The ambient air quality standards, green innovation, and urban air quality: evidence from China

As China’s economy transitions, environmental issues have become a major concern. This study examines the impact of Ambient Air Quality Standards (AAQS) on urban air quality using panel data from 284 cities in China from 2006 to 2019. The study utilizes DID (Difference-in-Difference) models to analy...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inScientific reports Vol. 13; no. 1; p. 19684
Main Authors Zhang, Han, Zhang, Dandan, Qian, Wenfan, Xu, Shaofeng
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Nature Publishing Group UK 11.11.2023
Nature Publishing Group
Nature Portfolio
Subjects
631/158/843
704/172/4081
704/844/2787
704/844/843
Air pollution
Air quality
Air quality standards
Cities
Economic growth
Environmental governance
Environmental regulations
Heterogeneity
Humanities and Social Sciences
Hypotheses
Literature reviews
multidisciplinary
Outdoor air quality
Quality standards
R&D
Regulation
Research & development
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
China
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Summary:As China’s economy transitions, environmental issues have become a major concern. This study examines the impact of Ambient Air Quality Standards (AAQS) on urban air quality using panel data from 284 cities in China from 2006 to 2019. The study utilizes DID (Difference-in-Difference) models to analyze the regulatory effects of AAQS and its spatial spillover. Additionally, the serial multiple mediation models are constructed to investigate the role of green innovation. The findings reveal that the AAQS positively affects urban air quality, albeit with a notable “hysteresis effect.” Local implementation of AAQS worsens air quality in neighboring cities within a distance of 400 km, but beyond 400 km, the effect is reversed. Heterogeneity analysis shows that AAQS improves air quality in central cities, large-sized and medium-sized cities, cities with weak environmental governance, and resource-based cities. Mechanism tests suggest that AAQS may enhance urban air quality by promoting green innovation and optimizing industrial structure. Especially, either the energy-use effect or industrial-structure effect triggered by green innovation can contribute to the improvement of urban air quality.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
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ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-023-47112-w