IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i14p8456-d859922.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Fiscal Decentralization, Green Technology Innovation, and Regional Air Pollution in China: An Investigation from the Perspective of Intergovernmental Competition

Author

Listed:
  • Di Wang

    (School of Economics and Management, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China
    Think Tank of Carbon Neutral and Energy Strategy, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China)

  • Zhiyuan Zhang

    (School of Economics and Management, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China)

  • Ruyi Shi

    (School of Public Policy and Management, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China
    School of Safety Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China)

Abstract

Fiscal decentralization (FD), as an institutional arrangement for the fiscal division between central and local governments, gives local governments the enthusiasm and autonomy to provide public products and services. With the dominance of environmental governance, how local governments can avoid intergovernmental “race to the bottom” issues through green technology innovation (GTI) is a matter of regional green development and continuous improvement of atmospheric environmental quality. Based on a sample of 30 provinces in China from 2003 to 2018, this paper uses the spatial Durbin model (SDM) to examine the relationship between FD, GTI, and regional air pollution and explores their spatial spillover effect and regional heterogeneity from the perspective of intergovernmental competition. The results indicate that the FD and GTI in various provinces had significant and regionally differentiated inhibitory effects on local air pollution. In Western China, due to the regional competition among local governments in terms of economic development, economic development-oriented fiscal expenditures crowd out environmental governance-oriented fiscal expenditures, which has led to the consequence that FD can intensify local air pollution and has a positive spillover effect, but the demonstration effect of green technological innovation can well moderate the effect of FD on air pollution. FD in the eastern region has played a positive role in promoting regional air quality improvement. However, its green technological innovation has not played a positive role in reducing emissions, and it plays a significant negative regulatory role in the emission reduction effect led by FD. Finally, the article puts forward policy recommendations in terms of a fiscal decentralization system, green technological innovation, and performance evaluation mechanism.

Suggested Citation

  • Di Wang & Zhiyuan Zhang & Ruyi Shi, 2022. "Fiscal Decentralization, Green Technology Innovation, and Regional Air Pollution in China: An Investigation from the Perspective of Intergovernmental Competition," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-18, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:14:p:8456-:d:859922
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/14/8456/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/14/8456/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sueyoshi, Toshiyuki & Wang, Derek, 2014. "Radial and non-radial approaches for environmental assessment by Data Envelopment Analysis: Corporate sustainability and effective investment for technology innovation," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 537-551.
    2. Liu, Yunqiang & Zhu, Jialing & Li, Eldon Y. & Meng, Zhiyi & Song, Yan, 2020. "Environmental regulation, green technological innovation, and eco-efficiency: The case of Yangtze river economic belt in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    3. Liu, Gengyuan & Yang, Zhifeng & Chen, Bin & Zhang, Yan & Su, Meirong & Ulgiati, Sergio, 2016. "Prevention and control policy analysis for energy-related regional pollution management in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 292-300.
    4. Qian, Yingyi & Roland, Gerard, 1998. "Federalism and the Soft Budget Constraint," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(5), pages 1143-1162, December.
    5. Yang Gao & Sang-Bing Tsai & Xingqun Xue & Tingzhen Ren & Xiaomin Du & Quan Chen & Jiangtao Wang, 2018. "An Empirical Study on Green Innovation Efficiency in the Green Institutional Environment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-13, March.
    6. Khan, Zeeshan & Ali, Shahid & Dong, Kangyin & Li, Rita Yi Man, 2021. "How does fiscal decentralization affect CO2 emissions? The roles of institutions and human capital," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    7. 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).
    8. Cheng, Ya & Awan, Usama & Ahmad, Shabbir & Tan, Zhixiong, 2021. "How do technological innovation and fiscal decentralization affect the environment? A story of the fourth industrial revolution and sustainable growth," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    9. Judith M. Dean & Mary E. Lovely & Hua Wang, 2017. "Are foreign investors attracted to weak environmental regulations? Evaluating the evidence from China," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Mary E Lovely (ed.), International Economic Integration and Domestic Performance, chapter 9, pages 155-167, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    10. Zhang, Ning & Yu, Keren & Chen, Zhongfei, 2017. "How does urbanization affect carbon dioxide emissions? A cross-country panel data analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 678-687.
    11. Cheng, Zhonghua & Li, Lianshui & Liu, Jun, 2018. "Industrial structure, technical progress and carbon intensity in China's provinces," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P2), pages 2935-2946.
    12. Jiandong Chen & Ming Gao & Ke Ma & Malin Song, 2020. "Different effects of technological progress on China's carbon emissions based on sustainable development," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 481-492, February.
    13. Shufen Guo & Ludi Wen & Yanrui Wu & Xiaohang Yue & Guilian Fan, 2020. "Fiscal Decentralization and Local Environmental Pollution in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-17, November.
    14. Zhang, Kun & Zhang, Zong-Yong & Liang, Qiao-Mei, 2017. "An empirical analysis of the green paradox in China: From the perspective of fiscal decentralization," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 203-211.
    15. Charles M. Tiebout, 1956. "A Pure Theory of Local Expenditures," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(5), pages 416-416.
    16. He, Qichun, 2015. "Fiscal decentralization and environmental pollution: Evidence from Chinese panel data," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 86-100.
    17. Wang, Di & Shen, Ye & Zhao, Yueying & He, Wei & Liu, Xue & Qian, Xiangyan & Lv, Tao, 2020. "Integrated assessment and obstacle factor diagnosis of China's scientific coal production capacity based on the PSR sustainability framework," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    18. Chi, Meiqing & Muhammad, Sulaman & Khan, Zeeshan & Ali, Shahid & Li, Rita Yi Man, 2021. "Is centralization killing innovation? The success story of technological innovation in fiscally decentralized countries," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    19. Maria Jennifer Grisorio & Francesco Prota, 2015. "The Impact of Fiscal Decentralization on the Composition of Public Expenditure: Panel Data Evidence from Italy," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(12), pages 1941-1956, December.
    20. Font Vivanco, David & McDowall, Will & Freire-González, Jaume & Kemp, René & van der Voet, Ester, 2016. "The foundations of the environmental rebound effect and its contribution towards a general framework," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 60-69.
    21. Dong, Kangyin & Hochman, Gal & Timilsina, Govinda R., 2020. "Do drivers of CO2 emission growth alter overtime and by the stage of economic development?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mingxiong Bi & Chencheng Wang & Dian Fu & Xun Tan & Shurong Yu & Junbai Pan & Kun Lv, 2022. "Chinese-Style Fiscal Decentralization, Ecological Attention of Government, and Regional Energy Intensity," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-28, November.
    2. Anqi Wang & Lianmei Zhu & Huanan Sun & Shali Wang & Haijing Ma, 2023. "Fiscal Decentralization, Enterprise Digital Transformation and Enterprise Green Innovation—The Case of 11 Years A-Share Listed Companies in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-21, April.
    3. Yiming Li & Liru Bai, 2024. "Analyzing Green Growth Efficiency in China and Investigating the Spatial Effects of Fiscal Decentralization: Case Study of Prefecture-Level Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-28, April.
    4. Xihui Chen & Juan Ou & Xuemei Tang & Qinghe Yang, 2023. "The Impact of Officials’ Off-Office Accountability Audit of Natural Resource Assets on Firms’ Green Innovation Strategies: A Quasi-Natural Experiment in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-36, February.
    5. Ayoub Zeraibi & Atif Jahanger & Muhammad Usman & Daniel Balsalobre-Lorente & Tomiwa Sunday Adebayo & Mustafa Kamal, 2024. "The role of fiscal decentralization and technological innovations in curbing sulfur dioxide emissions: formulating SDGs policies for China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(8), pages 19659-19684, August.
    6. Li Chen & Di Wang & Ruyi Shi, 2022. "Can China’s Carbon Emissions Trading System Achieve the Synergistic Effect of Carbon Reduction and Pollution Control?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-21, July.
    7. Xiaosan Zhang & Xiaojie Hu & Fang Wu, 2022. "Fiscal Decentralization, Taxation Efforts and Corporate Green Technology Innovation in China Based on Moderating and Heterogeneity Effects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-21, November.

    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. Zhuoxi Yu & Yu Wu & Zhichuan Zhu, 2023. "Fiscal Decentralization, Environmental Regulation and High-Quality Economic Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-20, May.
    2. Xiaosan Zhang & Xiaojie Hu & Fang Wu, 2022. "Fiscal Decentralization, Taxation Efforts and Corporate Green Technology Innovation in China Based on Moderating and Heterogeneity Effects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-21, November.
    3. Lin, Boqiang & Zhou, Yicheng, 2021. "Does fiscal decentralization improve energy and environmental performance? New perspective on vertical fiscal imbalance," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 302(C).
    4. Xianpu Xu & Shan Li, 2022. "Neighbor-Companion or Neighbor-Beggar? Estimating the Spatial Spillover Effects of Fiscal Decentralization on China’s Carbon Emissions Based on Spatial Econometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-26, August.
    5. Maxwell Chukwudi Udeagha & Marthinus Christoffel Breitenbach, 2023. "Revisiting the nexus between fiscal decentralization and CO2 emissions in South Africa: fresh policy insights," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 9(1), pages 1-46, December.
    6. Zhang, Cuifang & Xiang, Xiandeng, 2023. "Fiscal decentralization, environmental policy stringency, and resource sustainability: Panacea or Pandora's box in high resource consuming countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    7. Lin, Boqiang & Zhou, Yicheng, 2021. "How does vertical fiscal imbalance affect the upgrading of industrial structure? Empirical evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    8. Xiaodong Chen & Haoming Mi & Peng Zhou, 2024. "Whether to decentralize and how to decentralize? The optimal fiscal federalism in an endogenous growth model," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(29), pages 3499-3516, June.
    9. Shan, Shan & Ahmad, Munir & Tan, Zhixiong & Adebayo, Tomiwa Sunday & Man Li, Rita Yi & Kirikkaleli, Dervis, 2021. "The role of energy prices and non-linear fiscal decentralization in limiting carbon emissions: Tracking environmental sustainability," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    10. Youshuai Sun & Demi Zhu & Zhenyu Zhang & Na Yan, 2022. "Does Fiscal Stress Improve the Environmental Efficiency? Perspective Based on the Urban Horizontal Fiscal Imbalance," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-23, May.
    11. Jiang, Weijie & Li, Yidong, 2023. "Effect of fiscal decentralization on pollution reduction: Firm-level evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    12. Maxwell Chukwudi Udeagha & Marthinus Christoffel Breitenbach, 2023. "The Role of Fiscal Decentralization in Limiting CO2 Emissions in South Africa," Biophysical Economics and Resource Quality, Springer, vol. 8(3), pages 1-30, September.
    13. Sailian Xia & Daming You & Zhihua Tang & Bo Yang, 2021. "Analysis of the Spatial Effect of Fiscal Decentralization and Environmental Decentralization on Carbon Emissions under the Pressure of Officials’ Promotion," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-21, March.
    14. Kuo Zhou & Baicheng Zhou & Mengmeng Yu, 2020. "The impacts of fiscal decentralization on environmental innovation in China," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(4), pages 1690-1710, December.
    15. Guitao Qiao & Dan Yang & Mahmood Ahmad & Zahoor Ahmed, 2022. "Modeling for Insights: Does Fiscal Decentralization Impede Ecological Footprint?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-18, August.
    16. Yuchen Song & Jingshu Ma & Shuai Guan & Yongfu Liu, 2022. "Fiscal Decentralization, Regional Innovation and Industrial Structure Distortions in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-17, December.
    17. Kassouri, Yacouba, 2022. "Fiscal decentralization and public budgets for energy RD&D: A race to the bottom?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    18. Ayoub Zeraibi & Atif Jahanger & Muhammad Usman & Daniel Balsalobre-Lorente & Tomiwa Sunday Adebayo & Mustafa Kamal, 2024. "The role of fiscal decentralization and technological innovations in curbing sulfur dioxide emissions: formulating SDGs policies for China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(8), pages 19659-19684, August.
    19. Zhijun Gu & Chaowei Tian & Zeyuan Zheng & Shujian Zhang, 2022. "Favorable Fiscal Self-Sufficiency Enables Local Governments to Better Improve the Environmental Governance—Evidence from China’s Lower-Pollution Areas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-14, December.
    20. Muhammad Tufail & Lin Song & Weizheng Wang & Xiao Gu & Salahuddin Khan, 2024. "Race to Top or Race to Bottom Approach: Disaggregated Effect of Fiscal Decentralization and Its Implications for Consumption-Based Carbon Emissions," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(3), pages 15243-15277, September.

    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:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:14:p:8456-:d:859922. 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.