This paper assesses the impact of environmental regulation stringency on the relocation of pollution-intensive firms in China. Pollution haven hypothesis (Porter theory) suggests that firms would (not) choose to relocate (but to innovate). We proxy the regulation stringency with multidimensional...

Most climate scientists around the world are concerned about global warming. These concerns have resulted in calls for reductions in CO2 emissions over time. If these calls are to be heeded, an appropriate emissions accounting method must first be agreed upon by CO2 emitting countries, none of...

Despite the increasing adoption of environmental regulations in emerging economies, their socioeconomic impact has not been fully explored. This study evaluates the effects of a sulfur dioxide (SO2) control policy in China on industrial emission and production activities. The “Two Control...

With the construction of ecological civilization, central government's direct inspections have become the new norm of environmental protection supervision. Since 2016, the central government has been dispatching supervision teams, one batch after another, to conduct environmental protection...

This paper uses a unique large-size data set from China's most developed areas to examine the innovation impacts of environmental regulations. Reduction mandates on designated pollutants between the 10th and the 12th Five-Year Plans (2001–2015) are explored to construct spatial and temporal...

Most nations are predominately preoccupied with the need to increase economic growth amidst pressure for increased energy consumption. However, higher energy consumption from fossil fuel has its environmental implication(s) especially in a high industrial economy like China. In this context, the...

As an important step towards building a "harmonious society" through "scientific development", China has incorporated for the first time in its five-year economic plan an energy input indicator as a constraint. While it achieved a quadrupling of its GDP while cutting its energy intensity by...

Just prior to the Copenhagen climate summit, China pledged to cut its carbon intensity by 40-45% by 2020 relative to its 2005 levels to help to reach an international climate change agreement at Copenhagen or beyond. This raises the issue of whether such a pledge is ambitious or just represents...

China's capital-intensive, export-oriented, spectacular economic growth since launching its open-door policy and economic reforms in late 1978 not only has created jobs and has lifted millions of the Chinese people out of poverty, but also has given rise to unprecedented environmental pollution...

China has realized that for its own sake and from the international community’s perspective, it cannot afford to continue along the conventional path of encouraging economic growth at the expense of the environment. Accordingly, the country has placed ecological goals at the same level of...