IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v381y2025ics0277953625004794.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The cognitive benefits of ecosystem improvement: Evidence from China's National Key Ecological Function Zones

Author

Listed:
  • Tang, Jia
  • Ni, Chenxu
  • Lu, Shuwei
  • Xiong, Jie
  • Wang, Mingzhe

Abstract

Despite growing evidence of a strong correlation between ecosystem changes and human health, the direct impact of ecological improvements on cognitive function remains underexplored. This study examines the impact of China's National Key Ecological Function Zones (NKEFZs) policy on residents' cognitive function, employing a staggered Difference-in-Differences model. Using large-scale longitudinal survey data from 92,825 adults, our findings indicate that NKEFZs implementation is associated with significant improvements in cognitive outcomes, with cognitive scores increasing by 0.0291 standard deviations for vocabulary, 0.0703 for mathematical scores, and 0.0993 for overall cognitive function. Further analysis reveals that these effects are mediated by enhanced objective health status, reduced depression, and increased outdoor exercise frequency. Heterogeneity analysis suggests that the cognitive benefits of NKEFZs implementation vary across demographic groups, with older and lower-income individuals experiencing less pronounced effects. These findings emphasize the broader public health implications of ecosystem improvement.

Suggested Citation

  • Tang, Jia & Ni, Chenxu & Lu, Shuwei & Xiong, Jie & Wang, Mingzhe, 2025. "The cognitive benefits of ecosystem improvement: Evidence from China's National Key Ecological Function Zones," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 381(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:381:y:2025:i:c:s0277953625004794
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118149
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953625004794
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118149?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:381:y:2025:i:c:s0277953625004794. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.