National Ecological Civilization Construction Demonstration Zone and PM2.5 Pollution Mitigation in China

Shen Zhong, Yue Wang and Daizhi Jin ()
Additional contact information
Shen Zhong: School of Finance, Harbin University of Commerce, Harbin 150028, China
Yue Wang: School of Finance, Harbin University of Commerce, Harbin 150028, China
Daizhi Jin: School of Finance, Harbin University of Commerce, Harbin 150028, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 21, 1-35

Abstract: Rapid industrialization and urbanization have driven China’s economic growth but also worsened air pollution, posing serious challenges to sustainable development and public health. Balancing economic growth and environmental protection has become essential for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goal of “Climate Action.” The National Ecological Civilization Construction Demonstration Zone policy, a major institutional innovation for green transition, aims to integrate ecological protection, industrial upgrading, and spatial governance to achieve both economic and environmental goals. Using county-level panel data from 2010 to 2022, this study applies a difference-in-differences (DID) approach, treating the phased establishment of NECCDZs as an exogenous policy shock. It further explores the mediating effects of green innovation capability and land use efficiency. The results show that the NECCDZ policy significantly reduces PM2.5 concentrations in pilot regions, and the findings remain robust under multiple tests. Improvements in green innovation and land use efficiency are identified as key transmission mechanisms, while policy effects vary across city hierarchies, industrial base types, and regions. Overall, the NECCDZ policy demonstrates the effectiveness of institutionalized ecological governance and offers policy insights for developing countries seeking coordinated progress in economic growth and environmental sustainability.

Keywords: environmental governance; air quality improvement; difference-in-differences with multiple time periods; counties (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/21/9765/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/21/9765/ (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:17:y:2025:i:21:p:9765-:d:1785734

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 ().