The Effect of Environmental Regulation on Employment in China: Empirical Research Based on Individual-Level Data

Feng Liu, Kangning Xu and Meina Zheng
Additional contact information
Feng Liu: School of Economics and Management, Southeast University, No 2, Sipailou, Nanjing 210096, Jiangsu, China
Kangning Xu: School of Economics and Management, Southeast University, No 2, Sipailou, Nanjing 210096, Jiangsu, China
Meina Zheng: School of Transportation, Southeast University, No 2, Sipailou, Nanjing 210096, Jiangsu, China

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 7, 1-23

Abstract: This paper argues that the scale effect and substitution effect in the labor demand for environmental regulations should not be ignored in the pursuit of environmental improvements. It is necessary to analyze the influential mechanism of environmental regulations on employment. Based on the pooled cross-section data combined by CHIP (Chinese Household Income Project) data and macro data at the city level, this paper investigates the impacts of environmental regulations on an individual’s employment probability in China. The results show that there exists a U-shaped relationship between environmental regulations and an individual’s employment probability. The employment effect on workers from different regions and industries or with different hukou (Household Registration System) is heterogeneous. Specifically, the regulations are more stringent in the east, more significant in secondary and tertiary industries, and stronger on urban workers’ employment. The findings are robust to alternative measures.

Keywords: environmental regulations; employment; probit model; heterogeneity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/7/2373/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/7/2373/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:7:p:2373-:d:156875

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().