How Effective Is Traffic and Production Restriction for Air Pollution? Evidence From a Quasi-natural Experiment in China

Air pollution seriously affects human health. The traffic and production restriction is widely used for controlling heavy air pollution. However, the effectiveness of these two policies has not been scientifically verified through a city-level study. COVID-19 pandemic caused lockdowns in many cities, which makes it possible to verify the effectiveness of these two policies. Taken Wuhan as the study area, this study firstly verifies the existence of lockdown effect on air pollution and analyzes the evolution rule of six air pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, NO2, SO2, CO and O3) using statistical methods. Then the structural break points in six air pollutants are detected with the regression discontinuity design model. Because Spring Festival overlapping COVID-19 may also affect the air pollution, in order to avoid the disturbance of Spring Festival on the results, the Spring Festival effect is also validated. The results illustrate that the effects of traffic and production restriction on six air pollutants are obviously different, in which the concentrations of PM2.5, PM10 and NO2 decrease significantly, while traffic and production restriction has no apparent effects on SO2, CO and O3. Moreover, the structural break points are verified in the four air pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, NO2 and CO), and the structural break points are caused by lockdown instead of Spring Festival. This study revealed how the traffic and production restriction affected the air pollution at a city level, and provided strong implementation basis to the air pollution control policy.

Spatial Heterogeneity Influences of Environmental Control and Informal Regulation on Air Pollutant Emissions in China

High air pollutant emissions in China have become serious environmental issues threatening public health. While spatial heterogeneity plays an important role in environmental regulation in China, it is necessary to analyze the spatial heterogeneity influences of air pollution control policies and informal environmental regulation on air pollutant emissions in China. Based on the quantification of air pollution control policies, this paper incorporates the central government’s policy formulation and local government’s policy implementation into the intensity of air pollution control policy. This paper uses the panel data of China’s 30 provinces to examine the spatial impact of air pollution control policy and informal environmental regulation on air pollutant emissions. The results show that (a) air pollutant emissions represented by soot and dust emission intensity has a significant positive spatial spillover effect; (b) air pollution control policy and informal environmental regulation play significant inhibitory roles in air pollutant emissions; (c) informal environmental regulation has a negative moderating effect on the negative relationship between air pollution control policy and air pollutant emissions. Other implications for environmental management have also been discussed.

Regional Cooperative Pollution Control and Residents’ Health Expenditures: Empirical Evidence from China

Background: Environmental pollution seriously damages not only the ecosystem but also the well-being of residents. There is an association between air pollution and residential health expenditures. The aim of this study was to identify the association between pollution control and residents’ health expenditures. Methods: Using the pilot project of the regional cooperative pollution control in 28 cities required by the Chinese government as the quasi-natural experiment setting and the panel data of residents’ health expenditures in China from 2014 to 2017, the impact of pollution control on residents’ health expenditures was systematically explored through difference-in-difference approach. Results: Air quality of the 28 cities that adopted the regional cooperative pollution control policy improves significantly, thus indicating that this policy effectively solves the self-interest issue of local governments in pollution control, and residents’ health expenditures consequently decrease. Conclusion: This study enriches the paradigm that analyzes the relationship between air pollution and residents’ health expenditures and reveals the mechanism through which the regional cooperative pollution control reduces residents’ health expenditures.