38 percentage points. Emissions of the other two air pollutants grow by similar proportions.

scholarly journals Low-carbon governance, fiscal decentralization and sulfur dioxide emissions: Evidence from a quasi-experiment with Chinese heavy pollution enterprises

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping Guo ◽  
Jin Li ◽  
Jinsong Kuang ◽  
Yifei Zhu ◽  
Renrui Xiao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sulfur Dioxide ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Fiscal Decentralization ◽  
Mediating Effect ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
So2 Emissions ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Sulfur Dioxide Emissions ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Heavy Pollution

Abstract This paper investigates the effects of enterprise environmental governance under low-carbon pilot policies in China with a difference in differences (DID) design. In examining the development of these policies, we focus on exploring their effects on sulfur dioxide emissions of heavily polluting enterprises based on prefectural city- and firm-level data from 2003-2014. Overall, the policies significantly increased enterprise SO2 emissions, and the underlying reason being that investments in CO2 control crowded out investment in SO2 control in enterprises in low-carbon pilot regions. We also find that the implementation of low-carbon pilot policies resulted in greater SO2 emissions from state-owned enterprises and enterprises in western regions than from non-state-owned enterprises and those in eastern regions. It is further found that fiscal decentralization and the associated mediating effect of market segmentation promote enterprises' CO2 control and inhibit their SO2 control. This study helps us re-examine the overall environmental effects of low-carbon policies and has implications for the revision and improvement of environmental governance policies in developing countries.

scholarly journals A Dynamic Analysis of Air Pollution: Implications of Economic Growth and Renewable Energy Consumption

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (18) ◽  
pp. 9906
Author(s):  
Jia Yu Xie ◽  
Dong Hee Suh ◽  
Sung-Kwan Joo
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Particulate Matter ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Sulfur Dioxide ◽  
Renewable Energy Consumption ◽  
Dynamic Panel ◽  
Dynamic Panel Model ◽  
Sulfur Dioxide Emissions ◽  
Panel Model

This paper examines how economic growth and renewable energy consumption are associated with air pollution using a dynamic panel approach. Focusing on several major air pollutants, namely, particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and carbon monoxide, this paper tests the environmental Kuznets hypothesis and determines whether the use of renewable energy sources contributes to a reduction in air pollution. Data from a balanced panel of 145 countries for the period between 2000 and 2014 was used for the estimation of the dynamic panel model. The results of the dynamic panel model showed inverted U-shaped curves for the relationship between economic development and particulate matter and sulfur dioxide emissions. The results also revealed that increasing renewable energy consumption contributes to an improvement in air quality. Moreover, it was found that urbanization tends to decrease sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions, while trade openness reduces particulate matter and carbon monoxide emissions but increases sulfur dioxide emissions.

Performance Measurement using Balance Score Card and its Applications: A Review

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shradha Gawankar ◽  
Sachin S. Kamble ◽  
Rakesh Raut
Keyword(s):  
Performance Measurement ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Performance Management ◽  
Balanced Scorecard ◽  
Strategic Change ◽  
The Balanced Scorecard ◽  
Balance Score Card ◽  
Measurement Framework ◽  
Score Card ◽  
And Performance

This paper aims to propose the idea of briefly explaining the balance scorecard by highlighting its use, application in depth. A critical enabler in achieving desired performance goals is the ability to measure performance. Despite the importance of accurately measuring organizational performance in most areas of academic research, there have been very few studies that have directly addressed the question of how overall organizational performance is or should be measured. Perhaps more importantly, none of these studies seems to have significantly influenced how overall organizational performance is actually measured in most of the empirical research that uses this construct as a dependent measure. The most popular of the performance measurement framework has been the balanced scorecard abbreviated as BSC. The BSC is widely acknowledged to have moved beyond the original ideology. It has now become a strategic change management and performance management process. The approach used in this paper is the combination of literature review on evolution of balance score card and its applications in various sectors/organizations/ areas. This paper identify that the balanced scorecard is a powerful but simple strategic tool and the simplicity of the scorecard is in its design. By encompassing four primary perspectives, the tool allows an organization to turn its attention to external concerns, such as the financial outcomes and its customers expectations, and internal areas, which include its internal processes to meet external requirements and its integration of learning and growth, to successfully meet its strategic expectations. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the balanced scorecard combined with application and strategy, which are now in a better position to begin to recognize managements expectations and to discover new ways to build value for workplace learning and performance within organization.

scholarly journals Air Pollution’s Impact on the Economic, Social, Medical, and Industrial Injury Environments in China

Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 261
Author(s):  
Zhong Fang ◽  
Pei-Ying Wu ◽  
Yi-Nuo Lin ◽  
Tzu-Han Chang ◽  
Yung-ho Chiu
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Production Efficiency ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Efficiency Score ◽  
High Income ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Safety And Health

In this era of rapid economic development, it is inevitable that economic activities eventually cause serious damage to the environment’s air quality, making it the focus of global public health. If the treatment efficiency of medical accidents can be improved, then this can significantly stabilize society and improve production efficiency. Past research has mainly focused on work safety and health issues, seldom discussing economic, social, medical, and environmental pollution issues together, and, most generally, adopted static methods that fail to recognize how air pollution affects the overall economy, society, medical care, and external environment. In order to more deeply understand the changes among social, economic activities, and environmental issues due to air pollution, this study proposes a meta-two-stage undesirable dynamic DDF (Direction Distance Function) that, under an exogenous model, divides the 30 provinces of China into high-income regions and middle-income regions and explores the economic, social, medical, and environmental efficiencies between the two areas to resolve the lack of related static analyses. The empirical results are as follows. (1) The AQI (air quality index) significantly impacts the efficiency of medical injuries in various regions. (2) When the AQI is considered, the medical insurance expenditure efficiency score value of high-income areas is lower than the value without the AQI. (3) When the AQI is considered, the efficiency value of the number of work injury insurance benefits in the middle-income area is lower than the efficiency value without the AQI.

The Importance of Oversight and Agency Capacity in Enhancing Performance in Public Service Delivery

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cody A Drolc ◽  
Lael R Keiser
Keyword(s):  
Service Delivery ◽  
Performance Management ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Poor Performance ◽  
Central Component ◽  
State Agencies ◽  
Public Programs ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Fixed Effects Regression ◽  
Social Security Disability

Abstract Government agencies often encounter problems in service delivery when implementing public programs. This undermines effectiveness and raise questions about accountability. A central component of responsiveness and performance management is that agencies correct course when problems are identified. However, public agencies have an uneven record in responding to problems. In this paper we investigate whether, and to what extent, capacity both within the agency and within institutions performing oversight, improves agency responsiveness to poor performance indicators. Using panel data on eligibility determinations in the Social Security Disability program from U.S. state agencies from 1991-2015 and fixed effects regression, we find that indicators of agency and oversight capacity moderate the relationship between poor performance and improvement. Our results suggest that investments in building capacity not only within agencies, but also within elected institutions, are important for successful policy implementation. However, we find evidence that while agency capacity alone can improve responsiveness to poor performance, the effect of oversight capacity on improving performance requires high agency capacity.

scholarly journals Does the “Miracle Drug” of Environmental Governance Really Improve Air Quality? Evidence from China’s System of Central Environmental Protection Inspections

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 850 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruxin Wu ◽  
Piao Hu
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Treatment Effect ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Local Officials ◽  
The Media ◽  
Positive Effect

Central environmental protection inspections have completed their goal of full coverage of 31 provinces in China, and more than 17,000 officials have been held accountable. The media has evaluated the effectiveness of central environmental protection inspections using the notions of “instant results” and the “miracle drug of environmental governance.” Can this approach effectively promote local environmental governance? This paper takes the treatment effect of central environmental protection inspections on air pollution as an example. Using the method of regression discontinuity, central environmental protection inspections are found to have a positive effect on the air quality index (AQI), but this effect is only short term and unsustainable. Additionally, there are inter-provincial differences. Judging from the research results on sub-contaminants, the treatment effect of central environmental protection inspections on air pollution is mainly reflected in PM10, PM2.5 and CO. Under the current situation in which PM10 and PM2.5 are the main assessment indexes, this phenomenon indicates that due to the political achievements and promotion of local officials and for reasons of accountability, it is more effective for the central government to conduct specific environmental assessments through local governments than to conduct central environmental protection inspections.

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