What Are the Key Factors Affecting Air Pollution? Research on Jiangsu, China from the Perspective of Spatial Differentiation

Shijin Wang, Guihong Hua and Huiying Zhou
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Shijin Wang: School of Business, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou 221116, Jiangsu Province, China
Guihong Hua: School of Business, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou 221116, Jiangsu Province, China
Huiying Zhou: School of Business, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou 221116, Jiangsu Province, China

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 6, 1-17

Abstract: Based on the spatial Dubin model, two representative atmospheric pollutants comprising industrial waste gas and NO 2 were selected to empirically investigate the effects of eight variables, including the economic growth level, population size, and industrial structure, on atmospheric pollutants and measure the sub-regional effects using data for Jiangsu from 2000 to 2016. The results showed that the population size, economic growth level, rural modernization level, personal income, and introducing high-speed rail were positively correlated with air pollution. By contrast, the industrial structure, foreign direct investment, and urbanization level were negatively correlated with air pollution. In particular, the effects of personal income, foreign direct investment, introducing high-speed rail, and urbanization were significant. The sub-regional analyses detected spatial spillover effects in all regions. The direct effects were greater than the indirect effects, where the level of economic growth, foreign direct investment, and urbanization had significant impacts, and the spatial spillover effects were most obvious in northern Jiangsu and central Jiangsu. Therefore, the following solutions are proposed: adjusting the industrial structure, improving the mode of economic growth, promoting the use of clean energy and rationally introducing foreign direct investment.

Keywords: atmospheric pollutant; Jiangsu Province; spatial Dubin model; spatial spillover effect (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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