Impact of Resource-Based Economic Transformation Policy on Sulfur Dioxide Emissions: A Case Study of Shanxi Province

Wei Li, Baichuan Xiang, Rongxia Zhang, Guomin Li, Zhihao Wang, Bin Su and Tossou Mahugbe Eric
Additional contact information
Wei Li: School of Economics and Management, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
Baichuan Xiang: School of Economics and Management, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
Rongxia Zhang: School of Economics and Management, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
Guomin Li: School of Economics and Management, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
Zhihao Wang: School of Economics and Management, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
Tossou Mahugbe Eric: School of Economics and Management, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 14, 1-22

Abstract: Air pollution, particularly SO 2 emission, has become a global problem, seriously threatening the sustainable development and health of mankind. Based on the panel data of 248 prefecture-level cities in China during 2003–2018, this study used the Propensity Score Matching-Difference in Difference (PSM-DID) method within the counterfactual framework to evaluate the treatment effect of the policy made by the National Resource-Based Economic Transformation Comprehensive Supporting Reform Pilot Zone (CRZ) on sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) emissions. The results show the following. (1) The benchmark regression results demonstrate that the CRZ policy has significantly decreased per capita SO 2 emissions (PCSO 2 ) and SO 2 emissions per unit of GDP (PGSO 2 ) in the pilot zone, and the placebo test indicates that the evaluation of the policy effect is robust. (2) The dynamic effect test indicates that there is a lag in the effect of the CRZ policy on reducing SO 2 emissions. The policy effect of the CRZ policy on PCSO 2 and PGSO 2 was not obvious in the first stage (2011–2015), the CRZ policy significantly reduced the PCSO 2 and PGSO 2 in the second stage of policy implementation (2016 and beyond), and the reduction effect of CRZ policy on SO 2 emissions is increasing over time. (3) The mechanism analysis shows that optimizing industrial structure, increasing human capital, strengthening technological innovation, and expanding opening to the outside world are the main ways for the CRZ policy to reduce SO 2 emissions. The study will help promote SO 2 emissions reduction in Shanxi Province, providing a reference for the transformation and development of other resource-based cities in China and the world and contributing to accelerating the achievement of regional emission reduction targets and sustainable development.

Keywords: resource-based economy; SO 2 emissions; transformation development; emission reduction; PSM-DID; policy evaluation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/14/8253/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/14/8253/ (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:14:y:2022:i:14:p:8253-:d:856753

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 ().