IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i14p8253-d856753.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Impact of Resource-Based Economic Transformation Policy on Sulfur Dioxide Emissions: A Case Study of Shanxi Province

Author

Listed:
  • Wei Li

    (School of Economics and Management, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China)

  • Baichuan Xiang

    (School of Economics and Management, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China)

  • Rongxia Zhang

    (School of Economics and Management, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China)

  • Guomin Li

    (School of Economics and Management, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China)

  • Zhihao Wang

    (School of Economics and Management, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China)

  • Bin Su

    (Energy Studies Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119077, Singapore)

  • Tossou Mahugbe Eric

    (School of Economics and Management, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China)

Abstract

Air pollution, particularly SO 2 emission, has become a global problem, seriously threatening the sustainable development and health of mankind. Based on the panel data of 248 prefecture-level cities in China during 2003–2018, this study used the Propensity Score Matching-Difference in Difference (PSM-DID) method within the counterfactual framework to evaluate the treatment effect of the policy made by the National Resource-Based Economic Transformation Comprehensive Supporting Reform Pilot Zone (CRZ) on sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) emissions. The results show the following. (1) The benchmark regression results demonstrate that the CRZ policy has significantly decreased per capita SO 2 emissions (PCSO 2 ) and SO 2 emissions per unit of GDP (PGSO 2 ) in the pilot zone, and the placebo test indicates that the evaluation of the policy effect is robust. (2) The dynamic effect test indicates that there is a lag in the effect of the CRZ policy on reducing SO 2 emissions. The policy effect of the CRZ policy on PCSO 2 and PGSO 2 was not obvious in the first stage (2011–2015), the CRZ policy significantly reduced the PCSO 2 and PGSO 2 in the second stage of policy implementation (2016 and beyond), and the reduction effect of CRZ policy on SO 2 emissions is increasing over time. (3) The mechanism analysis shows that optimizing industrial structure, increasing human capital, strengthening technological innovation, and expanding opening to the outside world are the main ways for the CRZ policy to reduce SO 2 emissions. The study will help promote SO 2 emissions reduction in Shanxi Province, providing a reference for the transformation and development of other resource-based cities in China and the world and contributing to accelerating the achievement of regional emission reduction targets and sustainable development.

Suggested Citation

  • Wei Li & Baichuan Xiang & Rongxia Zhang & Guomin Li & Zhihao Wang & Bin Su & Tossou Mahugbe Eric, 2022. "Impact of Resource-Based Economic Transformation Policy on Sulfur Dioxide Emissions: A Case Study of Shanxi Province," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-22, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:14:p:8253-:d:856753
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/14/8253/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/14/8253/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Haoran Zhao & Sen Guo & Huiru Zhao, 2018. "Impacts of GDP, Fossil Fuel Energy Consumption, Energy Consumption Intensity, and Economic Structure on SO 2 Emissions: A Multi-Variate Panel Data Model Analysis on Selected Chinese Provinces," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-20, March.
    2. Fodha, Mouez & Zaghdoud, Oussama, 2010. "Economic growth and pollutant emissions in Tunisia: An empirical analysis of the environmental Kuznets curve," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 1150-1156, February.
    3. Markusen, James R. & Venables, Anthony J., 1999. "Foreign direct investment as a catalyst for industrial development," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 335-356, February.
    4. Hering, Laura & Poncet, Sandra, 2014. "Environmental policy and exports: Evidence from Chinese cities," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 296-318.
    5. Ren, Shenggang & Hu, Yucai & Zheng, Jingjing & Wang, Yangjie, 2020. "Emissions trading and firm innovation: Evidence from a natural experiment in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    6. Liao, Xiaofeng & Li, Chuandong & Zhou, Shangbo, 2005. "Hopf bifurcation and chaos in macroeconomic models with policy lag," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 91-108.
    7. Atil, Ahmed & Nawaz, Kishwar & Lahiani, Amine & Roubaud, David, 2020. "Are natural resources a blessing or a curse for financial development in Pakistan? The importance of oil prices, economic growth and economic globalization," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    8. Shen, Junyi, 2006. "A simultaneous estimation of Environmental Kuznets Curve: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 383-394.
    9. Auty, R. & Warhurst, A., 1993. "Sustainable development in mineral exporting economies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 14-29, March.
    10. Cheng, Beibei & Dai, Hancheng & Wang, Peng & Xie, Yang & Chen, Li & Zhao, Daiqing & Masui, Toshihiko, 2016. "Impacts of low-carbon power policy on carbon mitigation in Guangdong Province, China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 515-527.
    11. Jing Lan & Makoto Kakinaka & Xianguo Huang, 2012. "Foreign Direct Investment, Human Capital and Environmental Pollution in China," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 51(2), pages 255-275, February.
    12. Shao, Shuai & Yang, Lili, 2014. "Natural resource dependence, human capital accumulation, and economic growth: A combined explanation for the resource curse and the resource blessing," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 632-642.
    13. Zhimin Zhou & Xinyue Ye & Xiangyu Ge, 2017. "The Impacts of Technical Progress on Sulfur Dioxide Kuznets Curve in China: A Spatial Panel Data Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-27, April.
    14. Ahmed Atil & Kishwar Nawaz & Amine Lahiani & David Roubaud, 2020. "Are natural resources a blessing or a curse for financial development in Pakistan? The importance of oil prices, economic growth and economic globalization," Post-Print hal-03676031, HAL.
    15. Yang, Xue & Wang, Shaojian & Zhang, Wenzhong & Li, Jiaming & Zou, Yafeng, 2016. "Impacts of energy consumption, energy structure, and treatment technology on SO2 emissions: A multi-scale LMDI decomposition analysis in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 714-726.
    16. Peng, Jiaying & Xie, Rui & Ma, Chunbo & Fu, Yang, 2021. "Market-based environmental regulation and total factor productivity: Evidence from Chinese enterprises," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 394-407.
    17. Dani Rodrik & Mark Rosenzweig (ed.), 2010. "Handbook of Development Economics," Handbook of Development Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 5, number 6.
    18. Liu, Er-na & Wang, Yanan & Chen, Wei & Chen, Wenjun & Ning, Siyin, 2021. "Evaluating the transformation of China's resource-based cities: An integrated sequential weight and TOPSIS approach," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    19. Chen, Jiandong & Huang, Shasha & Shen, Zhiyang & Song, Malin & Zhu, Zunhong, 2022. "Impact of sulfur dioxide emissions trading pilot scheme on pollution emissions intensity: A study based on the synthetic control method," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    20. Wang, Yuan & Han, Rong & Kubota, Jumpei, 2016. "Is there an Environmental Kuznets Curve for SO2 emissions? A semi-parametric panel data analysis for China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1182-1188.
    21. Sinha, Avik, 2016. "Trilateral association between SO2 / NO2 emission, inequality in energy intensity, and economic growth: A case of Indian cities," MPRA Paper 100010, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    22. Li, Pei & Lu, Yi & Wang, Jin, 2016. "Does flattening government improve economic performance? Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 18-37.
    23. James J. Heckman & Hidehiko Ichimura & Petra Todd, 1998. "Matching As An Econometric Evaluation Estimator," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 65(2), pages 261-294.
    24. J. Lelieveld & J. S. Evans & M. Fnais & D. Giannadaki & A. Pozzer, 2015. "The contribution of outdoor air pollution sources to premature mortality on a global scale," Nature, Nature, vol. 525(7569), pages 367-371, September.
    25. Zhang, Yixin & Zhao, Feng & Zhang, Jie & Wang, Zhicheng, 2021. "Fluctuation in the transformation of economic development and the coupling mechanism with the environmental quality of resource-based cities – A case study of Northeast China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Haoran Zhao & Sen Guo & Huiru Zhao, 2018. "Impacts of GDP, Fossil Fuel Energy Consumption, Energy Consumption Intensity, and Economic Structure on SO 2 Emissions: A Multi-Variate Panel Data Model Analysis on Selected Chinese Provinces," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-20, March.
    2. Chen, Jiandong & Huang, Shasha & Shen, Zhiyang & Song, Malin & Zhu, Zunhong, 2022. "Impact of sulfur dioxide emissions trading pilot scheme on pollution emissions intensity: A study based on the synthetic control method," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    3. Zhao, Yanqi & Yang, Ying & Leszek, Sobkowiak & Wang, Xinyi, 2021. "Experience in the transformation process of “coal city” to “beautiful city”: Taking Jiaozuo City as an example," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    4. Zhang, Zhinan & Xu, Xiangyun, 2023. "Sustainable financial risk, resources abundance and technological innovation: Evidence from resources abundance economies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    5. Hui Wu & Yaodong Li, 2022. "Does the Emissions Trading System Promote Clean Development? A Re-Examination based on Micro-Enterprise Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-18, December.
    6. Zhou, Haonan & Li, Dongxin & Mustafa, Faisal & Altuntaş, Mehmet, 2022. "Natural resources volatility and South Asian economies: Evaluating the role of COVID-19," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    7. Wang, Xue-Chao & Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír & Dong, Xiaobin & Fan, Weiguo & Xu, Zihan & Wang, Yutao & Varbanov, Petar Sabev, 2019. "Air pollution terrain nexus: A review considering energy generation and consumption," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 71-85.
    8. Li, Li & Hong, Xuefei & Wang, Jun, 2020. "Evaluating the impact of clean energy consumption and factor allocation on China’s air pollution: A spatial econometric approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    9. Mengyao Liu & Hongli Jiang, 2022. "Can the Energy-Consumption Permit Trading Scheme Curb SO 2 Emissions? Evidence from a Quasi-Natural Experiment in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-20, December.
    10. Kang Zhao & Rui Zhang & Hong Liu & Geyi Wang & Xialing Sun, 2021. "Resource Endowment, Industrial Structure, and Green Development of the Yellow River Basin," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-18, April.
    11. Gideon Minua Kwaku Ampofo & Prosper Basommi Laari & Emmanuel Opoku Ware & Williams Shaw, 2023. "Further investigation of the total natural resource rents and economic growth nexus in resource-abundant sub-Saharan African countries," Mineral Economics, Springer;Raw Materials Group (RMG);Luleå University of Technology, vol. 36(1), pages 97-121, January.
    12. Yongqing Nan & Qin Li & Haiya Cai & Zhou Qin, 2020. "Are there industrial SO2 convergences in China’s prefecture-level cities? New evidence from a spatial econometric perspective," Energy & Environment, , vol. 31(3), pages 440-460, May.
    13. Changfei Nie & Wen Luo & Yuan Feng & Zhi Chen, 2023. "The Impact of Economic Growth Target Constraints on Environmental Pollution: Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-23, February.
    14. Yasmeen, Humaira & Tan, Qingmei & Zameer, Hashim & Vo, Xuan Vinh & Shahbaz, Muhammad, 2021. "Discovering the relationship between natural resources, energy consumption, gross capital formation with economic growth: Can lower financial openness change the curse into blessing," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    15. Ping Guo & Jin Li & Jinsong Kuang & Yifei Zhu & Renrui Xiao & Donghao Duan & Baocong Huang, 2022. "Low-Carbon Governance, Fiscal Decentralization and Sulfur Dioxide Emissions: Evidence from a Quasi-Experiment with Chinese Heavy Pollution Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-24, March.
    16. Zhimin Zhou & Xinyue Ye & Xiangyu Ge, 2017. "The Impacts of Technical Progress on Sulfur Dioxide Kuznets Curve in China: A Spatial Panel Data Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-27, April.
    17. Badeeb, Ramez Abubakr & Lean, Hooi Hooi & Clark, Jeremy, 2017. "The evolution of the natural resource curse thesis: A critical literature survey," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 123-134.
    18. Yating, Yang & Mughal, Nafeesa & Wen, Jun & Thi Ngan, Truong & Ramirez-Asis, Edwin & Maneengam, Apichit, 2022. "Economic performance and natural resources commodity prices volatility: Evidence from global data," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    19. Qian, Yuan & Scherer, Laura & Tukker, Arnold & Behrens, Paul, 2020. "China's potential SO2 emissions from coal by 2050," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    20. Xuefeng Shao & Shi Chen, 2024. "Research on Tax Compliance Incentive Effects of Platform Companies from the Perspective of Incomplete Contract – An Empirical Study Based on China," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 26(65), pages 330-330, February.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:14:p:8253-:d:856753. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.