An empirical investigation of the underlying factors of recently declining air pollution in China

This study analyses the underlying factors of recently declining air pollution in China, utilizing annual time series data from 2000 to 2020 in the autoregressive distributed lag model approach framework. In the empirical setting, air pollution is represented by particulate matter (2.5) concentratio...

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Main Authors: Emrah Eray Akça, Tayfun Tuncay Tosun
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Bologna 2025-02-01
Series:EQA
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eqa.unibo.it/article/view/20739
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author Emrah Eray Akça
Tayfun Tuncay Tosun
author_facet Emrah Eray Akça
Tayfun Tuncay Tosun
author_sort Emrah Eray Akça
collection DOAJ
description This study analyses the underlying factors of recently declining air pollution in China, utilizing annual time series data from 2000 to 2020 in the autoregressive distributed lag model approach framework. In the empirical setting, air pollution is represented by particulate matter (2.5) concentrations, known as the most detrimental ambient pollutant, and the empirical model includes several socioeconomic potential determinants of air pollution. The main motivation behind this study was the downward trend in air pollution in China as of the second decade of the 2000s. Although it is commonly accepted that the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan implemented by the Chinese State Council has been effective, the underlying factors of declining air pollution aren’t clear. Based on this motivation, the study revealed the positive impacts of economic growth, industrialization, and foreign direct investment inflows on air pollution. At the same time, medium- and high-tech exports and coal rents are negatively associated with air pollution. In this respect, the overall results particularly emphasize the declining impact of an increase in medium- and high-tech exports on air pollution. In this context, to improve air quality further, the study suggests that China should transform its industrialization structure toward specialization in medium- and high-tech products and promote foreign direct investment inflows specialized in these products. This study provides additional policy recommendations for Chinese policymakers.
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spelling doaj-art-dcc0694ed47d44a0ad05601c617846b62025-02-05T14:02:21ZengUniversity of BolognaEQA2039-98982281-44852025-02-016711010.6092/issn.2281-4485/2073919111An empirical investigation of the underlying factors of recently declining air pollution in ChinaEmrah Eray Akça0Tayfun Tuncay Tosun1Department of Economics, Bartin University, Bartin, TürkiyeDepartment of International Trade and Finance, Istanbul Aydin University, Istanbul, TürkiyeThis study analyses the underlying factors of recently declining air pollution in China, utilizing annual time series data from 2000 to 2020 in the autoregressive distributed lag model approach framework. In the empirical setting, air pollution is represented by particulate matter (2.5) concentrations, known as the most detrimental ambient pollutant, and the empirical model includes several socioeconomic potential determinants of air pollution. The main motivation behind this study was the downward trend in air pollution in China as of the second decade of the 2000s. Although it is commonly accepted that the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan implemented by the Chinese State Council has been effective, the underlying factors of declining air pollution aren’t clear. Based on this motivation, the study revealed the positive impacts of economic growth, industrialization, and foreign direct investment inflows on air pollution. At the same time, medium- and high-tech exports and coal rents are negatively associated with air pollution. In this respect, the overall results particularly emphasize the declining impact of an increase in medium- and high-tech exports on air pollution. In this context, to improve air quality further, the study suggests that China should transform its industrialization structure toward specialization in medium- and high-tech products and promote foreign direct investment inflows specialized in these products. This study provides additional policy recommendations for Chinese policymakers.https://eqa.unibo.it/article/view/20739air pollutionindustrializationforeign direct investmentmedium- and high-tech exportschina
spellingShingle Emrah Eray Akça
Tayfun Tuncay Tosun
An empirical investigation of the underlying factors of recently declining air pollution in China
EQA
air pollution
industrialization
foreign direct investment
medium- and high-tech exports
china
title An empirical investigation of the underlying factors of recently declining air pollution in China
title_full An empirical investigation of the underlying factors of recently declining air pollution in China
title_fullStr An empirical investigation of the underlying factors of recently declining air pollution in China
title_full_unstemmed An empirical investigation of the underlying factors of recently declining air pollution in China
title_short An empirical investigation of the underlying factors of recently declining air pollution in China
title_sort empirical investigation of the underlying factors of recently declining air pollution in china
topic air pollution
industrialization
foreign direct investment
medium- and high-tech exports
china
url https://eqa.unibo.it/article/view/20739
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