媒体压力与空气质量改善

本文使用2014—2017年我国省级报纸对省份内地级市的空气污染报道数据,实证检验了媒体压力在促进空气质量改善中的作用。研究发现,媒体对污染报道的增加,显著促进了城市空气质量的改善,且这种改善的效果受污染报道发表报纸是否为省级党委机关报以及城市主政官员特征的影响。这意味着,媒体污染报道主要通过对政府官员形成的压力来促进地方政府进行污染治理、改善空气质量。进一步研究发现,环境治理投入的增加与工业污染排放的减少,是媒体压力促进城市空气质量改善的有效途径。本文的结论,对于理解新时代我国舆论监督的作用机制以及更好发挥新闻媒体监督在环境治理中的作用,提供了新的视角。     

Using a choice experiment to estimate the benefits of a reduction of externalities in urban areas with special focus on electrosmog

Traffic noise, air pollution and electromagnetic pollution (i.e. nonionizing radiation, also called electrosmog) are typical negative local externalities in urban areas. They are side effects of human and economic activities (e.g. road transport, telecommunication) and they affect individuals’ well being negatively without compensation. In recent years, the increased number of mobile phone antennas in residential areas, and thus the increased intensity of radiated power, has aroused public concern, discussions and protests. The view of an antenna is annoying an increasing number of inhabitants. In this article, the stated Choice Experiment (CE) is used to estimate the Willingness To Pay (WTP) residents in the cities of Zurich and Lugano place on the reduction of these three environmental loads. Estimation results reveal that there is a positive and significant WTP for a reduction of air pollution and traffic noise levels to those limit values fixed by the government. Respondents also show WTP for reducing electrosmog and removing mobile phone antennas from their view, however to a lesser extent. In addition, this is the first study that estimates the benefit of a reduction of electrosmog using a CE.     

Local air pollution and global climate change: A combined cost-benefit analysis

This article presents the findings of a combined cost-benefit analysis of local air pollution and global climate change, two subjects that are usually studied separately. Yet these distinct environmental problems are closely related, since they are both driven by the nature of present energy production and consumption patterns. Our study demonstrates the mutual relevance of, and interaction between, policies designed to address these two environmental challenges individually. Given the many dimensions air pollution control and climate change management have in common, it is surprising that they have only little been analyzed in combination so far. We attempt to cover at least part of the existing gap in the literature by assessing how costs and benefits of technologies and strategies that jointly tackle these two environmental problems can best be balanced. By using specific technological options that cut down local air pollution, e.g. related to particulate emissions, one may concurrently reduce CO₂ emissions and thus contribute to diminishing global climate change. Inversely, some of the long-term climate change strategies simultaneously improve the quality of air in the short run. We have extended the well-established MERGE model by including emissions of particulate matter, and show that integrated environmental policies generate net global welfare benefits. We also demonstrate that the discounted benefits of local air pollution reduction significantly outweigh those of global climate change mitigation, at least by a factor of 2, but in most cases of our sensitivity analysis much more. Still, we do not argue to only restrict energy policy today to what should be our first priority, local air pollution control, and wait with the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Instead, we propose to design policies that simultaneously address these issues, as their combination creates an additional climate change bonus. As such, climate change mitigation proves an ancillary benefit of air pollution reduction, rather than the other way around.     

The stock market effect of air pollution: evidence from China

In financial studies, environmental stimuli such as sunshine, temperature, and daylight are often used as proxies for people’s collective mood swings to test their effects on the stock market. China has experienced serious air pollution problems in recent years, and Chinese public awareness of air pollution has soared. In this paper, we use China as a natural experiment to investigate the effect on stock returns of depressed moods induced by air pollution. Daily air-pollution data from 2005 to 2014 are analysed and the results obtained from the empirical research show that a contemporaneous negative and a two-day lagged positive relationship exists between air pollution levels and stock returns over this time period. The relationship is mediated by the influence of air pollution on investment decisions. The results also indicate that the effect is weakened for companies that protect air quality, but no stronger effect is detected for polluting companies. The findings imply that air pollution is a behavioural factor with some connection to stock returns in China.     

Evaluating public goods from individual welfare functions

This paper suggests a method for evaluating public goods based directly on individual welfare functions. A hypothetical project for reducing air pollution is used as an illustration. The paper describes a technique for estimating welfare functions: the approach is applied to a limited experimental sample. The individual marginal rates of substitution between air income are then added up in order to yield estimates of values associated with air quality variations by the group under consideration. Further it is illustrated that the utilization in the aggregation process of heights based on individual differences in marginal utility of income as computed from the welfare functions, can modify the measures of social profitability and yield evaluation more consistent with basis criteria of social welfare.     

Life satisfaction and air quality in London

A growing body of research in economics concerns self-reported happiness, or life satisfaction (LS), and its relationship to a wide range of other variables. The findings of this research tend to highlight the importance of non-income aspects of individuals' life conditions.These findings are strongly complementary to themes within the sustainable development discourse. Firstly, they suggest ways in which we might consume less without compromising on our current levels of LS. And secondly, they help demonstrate the immediate LS benefits that could be gained from higher levels of environmental quality (EQ). However, the empirical evidence for the link between EQ and LS is, to date, somewhat weak, due in part to a lack of EQ data at a level of detail to match the individual-by-individual resolution of LS measures.This small, exploratory study therefore seeks to assess how the use of EQ data at very high spatial resolution could advance the empirical literature examining connections between LS and EQ levels, focusing on air quality in particular. It collects original survey data for approximately 400 Londoners, and uses geographical information system (GIS) software to calculate pollutant concentrations in the immediate vicinity of their homes. It uses this data to estimate maximum likelihood regression models explaining LS ratings in terms of a range of individual, household and local variables.Both perceived and measured air pollution levels are significantly negatively associated with the LS of the survey respondents, even when controlling for a wide range of other effects. An increase of 10 μg/m³ in annual mean nitrogen dioxide concentration appears to correspond on average to a drop of nearly half a point of LS on an 11-point rating scale.These findings cannot yet be generalised with confidence. However, if they were confirmed by larger future studies, they would appear to strengthen and extend existing arguments in favour of policies to reduce urban air pollution, framed both in terms of conventional economic efficiency analyses, and in wider political and ethical (and potentially legal) terms.     

How efficient are national environmental standards? A benefit-cost analysis of the United States experience

This paper summarizes the results of the first systematic, geographically-specific efficiency assessment of the U.S. experience with national environmental standards and with alternative approaches to establishing those standards. This ex-post evaluation assessed the net benefits that resulted from EPA's regulation of conventional air and water pollutants from the pulp and paper industry between 1973 and 1984. The paper compares the benefit-cost efficiencies of the three dominant regulatory approaches: technology, ambient, and benefits. Unlike previous studies, which assessed benefits and costs on a national basis, the study estimates both costs and benefits on a facility-by-facility basis. The analysis shows how the efficiency of national environmental regulations can vary dramatically at local levels. The authors conclude that the technology-based standards for water pollution management failed as an efficient environmental strategy. The costs clearly exceeded the benefits in the aggregate, as well as in the specific in most situations. Benefits exceeded costs at only 11 of the 68 mills investigated. The ambient based standards for air pollution management succeeded as an environmental strategy in the aggregate, but succeeded in the specific for only one-third of the mills (22 of 60 mills). The benefits-based standards for air pollution management also succeeded in the aggregate as well as in the specific for about one-half of the mills. Benefits exceeded costs at 29 of the 60 mills investigated. The results of the study point to two major conclusions. First, a regulatory policy that is based on some measure of environmental results, either ambient-based or benefits-based, will be more efficient than a policy that ignores environmental results. Second, truly efficient policies for reducing environmental risks require pollution mitigation decisions that take into account local conditions. These include not only the changes in local ambient conditions, but also the number of people who will benefit from pollution reduction decisions. This latter conclusion suggests that national environmental standards per se may be inefficient.Dr. Luken is currently Senior Environmental Advisor to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Vienna, Austria. He is on leave from the U.S. EPA where he was Chief of the Economic Analysis and Research Branch of the Office of Policy, Planning and Evaluation (OPPE). Mr. Clark is President of Environmental Economics Associates of Traverse City, Michigan. He was formerly Chief of EPA's Cost and Economic Impact Analysis Branch in OPPE. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not represent the views of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.     

Ambient Air Pollution in China: Predicting a Turning Point

One of the most debatable questions among developmental economists and sinologists today is the question that deals with the time it would take China to reduce its current ambient air pollution levels to the levels acceptable by the World Health Organization. Some studies suggest that an increase in the standard of living would improve the environmental situation, a phenomenon that is termed the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC). The objective of this study is to estimate the EKC and identify major factors leading to ambient air pollution in China during 2004–2013. We use time-series panel data in 27 provinces to estimate the variability in the levels of ambient air pollution as measured by particulate matter, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. Some policy implications are drawn.     

An Empirical Study of the Impact of Corruption on Environmental Performance: Evidence from Panel Data

This paper extends the empirical debate on the effects of corruption on environmental degradation by considering a recently available measure of environmental quality, the Environmental Performance Index. This indicator is more comprehensive than the measures of air pollutant emissions commonly used in the literature and, in particular, can also capture the impact of pollution on human health. This allows for a better understanding of the actual effects of a wide range of human activities on the ecosystem. From a panel data analysis, two regularities emerge. First, corruption deteriorates the overall environmental quality. This effect is robust and persistent. Second, our findings highlight the improvement of environmental quality as income rises, even at an initial level of development. This is not in contradiction with the EKC hypothesis because an increase in income levels provides positive externalities on the whole environmental quality by compensating the mere negative effects induced by industrialization on the emission levels. As a consequence, in emerging economies, policies fighting corruption and enhancing development are very likely to improve the environmental performances.     

Alternative standards and instruments for air pollution control in Poland

Like other Central European countries, Poland faces the twin challenges of improving environmental quality while also fostering sustainable economic development. In this study we examine the costs of different standards for air pollution control, and the cost savings from using incentive-based policy instruments in lieu of more rigid command-and-control policies. The comparisons are based on the results of a simulation model of energy use and air pollution control for the Polish economy over 1990–2015. The model simulates least-cost energy supply decisions under different environmental policy assumptions, the corresponding emissions, and the cost of achieving the specified policy objectives. The model results suggest that incentive-based policies will have efficiency gains over command policies that are at least worthy of consideration and may be quite substantial. The size of the gains in practice depends in part on how much flexibility is built into the command approach, e.g., capacity for intrafirm trading as well as alack of technology-specific requirements. To achieve these gains, an increase in the current levels of emissions fees is desirable both to strengthen abatement incentives and to improve the capacity of the Polish government to overcome past environmental damages. However, it seems highly unlikely in practice that fees could be raised to the levels necessary to meet current Polish emissions standards. To make further headway, an evolutionary approach to emissions trading patterned after (and profiting from the experience with) emissions trading in the U.S. seems useful. The program could start out relatively modestly and increase in ambitiousness as the Polish economic transition proceeds.     

Optimal dynamics of environmental quality in economies in transition1

Environmental pressures in the transition economies of the post‐Soviet era affect not only the quality of life for local populations, but also other key economic issues such as privatization and employment by posing obstacles to their progress. Most studies addressing the environment in transition economies are empirical or analyze the effect of environmental protection on economic variables without first establishing an underlying framework together with the optimal path of environmental quality during the transition. This paper presents such a framework and a policy rule for attainment of the optimal balance between capital and environmental quality in economies in transition. Furthermore, the model shows that pollution taxes or tradable pollution permits are by themselves insufficient to implement the social optimum in a decentralized economy. The results of the model are consistent with depressed economic activity in those economies during an initial phase, and with the diversity of environmental policies in both Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries and the Newly Independent States (NIS). JEL classification: Q20, P20, O13.     

Democracy and environmental quality

We develop and estimate an econometric model of the relationship between several local and global air pollutants and economic development while allowing for critical aspects of the socio-political-economic regime of a State. We obtain empirical support for our hypothesis that democracy and its associated freedoms provide the conduit through which agents can exercise their preferences for environmental quality more effectively than under an autocratic regime, thus leading to decreased concentrations or emissions of pollution. However, additional factors such as income inequality, age distribution, education, and urbanization may mitigate or exacerbate the net effect of the type of political regime on pollution, depending on the underlying societal preferences and the weights assigned to those preferences by the State.     

Efficient Dynamic Pollution Taxation in an Uncertain Environment

This paper analyzes efficient pollution taxation within a stochastic model of endogenous growth. Pollution is a by-product of production and causes disutility. Furthermore, the productivity which results from environmental quality is uncertain. This reflects e.g. uncertain capital depreciation induced by natural disasters like hurricanes or floods. This uncertainty is shown to raise an ambiguous impact on the optimal pollution level as well as on optimal environmental taxation. Market equilibrium turns out to be suboptimal, since the households mis-perceive their individual impact on pollution. Conditions for welfare maximizing pollution taxation are stated and it is shown that a direct pollution tax is not appropriate to yield Pareto-optimal growth. Instead, a linear capital income tax together with a linear abatement subsidy build an efficient tax scheme, if secondarily the governmental budget is balanced. Moreover, an increase in the riskiness of environmental productivity may even lead to an increase in the optimal pollution level and to a decrease in optimal environmental taxation, depending predominantly on the preference parameters.      

It's an ill wind: The effect of fine particulate air pollution on respiratory hospitalizations

While a growing literature in economics has established the harmful health effects of longstanding criteria air pollutants such as ozone and carbon monoxide, fine particulate air pollution is relatively understudied. This paper provides evidence on the harmful effects of fine particulate pollution for Ontario, where municipalities enjoy particulate levels well below US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards and predominantly below Canada‐wide standards. Results provide strong evidence for the detrimental effect of fine particulate pollution for the respiratory health of children, with a one standard deviation change in particulate pollution, leading to a 4% increase in respiratory admissions. While these results inform the stringency of current pollution standards, they also highlight the importance of an international approach to air quality. For instance, the paper also shows that particulate levels in Ontario municipalities are strongly influenced by southerly winds from US jurisdictions, which adhere to more lenient EPA standards.     

Institutions and the effectiveness of expenditures on environmental protection: evidence from Middle Eastern countries

Middle Eastern countries are among the top air emitters in per capita terms worldwide. We examine the effect of government expenditures on environmental protection (GEEP) on air pollution in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries. Moreover, we explore whether countries with stronger quality of governance can exploit GEEP to reduce air pollution more efficiently. Empirical analysis, using data from 1996 to 2015 for a set of the MENA countries, shows that GEEP alone does not play a significant role in contributing to better environmental quality. However, improvements in quality of governance are shaping the final environmental effects of GEEP in the MENA region. Our results can help policy makers in the region and international community in discovering strategies for reaching the agreed goals under the Paris Climate Deal (COP21), namely net zero emissions in the second half of the century.     

知识作用视角下城市间环境规制异质性与绿色创新质量研究

城市环境规制刻画了地方政府在绿色创新中的角色特征。基于我国279个地级市面板数据,从知识作用视角,采用负二项分布模型测度我国城市环境规制强度的地区差异性对城市绿色创新质量的影响机制。研究发现：①邻近城市的高环境规制强度对本地绿色创新质量产生抑制作用,该抑制作用通过城市间知识宽度缩小、知识距离扩大两类中介效应影响本地绿色创新质量;②城市间的知识平衡度在邻近城市环境规制强度与本地绿色创新质量关系中发挥调节效应,当城市间知识平衡度较高时,邻近城市的高环境规制强度对本地绿色创新质量的影响由负转正。由此,获得如下政策启示：地方政府应重视环境规制政策带来的知识成分变化与知识结构调整,促进环境政策与绿色创新政策协同,同时,不同地方间应深化绿色创新主体合作机制,促进知识流动,提升城市绿色创新质量。     

Externalities in a spatial context: The case of air pollution

In this paper air pollution externalities are analyzed in an explicit spatial setting that recognizes the spatial interdependence of polluters and their victims. Optimal environmental policies are shown to consist not only of Pigouvian taxes but of two other policies. First, regulations controlling the allocation of land between polluters and victims are needed. Secondly, if pollution taxes are imposed by local governments, in general it will be necessary for the federal government to take some of the tax proceeds and redistribute them amongst localities. For example, some of the proceeds in heavily taxed and polluted communities may have to be redistributed to lightly taxed and polluted communities.     

INFORMATION AND THE DEMAND FOR CLEAN AIR

This paper examines the relationship between the relocating household's reaction to air quality and its information on environmental quality. The results suggest households exposed to public information on the environment are more responsive to air quality differences if they also are knowledgeable about local environmental conditions. (JEL Q510, R230, D830)     

Mass Society and Political Conflict: Toward a Reconstruction of Theory

Many recent studies in economics have uncovered the economic and socio-economic factors that are most related to differences among nations in citizens' self-reported levels of well-being (SWB). However, these cross-country studies have generally not taken into account the fact that around the SWB national average, a considerable spread of scores exists within nations. In an extreme case, a country may be in the midst of a major social upheaval, with a large group of dispossessed and disadvantaged individuals, yet this fact is completely hidden by the arithmetical average. Using cross-country data with diverse economic and socio-economic characteristics and the latest available dataset on well-being, we uncover the factors that appear to be the most highly correlated with the inequality of well-being within nations. We find the inequalities in individual incomes and quality of health, and the level of institutional qualities to be most important in explaining the inequalities of well-being.     

Creating Markets for Air Pollution Control in Europe and the USA

This paper surveys recent efforts to relax the rigid regulatory frameworks for air pollution control in Europe and the USA. European policies have mainly taken the form of bubbles and compensation or offset schemes. Emission trading has been limited to intra-firm solutions for various reasons: industry structure, absence of real scarcity, and too restrictive trading rules. Bubbles have been granted to homogenous sectors only and can be characterized as direct regulation for a group rather than tradable permit systems. By contrast, the sulphur allowance program in the USA has laid down the foundation for a pollution permit market with few formal restrictions. Problems that arise are mainly related to local environmental and public utility controls. Europe can learn from the USA that regular national permit markets could be installed, preferably for homogenous sectors. In designing the permit system, the differences between the USA and Europe in terms of ecosystem sensitivity, stringency of regulation and differentiation of regional environmental policy have to be taken into account.