Can ESG investments and new environmental law improve social happiness in China?

Peiyao Lu; Shigeyuki Hamori; Shuairu Tian

doi:10.3389/fenvs.2023.1089486

Frontiers in Environmental Science (Jan 2023)

Can ESG investments and new environmental law improve social happiness in China?

Peiyao Lu,
Shigeyuki Hamori,
Shuairu Tian

Affiliations

Peiyao Lu: Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University, Kobe, Japan
Shigeyuki Hamori: Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University, Kobe, Japan
Shuairu Tian: Research Center of Finance, Shanghai Business School, Shanghai, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2023.1089486
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 11

Abstract

Read online

Air pollution was a serious issue in China in the early 2010s, threatening public health and sustainable economic development. The Chinese government established a new environmental protection law in 2015 in order to address air pollution and other environmental issues. This paper investigates the impact of the new environmental law and ESG investments on air pollution and social happiness. We discovered that the implementation of the new environmental law and ESG investments significantly improved social happiness by reducing air pollution. One unit increase in ESG investments would result in a 0.334 unit decrease in air pollution and 0.225 unit increase in social happiness.

Published in Frontiers in Environmental Science

ISSN: 2296-665X (Online)
Publisher: Frontiers Media S.A.
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Geography. Anthropology. Recreation: Environmental sciences
Website: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/environmental-science

About the journal

Abstract

Keywords