Ziyuan Kexue (Jul 2024)
The effect of environmental information disclosure system on industrial emission reduction: A case study of urban air quality ranking in China
Abstract
[Objective] In 2013, the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China published the urban air quality ranking for the first time, and expanded the scope of the ranking in 2018, so as to assess the emission reduction effect of this system, which is of great significance for exploring new ways to improve air quality in China. [Methods] In this study, we took the urban air quality ranking system as a quasi-natural experiment and systematically analyzed the emission reduction effect of the urban air quality ranking based on the panel data of 282 Chinese cities at the prefecture level and above from 2009 to 2021 by using the staggered difference-in-differences method. [Results] (1) The urban air quality ranking system had obvious emission reduction effects. Compared with the unranked cities, the industrial sulfur dioxide emissions of the ranked cities decreased by 18.6% on average, and the emission reduction effect was more significant in the northern and inland regions. (2) Industrial structure optimization and green technology innovation were important channels through which the urban air quality ranking system influenced industrial pollution emissions. (3) Further analysis revealed that the emission reduction effect of the air quality ranking system was enhanced with the increase of Internet penetration; the system had a more obvious effect on pollution reduction in the bottom-ranked cities; and the system can significantly reduce the concentration of major air pollutants in cities and realize the expected system goals. [Conclusion] Publication of urban air quality ranking is an effective environmental information disclosure system, which provides incentives for local governments to strengthen industrial pollution control and thus improve urban air quality. Therefore, air quality rankings should be fully utilized as a “pushback” for urban air quality, and healthy competition between cities in air quality should be formed effectively.
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