Does Smart City Construction Reduce Haze Pollution?

Li Wang, Qian Xie, Fei Xue () and Zongxin Li
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Li Wang: School of Economics & Management, Northwest University, Xi’an 710127, China
Qian Xie: School of Economics & Management, Northwest University, Xi’an 710127, China
Fei Xue: Faculty of applied economics, University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing 102488, China
Zongxin Li: School of Economics & Management, Northwest University, Xi’an 710127, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 24, 1-17

Abstract: Smart city construction plays an important role in environmental governance and public health. Based on the panel data of 216 prefecture-level cities across China during the period 2009–2018, this study uses the multi-time difference-in-differences method to evaluate the haze reduction effect of smart city construction. The estimated results demonstrate that the construction of smart cities can reduce haze pollution in pilot cities significantly. The main conduction mechanisms are the technical effects and the environmental regulatory effects that promote the reduction of corporate emissions. The heterogeneity analyses show that the haze reduction effect of smart city construction is more evident in southern cities, inland cities and resource-efficient cities. In addition, the benefit analyses show that smart cities can reduce the carbon emission intensity and promote economic growth. These results provide empirical support for accelerating the construction of a new type of smart city and building a new type of people-oriented urbanization.

Keywords: smart city; haze pollution; multi-time difference-in-differences; benefit analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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