We study how centralized control over local bureaucratic agencies helps alleviate the enforcement problem of environment protection policies in China, exploiting a reform that empowers upper-level environmental protection bureaus to administrate lower-level bureaus vertically through personnel...

This paper studies how centralizing environmental administration affected air pollution in China. China launched a vertical administration reform in 2016 to empower upper-level Environmental Protection Bureaus to administer lower-level bureaus vertically through personnel control. Exploiting a...