Peer effects in local government decision-making: Evidence from urban environmental regulation

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China formally proposed an environmental interview system in May 2014, which applies pressure on local governments to fulfill their responsibility toward environmental protection by conducting face-to-face public interviews with their officials. In this paper, 48 cities that were publicly interviewed from 2014–2020 were considered the experimental group and 48 cities surrounding them were the control group. First, the dynamic panel model is applied to initially determine the effect of the policy. Then, a regression discontinuity method (Sharp RD) is used to analyze the short-term and long-term effects and compare the reasons for the differences observed among the estimates of various types of samples. Finally, a series of robustness tests were also conducted. The results show that the environmental interview system can improve air quality. However, because an emergency short-term local governance system exists at present, the governance effect is not long-term and, therefore, not sustainable. Therefore, it suggests that the government should continue to improve the environmental interview system, establish an optimal environmental protection incentive mechanism, and encourage local governments to implement environmental protection policies effectively in the long term. The results of the research are of great significance to the environmental impact assessment system of the world, especially in countries with similar economic systems, which are facing a trade-off between economic growth and environmental sustainability.

Evaluation of the Policy Effect of China's Environmental Interview System for Effective Air Quality Governance.

The Dynamic Spillover Effects of Climate Policy Uncertainty and Coal Price on Carbon Price: Evidence from China

COVID-19 lockdown and the forestry sector: Insight from Gandaki province of Nepal.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156942

Air pollution rebound and different recovery modes during the period of easing COVID-19 restrictions

China’s wood industry is vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic since wood raw materials and sales of products are dependent on the international market This study seeks to explore the speed of log price recovery under different control measures, and to perhaps find a better way to respond to the pandemic With the daily data, we utilized the time-varying parameter autoregressive (TVP-VAR) model, which can incorporate structural changes in emergencies into the model through time-varying parameters, to estimate the dynamic impact of the pandemic on log prices at different time points We found that the impact of the pandemic on oil prices and Renminbi exchange rate is synchronized with the severity of the pandemic, and the ascending in the exchange rate would lead to an increase in log prices, while oil prices would not Moreover, the impulse response in June converged faster than in February 2020 Thus, partial quarantine is effective However, the pandemic’s impact on log prices is not consistent with changes of the pandemic After the pandemic eased in June 2020, the impact of the pandemic on log prices remained increasing This means that the COVID-19 pandemic has long-term influences on the wood industry, and the work resumption was not smooth, thus the imbalance between supply and demand should be resolved as soon as possible Therefore, it is necessary to promote the development of the domestic wood market and realize a “dual circulation” strategy as the pandemic becomes a “new normal”

https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/12/4/449/pdf

The Dynamic Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Log Prices in China: An Analysis Based on the TVP-VAR Model

Air pollution is one of the major environmental problems that endanger human health. The COVID-19 pandemic provided an excellent opportunity to investigate the possible methods to improve Beijing’s air quality meanwhile considering Beijing’s economic impact. We used the TVP-VAR model to analyze the dynamic relationship among the pandemic, economy and air quality based on the daily data from 1 January to 30 August 2020. The result shows that the COVID-19 pandemic indeed had a positive effect on air governance which was good for human health, while doing business as usual would gradually weaken this effect. It shows that the Chinese authority’s production restriction effectively deals with air pollution in a short period of time since the pandemic is just like a quasi-experiment that suddenly suspended all the companies. However, as the limitation stops, the improvement decreases. It is not sustainable. In addition, a partial quarantine also has a positive impact on air quality, which means a partial limitation was also helpful in improving air quality and also played an important role in protecting people’s health. Second, the control measures really hurt Beijing’s economy. However, the partial quarantine had fewer adverse effects on the economy than the lockdown. It is supposed to be a reference for air governance and pandemic control. Third, the more the lag periods were, the smaller their impact. Thus, restrictions on production can only be used in emergencies, such as some international meetings, while it is hard to improve the air quality and create a healthy and comfortable living environment only by limitation in the long-term.

The Dynamic Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Air Quality: The Beijing Lessons.

Does the joint prevention and control regulation improve the air quality? A quasi-experiment in the Beijing economic belt during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chenlu Tao

Papers

The Dynamic Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Log Prices in China: An Analysis Based on the TVP-VAR Model

The Dynamic Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Air Quality: The Beijing Lessons.

Does the joint prevention and control regulation improve the air quality? A quasi-experiment in the Beijing economic belt during the COVID-19 pandemic.