Funeral reform, land use, and environmental consequences: evidence from China

Against the backdrop of China’s twin objectives to uphold the 1.8 billion mu arable land baseline and alleviate air pollution, this research employs the national pilot for funeral reform as a policy intervention for a natural experiment. The analysis adopts a DID methodology to estimate the causal effects of this reform on two fronts: the multifunctionality of cultivated land and the concentrations of urban air pollutants, specifically carbon monoxide (CO) and sulfur dioxide (SO2). The results indicated that the implementation of funeral reform significantly enhanced the multifunctionality of cultivated land, particularly by improving its production function and living function. These effects were more pronounced in transportation hubs and major grain-producing regions across North, Northeast, East, and Central China. Mechanism analysis demonstrated that these improvements were primarily driven by the expansion of land transfers and the reduction of land fragmentation, which facilitated the development of large-scale agricultural operations. However, a trade-off was identified, where funeral reform significantly increased local air pollution, with average CO concentrations rising by 0.0949 mg/m3 and SO2 concentrations increasing by 3.2490 µg/m3, respectively. This adverse environmental effect was largely attributable to the expansion of cemeteries and funeral home facilities accompanying the reform.