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Performance-Based or Politic-Related Decomposition of Environmental Targets: A Multilevel Analysis in China

Author

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  • Pan Zhang

    (School of International and Public Affairs, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, China
    Center for Chinese Local Governance Innovations, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, Shaanxi, China)

  • Jiannan Wu

    (School of International and Public Affairs, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, China
    China Institute for Urban Governance, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, China)

Abstract

China relies on the total pollutant emission control and environmental target responsibility system to curb environmental pollution and improve energy conversation. How the central government breaks down environmental targets among provincial governments lies at the core, but little research has been done to explore the determinants of environmental target-setting empirically. This work models the decomposition process of environmental targets by focusing on the roles of historical performance and provinces’ political status. With the method of hierarchical linear model, data on five kinds of environmental obligatory targets (energy consumption per unit GDP and other four kinds of pollutants) during China’s “12th Five-year Plan” period is used to test the hypotheses. The results show that provincial historical structural performance is negatively significantly correlated with their environmental target levels, while the effects of historical scale performance and intensity performance are not significant. Besides, provinces with higher political rankings tend to be allocated higher targets, which is in accordance with the model effect hypothesis rather than the bargaining effect hypothesis.

Suggested Citation

  • Pan Zhang & Jiannan Wu, 2018. "Performance-Based or Politic-Related Decomposition of Environmental Targets: A Multilevel Analysis in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-16, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:10:p:3410-:d:171893
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    Cited by:

    1. Pan Zhang & Zhiguo Wang, 2019. "PM 2.5 Concentrations and Subjective Well-Being: Longitudinal Evidence from Aggregated Panel Data from Chinese Provinces," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-13, March.
    2. Feng Xiong & Xiaoyu Zeng & Yi (Fionna) Xie & Yan Li, 2022. "Design (Allocation) of a Carbon Emission System—A Lesson from Power Restrictions in Zhejiang, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-31, September.
    3. Yan Fu & Jiaxing Cao & Xiaohui Wu & Jiale He & Zekun Zhou & Yulin Zhao, 2023. "Does Environmental Policy with Veto Power Lead to Heterogeneous Emission? Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-19, June.
    4. Zhang, Pan & Wang, Huan, 2022. "Do provincial energy policies and energy intensity targets help reduce CO2 emissions? Evidence from China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 245(C).
    5. Zhang, Pan, 2019. "Do energy intensity targets matter for wind energy development? Identifying their heterogeneous effects in Chinese provinces with different wind resources," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 968-975.

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