IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0296642.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Environmental regulation and carbon emission efficiency: Evidence from pollution levy standards adjustment in China

Author

Listed:
  • Yi He
  • Xiang Zhang
  • Qinghua Xie

Abstract

China’s economy experienced great growth, which also induces large carbon emission. Facing the target of “Carbon peak, Carbon neutrality” in China, it is vital to improve the carbon emission efficiency. Employing the spatial Difference-in-Differences model, this paper investigates the impact of environmental regulation on carbon emission efficiency with a quasi-natural experiment of Pollution Levy Standards Adjustment in China. Our empirical results show that the environmental regulation can significantly improve the carbon emission efficiency. moreover, two impact channels are explored: green innovation and industrial upgrading. More specifically, the green innovation increases with environmental regulation, and the increased green innovation improves carbon emission efficiency. The industry upgrading increases with environmental regulation, and the increased industry upgrading improves carbon emission efficiency. Finally, in terms of city heterogeneity, we find that the impact of environmental regulation will be more pronounced for larger cities and resource-based cities. Our findings suggest that the environmental regulation must be enhanced for both smaller cities and non-resource-based cities. Moreover, to promote the green innovation of firms, since green innovation is risky and costly, governments should provide more subsidies or grants on corporate green technologies, thus firms will be motivated to invest in green technologies to reduce carbon emission.

Suggested Citation

  • Yi He & Xiang Zhang & Qinghua Xie, 2024. "Environmental regulation and carbon emission efficiency: Evidence from pollution levy standards adjustment in China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(2), pages 1-22, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0296642
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0296642
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0296642
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0296642&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0296642?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael Greenstone & Rema Hanna, 2014. "Environmental Regulations, Air and Water Pollution, and Infant Mortality in India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(10), pages 3038-3072, October.
    2. Zhang, Xiang & Zhou, Han, 2022. "The effect of market competition on corporate cash holdings: An analysis of corporate innovation and financial constraint," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    3. Filippini, Massimo & Hunt, Lester C., 2015. "Measurement of energy efficiency based on economic foundations," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(S1), pages 5-16.
    4. Choi, Yongrok & Zhang, Ning & Zhou, P., 2012. "Efficiency and abatement costs of energy-related CO2 emissions in China: A slacks-based efficiency measure," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 198-208.
    5. Cosimo Magazzino, 2017. "The relationship among economic growth, CO2 emissions, and energy use in the APEC countries: a panel VAR approach," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 353-366, September.
    6. Su, Yi & Fan, Qi-ming, 2022. "Renewable energy technology innovation, industrial structure upgrading and green development from the perspective of China's provinces," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    7. Neves, Sónia Almeida & Marques, António Cardoso & Patrício, Margarida, 2020. "Determinants of CO2 emissions in European Union countries: Does environmental regulation reduce environmental pollution?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 114-125.
    8. You, Jianmin & Zhang, Wei, 2022. "How heterogeneous technological progress promotes industrial structure upgrading and industrial carbon efficiency? Evidence from China's industries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 247(C).
    9. Ai, Hongshan & Tan, Xiaoqing & Zhou, Shengwen & Zhou, Yuhan & Xing, Hongye, 2023. "The impact of environmental regulation on carbon emissions: Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 1067-1079.
    10. Zhao, Min & Sun, Tao, 2022. "Dynamic spatial spillover effect of new energy vehicle industry policies on carbon emission of transportation sector in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    11. Bai, Hanyu & Irfan, Muhammad & Hao, Yu, 2022. "How does industrial transfer affect environmental quality? Evidence from China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    12. Subal Kumbhakar & Gudbrand Lien & J. Hardaker, 2014. "Technical efficiency in competing panel data models: a study of Norwegian grain farming," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 321-337, April.
    13. Yaya Li & Yuru Zhang & An Pan & Minchun Han & Eleonora Veglianti, 2022. "Carbon emission reduction effects of industrial robot applications: Heterogeneity characteristics and influencing mechanisms," Post-Print hal-04522085, HAL.
    14. Hua, Zhongsheng & Bian, Yiwen & Liang, Liang, 2007. "Eco-efficiency analysis of paper mills along the Huai River: An extended DEA approach," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 578-587, October.
    15. Yu, Chenyang & Tan, Yuanfang & Zhou, Yu & Zang, Chuanxiang & Tu, Chenglin, 2022. "Can functional urban specialization improve industrial energy efficiency? Empirical evidence from China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(PA).
    16. Yi, Ming & Liu, Yafen & Sheng, Mingyue Selena & Wen, Le, 2022. "Effects of digital economy on carbon emission reduction: New evidence from China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    17. Kang, Jijun & Yu, Chenyang & Xue, Rui & Yang, Dong & Shan, Yuli, 2022. "Can regional integration narrow city-level energy efficiency gap in China?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    18. Kuang, Hewu & Akmal, Zeeshan & Li, Feifei, 2022. "Measuring the effects of green technology innovations and renewable energy investment for reducing carbon emissions in China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 1-10.
    19. Zhang, Xiang & Zhan, Feng & Liu, Bin, 2023. "Institutional development, political uncertainty, and corporate cash holdings: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    20. Lin, Boqiang & Ma, Ruiyang, 2022. "Green technology innovations, urban innovation environment and CO2 emission reduction in China: Fresh evidence from a partially linear functional-coefficient panel model," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    21. Qiu, Rui & Xu, Jiuping & Zeng, Ziqiang & Chen, Xin & Wang, Yinhai, 2022. "Carbon tax policy-induced air travel carbon emission reduction and biofuel usage in China," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    22. Li, Yaya & Zhang, Yuru & Pan, An & Han, Minchun & Veglianti, Eleonora, 2022. "Carbon emission reduction effects of industrial robot applications: Heterogeneity characteristics and influencing mechanisms," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    23. Dong, Kangyin & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Zhao, Jun, 2022. "How do pollution fees affect environmental quality in China?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    24. Zhang, Weike & Luo, Qian & Liu, Shiyuan, 2022. "Is government regulation a push for corporate environmental performance? Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 105-121.
    25. Zhichuan Zhu & Bo Liu & Zhuoxi Yu & Jianhong Cao, 2022. "Effects of the Digital Economy on Carbon Emissions: Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-21, August.
    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. Zhang, Weike & Fan, Hongxia & Zhao, Qiwei, 2023. "Seeing green: How does digital infrastructure affect carbon emission intensity?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(PB).
    2. Zhang, Kun & Kou, Zi-Xuan & Zhu, Pei-Hua & Qian, Xiang-Yan & Yang, Yun-Ze, 2025. "How does AI affect urban carbon emissions? Quasi-experimental evidence from China's AI innovation and development pilot zones," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 426-447.
    3. Zhao, Congyu & Dong, Kangyin & Wang, Kun & Dong, Xiucheng, 2022. "How does energy trilemma eradication reduce carbon emissions? The role of dual environmental regulation for China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    4. Yu, Chenyang & Tan, Yuanfang & Zhou, Yu & Zang, Chuanxiang & Tu, Chenglin, 2022. "Can functional urban specialization improve industrial energy efficiency? Empirical evidence from China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(PA).
    5. Kang, Jijun & Yu, Chenyang & Xue, Rui & Yang, Dong & Shan, Yuli, 2022. "Can regional integration narrow city-level energy efficiency gap in China?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    6. Lu, Yuhai & Gong, Mincheng & Lu, Linzhuo & Wang, Yaqin & Wang, Yang, 2024. "Urban polycentrism and total-factor energy efficiency: An analysis based on the night light data," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    7. Tianchu Feng & Andrea Appolloni & Jiayu Chen, 2024. "How does corporate digital transformation affect carbon productivity? Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(12), pages 31425-31445, December.
    8. Senhua Huang & Lingming Chen, 2023. "The Impact of the Digital Economy on the Urban Total-Factor Energy Efficiency: Evidence from 275 Cities in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-20, February.
    9. Zheng, Mingbo & Zhang, Xinyu, 2025. "Digitalization and renewable energy development: Analysis based on cross-country panel data," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 319(C).
    10. Mei-Rui Zhong & Jia-Yu Fu & Han Zou, 2025. "The data as a production factor: nonlinear effects of factor efficiency on haze pollution," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 27(4), pages 8977-9002, April.
    11. Gale A. Boyd & Jonathan M. Lee, 2020. "Relative Effectiveness of Energy Efficiency Programs versus Market Based Climate Policies in the Chemical Industry," The Energy Journal, , vol. 41(3), pages 39-62, May.
    12. Yelin Dai & Yue Liu & Xuhui Ding & Chundu Wu & Yu Chen, 2022. "Environmental Regulation Promotes Eco-Efficiency through Industrial Transfer: Evidence from the Yangtze River Economic Belt in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-31, August.
    13. Zhao, Ruizeng & An, Yuchen & Tu, Hanyun & Song, Jiashan, 2024. "China's economic growth and low-carbon development under the background of resource curse: A new perspective based on digital finance," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA).
    14. Özköse, Hakan & Güney, Gül, 2023. "The effects of industry 4.0 on productivity: A scientific mapping study," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    15. Tian, Jinfang & Sun, Siyang & Cao, Wei & Bu, Di & Xue, Rui, 2024. "Make every dollar count: The impact of green credit regulation on corporate green investment efficiency," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    16. Wenjuan Lu & Shenya Mao & Xinfeng Qiu & Chenjing Yan, 2025. "Industrial Robots and Environmental Pollution: Evidence From Chinese Cities," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(3), pages 820-833, April.
    17. Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad & Dong, Kangyin & Zhao, Congyu & Phoumin, Han, 2023. "Can financial and economic means accelerate renewable energy growth in the climate change era? The case of China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 730-743.
    18. Huang, Qian & Feng, Qing, 2024. "Bi-level multi-objective optimization for a hybrid carbon pricing initiative towards biomass co-firing with coal," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(PD).
    19. Shuting Li & Zhifeng Wang & Jinggen Lv, 2025. "The Role of Local Government Decarbonization Pressures in Enhancing Urban Industrial Intelligence: An Analysis of Proactive and Reactive Corporate Environmental Governance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-22, May.
    20. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Xuan, Chengnan & Wang, Fuhao, 2024. "Natural resources and green economic growth: The role of artificial intelligence," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:plo:pone00:0296642. 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: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    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.