Sustainability by High–Speed Rail: The Reduction Mechanisms of Transportation Infrastructure on Haze Pollution

Yu Chen, Yuandi Wang and Ruifeng Hu
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Yu Chen: Business School, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, Sichuan, China
Yuandi Wang: Business School, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, Sichuan, China
Ruifeng Hu: School of Economics, Xihua University, Hongguang Avenue 9999, Chengdu 610039, Sichuan, China

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 7, 1-18

Abstract: Haze pollution impacts human health, as well as the competitive capabilities of firms and local economic development. Considerable attention has been given to the study of mechanisms for reducing haze pollution, but few studies have investigated the effect of city-to-city transportation infrastructures on environmental issues based on an institutional perspective. To address this research gap, this study advances our understanding by assessing the effect of city–to–city transportation on haze pollution caused by the operation of high-speed rail, which triggers the rapid flow of individuals and information, improves information transparency, as well as imposes institutional pressure on local governments and firms to reduce haze pollution. To further verify the underlying mechanisms, we tested the development of hard infrastructure (information communication technology) and soft infrastructure (market development level), which represent two conditions for which the mechanism is likely to be critical. We tested our hypotheses using a sample of 288 prefecture-level cities in China during the period from 2005 to 2016. The empirical results indicate that the operation of high-speed rail can reduce haze pollution by 17% on average.

Keywords: high-speed rail; transportation infrastructure; haze pollution; information transparency; institutional pressure (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 (2)

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