Search

This paper uses a double-difference model to test the impact of green credit policy on the default risk of heavy polluters based on the data of China listed companies from 2008 to 2021. It is found that green credit policy can significantly reduce the default risk of heavy polluters, and the reduction effect is more significant in state-owned enterprises. Further mechanism tests show that green credit policy reduces default risk by guiding heavily polluting firms to reduce financial leverage. Government environmental regulation and corporate green innovation capacity affect the role of green credit policy on corporate default risk. With the strengthening of regional environmental regulations and the enhancement of corporate green innovation capabilities, the effect of green credit policies in diminishing the default risk for companies with high pollution levels is increasingly evident. This study not only enriches the literature on green credit but also demonstrates the effectiveness of directing banks and various financial entities to allocate resources reasonably, guiding heavily polluting enterprises to control risks, and steadily achieving green transformation. These findings hold significant implications for decision-making in designing environmental policy and management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green energy efficiency (GEE) is pivotal for sustainable economic growth, particularly in the context of China's ambitious environmental goals. This study assesses the impact of Green Financial Reform and Innovation Pilot Zones on GEE from 2005 to 2020, using the SBM-GML method and a Double Difference Model (DID). Findings indicate a significant improvement in GEE within these zones, driven by advancements in green innovation and environmental regulation. At the micro level, firms in pilot zones show enhanced Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance and experience fewer financial constraints. The effectiveness of green finance policies is more pronounced in resource-rich and financially efficient regions, suggesting that these initiatives can significantly contribute to sustainable development. Based on empirical evidence, we recommend expanding pilot zones, promoting green technological innovation, and developing tailored green finance policies to address regional ecological sensitivities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental protection and sustainable development are now profoundly ingrained in the public consciousness in the modern era of the global green revolution. First, this paper uses an evolutionary game model to theoretically analyse the impact of environmental regulation and green finance on enterprises by dissecting the game behaviour between local governments, banks and enterprises. Then, we incorporate entrepreneurial spirit into the model to determine whether entrepreneurial spirit accelerates the achievement of green sustainability objectives. Environmental regulation and green finance are found to contribute substantially to the innovation of green technologies by local enterprises, while entrepreneurial spirit accelerates this process. Finally, we empirically test the findings based on a prefecture-level panel dataset from 2007 to 2020. We find that green finance has a positive impact in Central and Western cities of China, while Eastern cities are in greater need for government environmental regulation controls. For entrepreneurial spirit, the incentive effect of entrepreneurial spirit on the level of green technology innovation is more significant in Central and Western regions of China. This paper enriches the field of research on entrepreneurial spirit and regional green sustainable development by providing empirical evidence for the evaluation of environmental regulatory and green financing policy impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The escalating demand for resources in urban and rural construction development raises the crucial question of achieving green development within limited resource constraints. This study delves into the interplay between environmental policy and green development in urban and rural construction. Utilizing the spatial Durbin model for analysis, findings reveal that investment-oriented environmental regulation significantly impacts green development and positive spillover effects in neighboring regions when considering spatial weight matrices. In contrast, cost-based environmental regulations positively affect green development when spatial interactions are disregarded. However, they exhibit negative effects at the spatial level, potentially leading to a "pollution relocation" phenomenon. Although the influence of R& D subsidy-based environmental regulations on green development is not significant, their impact becomes notable upon considering spatial interactions, potentially generating positive effects across regions through mechanisms such as technology diffusion and knowledge transfer. Furthermore, from an endogeneity perspective, the impact of environmental regulatory tools on green development exhibits a time lag effect. Moreover, investment-type regulation in the eastern regions significantly fosters green development, whereas cost-based regulation shows a suppressive effect; investment-type regulation in central regions has a positive spillover on neighboring areas; and R&D subsidies in western regions negatively impact local green development. Moreover, the quality of governmental institutions, market integration, and technological innovation are key factors influencing green development in China's urban and rural construction. This study reveals the direct and indirect effects of various environmental policy tools on green development in urban and rural areas. It emphasizes the importance of considering spatial interactions in implementing environmental policies, providing a theoretical foundation and practical guidance for optimizing environmental policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper chooses 98 mining cities in China from 2007 to 2021 as research samples. It investigates the policy practice of green development in mining cities according to the point of view of policy combination. We establish a super-efficiency model considering undesirable output to measure the green development level of mining cities and further construct a dynamic panel model based on the Gaussian mixture model (GMM) to test the transmission mechanism and heterogeneous effect of different types of environmental regulation to promote the green development of mining cities. The findings demonstrate that environmental regulations about command control, market incentives, and public participation can all help mining cities develop more sustainably. Additionally, there is a nonlinear relationship of an inverted "U" shape between the degree of green development in mining cities and environmental regulations related to command control. Combining policies can encourage the green development of mining cities, but there are crowding-out and substitution effects when environmental regulations are combined with market forces. Environmental regulation promotes urban green development by improving the energy consumption structure of mining cities. In this process, the level of digital development positively regulates the impact of environmental regulation on urban green development. Therefore, the government should choose environmental regulation tools and combinations according to local needs to achieve a multi-pronged effect of energy structure improvement and urban green development and use digital technology to support the green development of mining cities. • Command-controlled, market-motivated, and public-participating environmental regulations can significantly promote urban green development by promoting the improvement of energy structure. • There is an inverted' U' -shaped nonlinear relationship between the intensity of command and control environmental regulation and the green level of mining cities. • The level of digitization can positively regulate the relationship between environmental regulation and urban green development. • The combination of environmental regulations have a significant positive impact on urban green development. • The combination of environmental regulations has heterogeneity in urban green development due to factors such as regional resource endowment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Haze pollution caused by particulate matter such as PM2.5 and PM10 significantly affects public health. Confronted with haze pollution, people have increasingly taken to expressing opinions online to demand restrictions on pollution discharge by enterprises to protect their health rights. However, are such public demands met by the government and incorporated into policy agenda relating to environmental regulation policies? To investigate this question, this study employed text content analysis to examine the role of public opinion as an intermediary in the relationship between haze pollution and the formulation of environmental regulation policies, using a dataset of 460 environmental regulation policy documents and over 800,000 public opinions on environmental issues spanning from January 2011 to December 2021. We found that public opinion exerted a significant intermediary effect by linking haze pollution and environmental regulation policy tools. Further analysis revealed heterogeneity in the influence of public opinion on environmental regulation policy tools. Public opinion exhibited the most substantial intermediary effect on command-control policy tools (with a 6.68% intermediary effect), followed by economic incentive policy tools (4.65%) and social autonomy policy tools (4.58%). Additionally, there was a notable time lag in the impact of public opinion on environmental regulation policy tools. It took approximately 7–10 months for the government to respond to the disseminated public opinions. This study may shed light on how the government can encourage public engagement, respond to, and guide public opinion. [Display omitted] • Public opinion plays an intermediary role between haze and regulatory policy. • 7–10 months' time lag of environmental policy to public opinion was estimated. • The heterogeneity in the impact of public opinion on three policy tools was analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of China's environmental regulations, with a focus on the green credit policy, on green innovation in pursuit of the "carbon peak and carbon neutrality" goal. Given the implementation of the 2012 Green Credit Guidelines, this paper employs the Difference-in-Difference Method (DID) and conducts a quasi-natural experiment to empirically examine the interactions among the central government, local governments, and high-pollution and high-emission enterprises by exploring the impact of green credit policies on green innovation of these enterprises. Relying on 4503 samples of 237 high-pollution and high-emission enterprises listed in the main board in China from 2003 to 2021, this study reveals that the green credit policy can improve green innovation of these enterprises. Specifically, this study explores the detailed mechanism through which the green credit policy enables these enterprises to increase their market concentration and then the monopoly profits, which in turn promotes their green innovative productivity. In addition, this paper also reveals how local governments' political and financial incentives may serve as positive and negative moderating factors, respectively, within the impact mechanism. This study has valuable implications for how to effectively formulate and implement environmental regulations by balancing the interests of the central government, local governments and enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental regulations have emerged as a critical policy tool for promoting environmental sustainability worldwide. However, there is a dearth of literature that investigates the impact of environmental regulations on load capacity factor in Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies. This study aims to address this gap by examining the role of renewable energy consumption, human capital, and environmental regulations in improving load capacity factor. In doing so, the paper covers 14 APEC economies; applies second generations panel data models (i.e., CUP-FM (continuously updated fully modified) as the base model and CUP-BC (continuously-updated and bias-corrected) for the robustness); and runs data between 1992 and 2018. The empirical findings present that: i) renewable energy consumption and human capital contribute to improving load capacity factor; ii) environmental regulations are not at a level to increase load capacity factor; iii) economic growth and trade openness significantly reduce load capacity factor. Considering empirical outcomes, this study suggests that APEC should tighten environmental regulations to achieve sustainable environment. In addition, this study offers important sustainable environmental policies for APEC within the framework of empirical findings. • CUP-FM and CUP-BC methods are applied over the spanning from 1992 to 2018. • Examines relationship between renewable energy, environmental regulations, and human capital with load capacity factor. • Renewable energy and human capital significantly increase the level of environmental quality. • Environmental regulations are insufficient for APEC countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite China's stringent environmental regulations, there has been a persistent policy implementation gap at local level, specifically due to local protectionism and inadequate enforcement measures. To address this issue, the Central Environmental Protection Inspection (CEPI) initiative was launched in 2016, replacing the Regional Environmental Protection Inspection (REPI) system. This study examines why the REPI failed to tackle the implementation gap and how the CEPI works. This is achieved by constructing a tripartite evolutionary game (EG) model consisting of the central government, local governments, and polluting enterprises. Using system dynamics (SD), the study simulates and analyzes the behavior and strategies of the three game players in two scenarios, namely weak and strong negative incentives. Then, this study analyzes the evolutionary process of environmental protection inspection (EPI) by means of a case study. The results show that: (1) the strategy adopted by polluting enterprises depends on the actual signal conveyed by the local governments. In addition, whether the strong regulatory signal of the central government can be effectively transmitted to polluting enterprises mainly depends on the attitude of the local governments. (2) The CEPI conveys a reliable commitment and provides effective external stimuli that adjust the incentive structure of local governments. Meanwhile, the REPI lacked significant punishment measures, which made it difficult for the central government's environmental regulatory signals to reach polluting enterprises in an effective manner. This study contributes to a better understanding of the evolutionary process and causes of the EPI system, as well as how the Chinese government tackles the local environmental policy implementation gap. • The strategy adopted by polluting enterprises depends on the actual signal conveyed by the local governments. • The CEPI conveys a reliable commitment and provides effective external stimuli for local governments. • The key to effective environmental regulation is to break through the obstacle of local protectionism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subordinate governments act as both agents of superior environmental policies and economic development leaders of the areas under their jurisdiction. The effectiveness of superior–level environmental policy is determined by the degree the subordinate governments are motivated to strengthen environmental regulation. Bottom–up punishment is introduced in the traditional top–down financial rewards to form a two–way atmospheric quality punishment incentive mechanism for the subordinate governments to improve environmental regulation. We take the atmospheric quality punishment incentive implemented in Shandong Province as a case, and the results show that the prefectural governments were encouraged to improve environmental regulation. However, the emission reductions were observed along with the decreased economic output in pollution intensive firms, not based on decreased intensity of key atmospheric pollutant emissions. In this case, the weighting and penalty price established for key pollutants should be increased, so that the subordinate governments can better assume the role of superior environmental policy agent. • The AQPI provides a two–way incentive to subordinate governments. • There is tradeoff between environmental policy agent and economic leader under AQPI. • Firms' environmental performance is promoted by reinforced environmental regulation. • Decreased economic output, not emission intensity, leads to emission reductions. • Weighting and penalty price set on key pollutants should be enhanced for the AQPI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental policy research has increased due to stricter policies aligned with climate goals. However, to achieve the goal of net-zero emissions, the adoption of even stronger policies and increased carbon taxes is necessary, with transition risk becoming a major concern for companies. Even though governments worldwide have been employing a range of methods such as carbon tax, cap-and-trade, and intensity targets to mitigate the impact of climate change, a pivotal debate around determining the optimal policy that reduces emissions without harming the economy continues. Our paper delves into the environmental policy assessment emphasizing the role of endogenous capital utilization rates, which have hitherto been largely disregarded in literature. We study how endogenous capital utilization rate affects the transmission mechanism of economic shocks and the optimal environmental policy choice. To evaluate the quantitative impact of the transmission mechanism, we introduce distinct features to the environmental-dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (E-DSGE) model, including endogenous capital utilization, time-varying depreciation of capital, and environment quality shocks. We find that the complementarity between energy and capital leads to an amplification effect of the conventional transmission mechanism. Our model with these ingredients ranks any carbon tax below 25% as the best policy in terms of welfare improvement. • Role of variable capital utilization in the presence of environmental regulations. • Tightening environmental policies contribute to fluctuations of energy prices. • Complementarity between energy and capital leads to an amplification effect. • Any carbon tax below 25% improves welfare. • Numerical methods calculate an approximation solution of compensating variations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As urbanization has developed, a variety of urban clusters have gradually emerged with important effects on regional economic growth and carbon emissions. This paper constructs a multi-period difference-in-difference (DID) model for testing how urban cluster synergistic development policy (UCSDP) affects urban carbon productivity in 148 cities of China with 13 urban clusters as the experimental group from 2003 to 2019. According to the results, the UCSDP improves carbon productivity, mainly via reducing energy intensity. In addition, UCSDP improves carbon productivity by adjusting energy structure, increasing green innovation, altering city greening levels, and accelerating the process of urbanization. Moreover, it can produce synergistic effects in terms of energy structure, green innovation, greening level, and urbanization level. Furthermore, the UCSDP has heterogeneous effects on the carbon productivity in various cities. Specifically, the carbon productivity of high-status, high-rank, and resource-based cities responds more significantly to UCSDP. Therefore, policymakers should strengthen the integration of urban clusters, offer targeted development suggestions for different cities, modify the energy and greening structure, accelerate the process of urbanization, and focus on the formulation of reasonable environmental regulation policies. • Exploring the impact of UCSDP on carbon productivity with multi-period DID model. • The improvement of carbon productivity by UCSDP mainly comes from the decrease of energy intensity. • UCSDP increases carbon productivity by affecting energy structure, green innovation, greening level and urbanization level. • UCSDP produces synergistic effects in terms of energy structure, green innovation, greening level and urbanization level. • The impact of UCSDP on carbon productivity varies by city status, city rank and city type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, it is found that environmental regulation is an important mechanism that trade openness affects the level of human capital. The author established a theoretical framework to analyze the influence of trade openness on the level of human capital and adopted the system GMM to test it, using Chinese provincial data over the period 1995–2015. The empirical results show that environmental regulation has a long-term U-shaped effect on the level of human capital, while the current environmental regulation in China is conducive to improving the level of human capital. Furthermore, the promotion of human capital level can also increase the possibility of improving environmental regulation, which is conducive to the internal formation and positive interaction between human capital and environmental regulation. The research further enriches the theory of sustainable development of environment and economy. It provides theoretical support for China and developing countries with similar economic and technological levels to actively implement more stringent environmental policies in the context of trade openness. Image 108550 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Pollution Haven hypothesis and Porter hypothesis provide two different behavioral strategies for pollution industries under stringent environmental regulations, which make a clear line between the two hypotheses in the previous literature. This paper studies the pollution industry transfer in China from the perspective of industry mobility, and proves that the transfer of pollution industries under environmental regulations is the comprehensive effect of "Pollution Haven" and "Innovation Compensation" by using Chinese provincial-level data from 2000 to 2015. The empirical results find that strongly mobile pollution industries have tended to transfer directly to the areas with loose regulations, but "Innovation Compensation" effect is not significant, leading to the pollution industries transferring out; the weakly mobile pollution industries have not shown the "Pollution Heaven" effect, environmental regulations will stimulate innovation and increase industry output through the mechanism of "Innovation Compensation", which increases the regional proportion of pollution industries output. In short, we believe this study can provide a new perspective for explaining the current pollution industry transfer in China and help for more precise and reasonable environmental policies. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • Based on the industry mobility, this paper studies the pollution industry transfer in China. • We break the line between PHH and PH by providing an analytical framework and an empirical test. • Pollution industries with different mobility have different strategies respond to regulations. • Pollution industry transfer is a result of the comprehensive effect of PHH and PH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Most existing studies on environmental regulations and the location dynamics of pollution-intensive industries regard new environmental procedures as an incremental development process, and neglect the influence of sudden changes in environmental regulations triggered by a pollution crisis. Using the drinking water crisis in the Taihu Lake Watershed (TLW) in 2007 as an example, this paper examines the spatial behavior of pollution-intensive firms across the TLW, and pays special attention to the regional differences in the effectiveness of enforcing environmental regulations. We find that the pollution haven hypothesis works efficiently in the short term after an unexpected pollution crisis because of the immediate strengthening of environmental regulations by local governments under pressure from the central government and the public. However, the effect of strict environmental policies was compromised by differences in the effectiveness of policy enforcement across the watershed. Specifically, when other regions (for example, Huzhou) were compared with Wuxi (the site of the crisis in the present study), these regions were found to be relatively insensitive to the effects of the pollution incidents and the environmental regulations that were triggered. Highlights • This paper examines spatial behaviors of pollution-intensive firms across the Taihu Lake watershed in response to the water crisis. • The paper pays special attention to the regional difference in enforcement effectiveness of environmental regulations. • Pollution haven hypothesis works efficiently in the short run. • The effect of stringent environmental policies was compromised by differences in policy enforcement effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper examines the how new manufacturing firms choose locations in response to the environmental regulations in Jiangsu, China. In particular, we utilize three representative measures of the environmental regulations to test the consistence of the Pollution Haven Hypothesis (PHH). The dramatic results indicate that different measures of environmental regulation lead to different conclusions of the PHH. However, firms' relocation patterns are common and consistent, i.e., new polluting firms are more likely to be driven by the government environmental mandates to northern Jiangsu, where the pollution abatement cost is high. This pattern is consistent with the industrial planning of the province, suggesting that local government may use environmental regulations to achieve economic objectives. More comprehensive and equitable policy design is thus recommended to address the problems of environmental equity in China. Highlights • We examined firms' location choice in response to the environmental regulations. • We utilized three representative measures of the environmental regulations. • We find different measures of environmental regulation lead to different conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The maturing literature on innovation has recognized the processes of sectoral and technological systems of innovation as helpful frameworks to analyze environmental innovation – a field whose importance continues to grow amidst contemporary regulatory pressures, for example, on maritime industry and shipping. This paper intertwines these key innovation concepts and applies them to classify and systematize an environmental product innovation: marine scrubber systems. The paper also addresses the linkage between innovation policy and environmental regulation and presents an overall framework to visualize and systematize conceptual connections between sectoral and technological systems of innovation to further develop and manage these complex systems of environmental innovation inducement. The paper applies technological and legal materials depicting the context of maritime scrubber systems as technological responses to more rigid environmental regulation by addressing their implications for market potential and change. The results underline the importance of environmental regulations as the driver of the development of technological innovation systems centered on environmental innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As China's longest-implemented market-based environmental regulation policy, emission charges have contributed outstandingly to improving the ecological environment and reducing firms' pollution emissions. We assess the impact of emission charges on the innovation quality of Chinese firms based on the perspective of firms' breakthrough technological innovation. By observing Chinese A-share listed firms with heavy pollution from 2011 to 2020, we find that corporate breakthrough technological innovation positively moderates the emission charges to enhance the quality of corporate innovation. Our mechanism tests suggest that emission charges and breakthrough technological innovation positively affect innovation quality by improving the means of green innovation of enterprises. In addition, heterogeneity analysis shows that emission charges and firms' breakthrough technological innovation are only effective in improving the innovation quality of state-owned firms, and the effect on the innovation quality of non-state-owned firms is not significant. Our findings suggest that the imposition of emission charges and incentives for firms to embark on breakthrough technological innovation can effectively improve the quality of innovation. • The article is probably the first literature to explore the effects of breakthrough technological innovation and emission charges on the innovation quality of heavily polluting enterprises in China, enriching the research on the impact of enterprise innovation models on environmental regulation. • Based on the IPC information of enterprise patent applications, the paper distinguishes enterprise innovation patterns and explores the moderating effect of breakthrough technological innovation on emission charges to enhance the quality of enterprise innovation. • This paper provides micro evidence on the impact of environmental regulation on innovation quality based on the perspective of firms' breakthrough technological innovation, which has important implications for adopting environmental regulation to achieve a "win-win" situation between pollution control and improving innovation quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the pressure of environmental deterioration mounted in recent years, Chinese government has formulated a series of environmental policies and regulations with the intention of improving environmental quality. However, the effectiveness of these environmental regulations have not been carefully examined yet. This study for the first time investigates the effects of environmental regulations on the environmental performance. Using the city-level panel data of 283 Chinese cities for the period 2003–2010 and four indicators for environmental quality (the industrial waste water discharged, industrial SO2 emissions and industrial Soot emissions), this study employs the first-difference GMM method that could deal with potential endogeneity and allow dynamics to conduct the empirical estimations. Overall, the estimation results indicate that current environmental control measures and regulations have not achieved the desired goal of controlling and reducing pollution. Moreover, the direct impact of FDI on China's environment is negative, suggesting that there is evidence for the “Pollution Heaven” hypothesis. The coefficients of the interactive term of environmental regulation and foreign direct investment are estimated to be negative, which indicates that the environmental regulation is effective only when FDI is controlled for. The estimation results are basically consistent for different Chinese regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does environmental regulation impact the performance of economies? Scientific literature on impact assessments on environmental regulation are analysed in this article, focusing on the ex-ante studies on the Sulphur Emission Control Area (SECA) in the Baltic Sea and North Sea. The SECA regulations on shipping exhaust gases are an example that may appear to be straightforward, but on closer inspection, this is a multifaceted issue that has several aspects that are difficult to measure and balance against each other. As such, it offers a good case example to categorize and conceptualize the questions of impact assessment. The SECA regulations are aimed at creating environmental and health benefits, and presumed to incur compliance costs. Other benefits and costs have not received much attention. Macro-economic effects and the issues of international distribution of costs and benefits are often neglected. The relevant impact categories for the SECA regulations are identified and discussed systematically. We propose a comprehensive regulation impact framework for socio-economic effects that can be extended to other environmental regulation to support the needs of consistent and reliable evidence-based maritime policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How to set out the provisions that ensure emissions reduction and technical progress in environmental regulation is very important for both China’s future emissions reduction and sustainable development. The paper uses statistical data from 30 Chinese provinces from 1997 to 2014 and empirically tests the effects of different types of environmental policies and regulations on emissions reduction and technical progress by using dynamic spatial panel models. The results of spatial autocorrelation tests show that there are both significant positive global autocorrelation and local spatial agglomeration effects relating to pollutant emissions and technical progress. Dynamic spatial panel models indicate that command and control regulations (CCR) are conducive to emissions reduction, but their effects on technical progress are not significant. Market based regulations (MBR) are conducive to technical progress, but their effects on the reduction of emissions are relatively weak. There is a significant inverted-U relationship between economic development level and carbon emissions, validating the EKC hypothesis in China, but the effects of foreign direct investment on carbon reduction and technical progress are not significant. The paper recommends that China should optimize a combination of environmental regulations so as to achieve the win-win outcome of both emissions reduction and technical progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theoretical studies of pollution haven hypothesis predict that differentiated environmental regulation policies will result in inter-country relocation of polluting industries. This paper investigates pollution haven hypothesis at domestic level in China. Using panel data of 30 provincial level regions for the period 2004 to 2013, this paper empirically examines to what extent multiple environmental policies affect intra-country relocation of polluting industries in China. It is found that the implementation of both economic policy instrument like pollution discharge fee and public participation like letter complaints on environmental problems encourages industrial relocation, whereas the implementation of environmental legal policy instrument like laws, regulations and rules prevents polluting industries from relocating to other regions. It is also found that the relocation effect of environmental policies varies with industrial characteristics. Compared with water pollution-intensive industry, air pollution-intensive industry dominated by stated-owned capitals are insensitive to legal policy instruments. These findings suggest that the validity of pollution haven hypothesis is jointly associated with the type of environmental policy as well as industrial characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the environmental governance dilemma caused by environmental decentralization, this study aims to explore whether the strategic synergy between local and neighborhood environmental regulations can be an essential tool to improve green innovation efficiency and achieve sustainable development. Using the data of industrial firms from 2005 to 2019, and employing network slack-based measure and Tobit regression, this study provides empirical evidence that (1) the green innovation efficiency shows an upward trend in fluctuations but still has great room for improvement; (2) the direct impact of local environmental regulation on green innovation is positive, but the indirect impact through forcing firms to transfer into the neighborhood with loose regulation is negative, that is, the industrial transfer plays a suppression effect; (3) the strategic synergy of environmental regulations has U-shaped and direct effect on green innovation and also has a positive indirect effect through inhibiting the firm's behavior transferring into the neighborhood. This study reveals the influence mechanism of the strategic synergy of local-neighborhood environmental regulations and offers empirical evidence to explain the reason why synergistic environmental governance can effectively promote green innovation, which provides the theoretical guidance for government to formulate environmental policies and construct an environmental governance system. • The innovation efficiency shows an upward trend in fluctuations but has great improvement room. • The local environmental regulation significantly improves innovation efficiency. • The industrial transfer suppresses the effect of local regulation on innovation efficiency. • The strategic synergy of local-neighborhood regulations has U-shaped on innovation efficiency. • This strategic synergy also inhibits the firms' behavior transferring to neighborhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The environment constraints have become more restrictive over time, because the transformation of energy consumption structure (ECS) is the key path to achieve the commitment of net-zero emission. However, the adjustment of ECS involves the influence of many factors, including economic factors, energy factors and social factors. Not to mention how ECS -driving factors under tougher environmental regulation may behave throughout long time period remains explored. According to the background, the periodic driving factors of industrial ECS in China based on the periodic effect of environmental regulation on ECS are discussed. In this paper, industries of China are divided into four sectors from 1998 to 2017, and a multi-layer LMDI decomposition model is constructed to decompose ECS of the four sectors in stages. Since the industrial and commercial sector provides the largest contribution rate, the LMDI model based on PDA production theory method is applied to decompose industrial and commercial ECS , aiming to deeply explore the main driving factors of ECS in subindustries, and formulate scientific energy and environmental policies. The results show that from the perspective of the whole industry, the per capita pollution control investment has the most significant negative contribution, and the economic activity effect provides a great positive contribution to the ECS. In terms of subindustries, the main negative drivers are potential energy intensity and GDP technology change. The comprehensive decomposition framework. [Display omitted] • The drivers of ECS in four sectors are identified. • An integrated decomposition measurement combined LMDI with PDA is constructed. • EP is major inhibiting factor of ECS optimizing in four sectors. • PE and GT are major inhibiting factors of ECS optimizing in subsectors. • Some policy recommendations to optimize energy consumption structure are purposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this study is to get the asymmetric effects of environmental policy stringency on CO2 emissions in top emitter's economies named China, USA, India, Russia, and Japan by using non-linear panel ARDL approach. The non-linear model infers that an increase in environmental policy stringency improves the environmental quality by reducing CO2 emissions in the long run. While a negative change in environmental policy stringency is also reducing the CO2 emissions in the long run. Indeed the asymmetric effects between positive and negative change in the environmental policy stringency are also confirmed in magnitude only in the long-run, thus the policymakers should consider positive as well as negative changes while devising the rules and regulations related to the environment. The study suggests that the high polluted economies need to revisit green environmental regulations policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the degradation of the environment, balancing economic development with environmental protection is key to a green China. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the impacts of different environmental policies on China's pollution-intensive industries (PIIs). We look at the main types of environmental policies tools of China in areas of legal, economic and informal regulations, and select typical policies of each type for research. Based on the theoretical model about how environmental regulations affect the transfer decision of polluting enterprises, quantitative empirical tests are conducted in this paper to study the influences of environmental regulations on the transfer of PIIs by using provincial panel data from 2003 to 2016. It is found that: (1) All three types of environmental regulations have significant yet heterogeneous impacts on the transfer of PIIs. (2) With an emphasis on the nonlinear impact of environmental regulations on PIIs' transfer, we find that all the three types of environmental regulations exert inverted-N shaped nonlinear influences. The findings indicate that regions with ultra-stringent or excessively loose regulations are not attractive to polluting industries. However, appropriate environmental regulations stimulate enterprises to innovate, enhance market competitiveness, and increase production. (3) Between regions, spatially heterogeneous influences on PII's transfer are also found. Currently, levels of all types of environmental regulations are relatively low in China, which induce an initial negative correlation between policies and polluting enterprises. As a result, governments should continue to improve environmental regulations to promote a state of positive correlation, realizing a win-win result for environmental protection and economic development. ● Environmental regulations (ERs) affect pollution-intensive industries' (PIIs). ● The impact of ERs on PIIs' transfer is nonlinearly inverted-N shape. ● Multiple ERs have heterogeneous impacts on PIIs' transfer. ● Spatially heterogeneous influences of ERs on PIIs' transfer exist. ● Currently, the levels of all types of ERs are relatively low in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Environmental regulations can play a major role in fostering improvements in industrial environmental performance. This potential can be best leveraged when regulatory aspects are tiered by performance criteria in “performance-based” policies. Although recognized as an essential part of incentivizing performance improvements, these polices present a significant challenge for developing countries. This paper presents a definition and the basic elements of performance-based regulations, and a case study in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Starting with a brief discussion of public environmental policy instruments, the performance-based concept is defined and examined, using the experiences of the U.S. to list the most relevant characteristics by which a public policy can help regulators to not only recognize but also to reward and encourage environmental performance improvement. The introduction of performance criteria into the renewable permits in Sao Paulo State, Brazil, is described as an example of these practices. By establishing an innovative permitting model, the state environmental agency encourages continuous environmental performance improvements in industries. Some preliminary results are presented with regard to administrative and environmental benefits, with an example of water reuse and wastewater volume reduction at a petrochemical hub to illustrate the strategy's potential. Finally, the adequacy of the implemented permitting system was evaluated with the performance-based criteria reported in the literature. The results attest to the potential of this model to foster improvements beyond traditional compliance, mainly through the adoption of cleaner production, thereby contributing to environmental quality improvements with low economic, socio and political enforcement costs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The study examines the cost-effectiveness of two wastewater treatment models in China so as to provide a choice for policymaking. We choose the wastewater treatment system in China–Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park as case study because: 1) its sharing wastewater treatment plant (WTP); 2) its WTP was invested and operated by a private company; 3) its firms did not discharge illegal; 4) accessibility of data. The actual costs are determined by an extensive survey of 493 firms registered with the park. These data are also used to create a benchmark model assuming that each firm complies with environmental regulations by constructing its own WTP. The results show that sharing the WTPs greatly reduces the overall treatment cost. Furthermore, it reduces illegal discharges and improves the overall environmental performance of the park. Finally, it enforces cooperation among companies located in the park and creates a good image attracting more enterprises to join in. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This research presents an overview of where the gaps in the literature exist in relation to the link between environmental regulation and proactive environmental management and competitiveness, and incorporates them in a whole model. Different papers have highlighted only partial aspects of these relationships. Specifically, this research evaluates the relationship between managerial perception and the different styles of environmental regulations – command-and-control versus voluntary norms – the mediator role of environmental management in the link between environmental regulations and competitiveness, the effect of competitiveness on financial performance, and the two-way relationship between proactive environmental management and financial performance. Finally, this paper uses statistical evidence to test and estimate causal relationships through a structural equation modelling of 208 firms affected by IPPC law in Spain. There is a lack of systematic statistical evidence on this topic in the literature, which mainly focuses on case studies. The results show that when environmental regulation stems from command-and-control legislation its influence on managerial perception and proactive environmental management is not significant. However, when environmental regulation stems from voluntary norms, its effects are positive. Moreover, investment in proactive environmental management contributes to increasing the competitiveness of the firm. Cost and differentiation competitive advantage have a positive impact on financial performance. Finally, the link between proactive environmental management and financial performance may follow different paths: (1) neither direct nor single, because it can depend on competitive advantage, and (2) direct, because there is a significant two-way relationship between these variables (proactive environmental management influences financial performance and financial performance influences proactive environmental management). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The article reports on some of the findings of a survey of 105 plants in nine developing countries and across four manufacturing sub-sectors on factors affecting environmentally sound technology adoption. The survey identifies drivers for and barriers to adopting environmentally sound technology as perceived by plant managers and key informants. Not surprisingly, environmental regulation and market pressure appear to exert more influence than community pressure on the adoption of environmentally sound technology. The global generalization, however, masks a number of significant sub-sectoral and country variations as well as the importance of different views held by plant managers and key informants. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The number of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) in the EU is increasing continuously. Around 75 percent of an ELV are recyclable metals. The rest of the car is considered waste and generally goes to a landfill, which is increasingly regarded as a problem. The forecast growth in the number of ELVs calls for regulation that aims to minimise the environmental impact of a car. Using Denmark as an example, this article evaluates the extent to which environmental regulations have been a driving force for change in the car-dismantling trade. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In the European Union, which is increasingly oriented towards environmentally sustainable development, separate waste collection plays a crucial role. Over the years, the EU has produced several guidelines, programmes and directives aimed to build a green society and tone down the differences between, as well as within, Member States. In Italy, the waste management system is currently regulated by Legislative Decree 152/2006, through which European directives have been incorporated into the Italian law. The existing literature has focused on the effects of L.D. 152/2006 on Separate Waste Collection (SWC) rates; however, there are not previous studies on the effects of this decree on growth rates and on convergence process among regions in terms of SWC and its items (i.e., organic, plastic, paper, and glass). This paper aims to fill these gaps. For this purpose, we implement β- and σ- convergence analysis based on Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) on official Italian regional data over the period 2001–2018. Results show that Legislative Decree 152/2006 has two contrasting effects: on the one hand, it helped increase separate waste collection; on the other hand, it slowed down the convergence process in terms of separate waste collection among the Italian regions. However, the convergence process is characterised by different speeds across Italian macro-areas (Northern, Central, and Southern Italy), highlighting a three-speed country. To foster convergence, the national legislation should consider regional differences in terms of economic, infrastructural, institutional, social, and demographic characteristics. Image 1 • We implement β- and σ-convergence analysis on Italian regional data through GMM estimations. • Legislative Decree 152/2006 promoted the growth of SWC rates. • Legislative Decree 152/2006 reduced β - and σ-convergence among Italian regions in terms of SWC. • Regional convergence in SWC is conditioned by regional socio-economic drivers. • Results show a three-speed Italy in terms of SWC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimizing energy consumption structure (ECS) is the key to reduce pollution emissions and develop a green economy. Understanding the effect of each influencing factor on ECS is conducive to providing theoretical reference for the formulation of energy and environmental policies, howbeit it lacks studies about the main drivers of national and regional ECS in China. With the consideration of increasingly standardized formal environmental regulation (FER), an extended LMDI model is constructed to decompose the national and regional ECS from 1998 to 2017 into ten influencing factors. The ultimate goals of this concept are to explore the dominant factors of national and regional ECS at different time stages by employing temporal decomposition model, and to investigate the primary drivers that cause the disparity between provincial ECS and national average ECS by applying spatial decomposition model. The results reveal that the effect of FER, the reciprocal of industrial pollution control investment per unit GDP and economic development are the main factors leading to the change of national and regional ECS, specifically FER has a stronger effect on resource-based regions. Also, R&D intensity and R&D efficiency are important factors for ECS change. Energy efficiency and Per capita energy production are the leading factors of ECS disparity between 30 provinces and the national average. What's more, FER and R&D factors play important roles. Policy suggestions are put forward according to the results. Image 1 • Energy efficiency acts as leading force to increase ECS. • R&D intensity and R&D efficiency are important factors for ECS. • FER has a stronger effect on resource-based regions. • Policy- and development-oriented factors should be considered in policy formulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid growth of foreign investment is a double-edged sword, which not only drives China's rapid economic development, but also aggravates China's energy shortage and environmental pollution. Chinese government has strengthened environmental regulations with the intention of restricting the entry of foreign investment, improving the quality of foreign direct investment (FDI). However, the effect of environmental regulation on the quality of FDI has not been carefully examined yet. This study constructs a panel model and uses the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2009 to 2018 to scrutinize the effect of different types of environmental regulation policies on the quality of FDI. The results show that the strengthening of environmental regulation policies can improve the quality of FDI and avoid making China a "pollution paradise" for FDI. There are significant differences in the effects of different types of such policies on the quality of FDI; the type of administrative supervision and social participation policies play positive roles in improving the quality of FDI. There are also significant differences in the strategies for attracting foreign investment among different regions, as well as in the focuses of their environmental regulation objectives. Therefore, for environmental regulation policies to play a more positive role in promoting the quality of FDI and the high-quality development of the national economy, this study suggests that it is necessary to further implement the policy of opening up to the outside world, optimise foreign investment structures, deepen opening up to the outside world, optimise the structure of foreign investment, deepen the reform of the environmental supervision structure, tighten the law enforcement of environmental protection, seek accurate environmental regulation based on the realities of regional foreign investment development, take multiple measures to improve the business environment to promote the quality and efficiency of foreign investment, and so on. Image 1 • Strict environmental regulation policy can improve the unit scale and unit benefit of FDI. • Distinguish and test the potential effects of different types of environmental policy tools on the quality of FDI. • Administrative supervision policy and social participation policy can improve the quality of FDI more effectively. • Sustained improvement of FDI quality depends on coordinated advances in economic, political, and environmental reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The terminology "Sustainability" refers to the practice of integrated principles from environmentalism, social responsibility, and economic development that promote endurance. The question how to maintain a sustainable developing mode concerns many developed and developing countries, whilst the rapid growth of environmental regulations geared toward sustainability summons the doubt of how such policies impact firm productivity and efficiency. In this study, we used a natural experiment methodology to explore the relationship between environmental regulation policy and economic outcomes based on China, where much attention on environmental issues have been putting. A difference-in-difference-in-differences (DDD) model was adopted in our research to solve the endogeneity problem. We root our exploration in the environmental policies of China's Eleventh Five-Year Plan and consider the different levels of pollution across industries. Employing a large dynamic panel dataset of the Above-scale Industrial Dataset from the period between 1998 and 2012 with roughly 3,000,000 observations, we calculate a number of indicators of corporate performance, including Total Factor Productivity (TFP) and Return on Assets (ROA). Moreover, the Eleventh Five-Year Plan's lasting economic effects are also investigated. The results evidence that China's environmental regulation policies negatively affect corporate TFP and ROA in the short-term. Moreover, significant lagged effects can be seen, and the evidence shows that other aspects of economic performance are also negatively associated with environmental regulation policies. Furthermore, we find that light financial constraints, long-term investment behaviors, and capital-labor structures play important roles in bolstering the performance of firms in high-polluting industries. Notably, we find that among these high-polluting firms, poorly performing firms are more likely to exit from the market. On a positive aspect, we find a significant reduction of TFP's misallocation, particularly in terms of long-term work efficiency. Our findings demonstrate that environmental regulations can help markets that cannot balance economic growth and the pollution caused by economic growth overcome failure; well-designed policy can thus help the economy grow sustainably. Image 1 ● Environmental regulation policy significantly decreases Chinese high polluting manufacturing firms' productivity and profitability; ● High polluting firms that are less financially constrained and with more long-term investments suffer less from the regulation policies; ● Environmental regulation policy plays a driving out role in the bad performed high polluting firms and increases the efficiency of resources' allocation; ● Environmental regulation policy can help decrease the misallocation of productivity in a long-term and supplement the market failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an insight into the structure of CO 2 emissions in China through transitions in economic and environmental policies for the period of 1957–2017 by using input-output and network analysis with newly compiled environmentally-extended historical input-output tables of China. These tables, which include firm-level, industry-level, and macro-level statistical data, are the first environmentally-extended input-output tables covering the years in the early stage of the People's Republic of China. The results present the following two main findings. The first is due to the stable economic structure associated with the independent economic policy, China's emission structure has been stable for more than 60 years. Heavy industry has contributed about 80% of CO 2 emissions since the 1950s. On a second account, although the emission structure was stable, stricter environmental controls and regulations led to a decrease of the growth rate of CO 2 emissions after 2010. Against this background, as a policy choice of China, instead of carbon leakage that could break up the stable economic structure, balanced technology upgrading across all sectors induced by stricter environmental controls is a realistic way for China to achieve increased energy efficiency, emission mitigation and economic development, so that the country can keep the promise of reducing CO 2 emissions after they peak around 2030. • Newly complied historical IO tables are used to study emission structure 1957–2012. • Heavy industry is the main contributors of CO2 emission for six decades. • China's CO2 emission structure has maintained a relatively stable status for more than 60 years. • Because of the "independence" ideology, China could not adopt carbon leakage policy. • Technology upgrading is a realistic way for China to achieve emission mitigation and economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Command-and-control environmental regulation is a traditional environmental policy that is still widely used in developing countries. This study examined a rarely discussed but significant issue for environmental sustainability and economic development—the impact of command-and-control environmental regulation on enterprise total factor productivity growth—based on a large enterprise-level sample. Employing China's "Two Control Zone" policy as a quasi-natural experiment, we used a Chinese industrial enterprise panel dataset from 1998 to 2007 to estimate the effects of command-and-control environmental regulation in a difference-in-difference framework. It is found that command-and-control environmental regulation hassignificantly hindered the growth of enterprise total factor productivity, and this negative effect was lagging and continuous. In addition, we leaned that this negative effect mainly came from the increase in costs of enterprises and the negative impact on the enterprise resource allocation efficiency. When considering enterprise heterogeneity in terms of pollution intensity, size, and ownership, the study further found that the negative effects are exacerbated for enterprises in more heavily polluting industries, those of smaller size, and those owned by foreign companies, respectively. Our research is a reexamination of the Porter hypothesis in China, and fills the gap in the literature on the micro effects of command-and-control policy on enterprise total factor productivity for developing countries. Based on a rigorous empirical analysis, we conclude that it is difficult to achieve a win–win scenario with sustainable environmental development and enterprise total factor productivity growth under command-and-control environmental regulation. Environmental regulations should have clear objectives and take a flexible approach, and it is necessary to adopt diversified environmental regulation policies based on market instruments. Image 101877 • Command-and-control environmental regulation hindered the enterprise TFP growth. • Increasing cost and lower resource allocation efficiency are main influence channels. • TFP of heavily polluted enterprise is more hindered than lightly polluted enterprise. • TFP of small enterprise is more inhibited by TCZ policy than large enterprise. • TFP of foreign enterprises is more hindered by TCZ policy than domestic enterprise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is currently trying to improve the quality of the environment by developing a series of environmental regulations. However, conflicts of interest between the national government, local governments, and enterprises often negatively affect the implementation of such policies. This study conducted a theoretical analysis of the evolutionary stable strategies of the national government, local governments, and enterprises in China, to explore the factors that influence the strategies of various stakeholders and examine incentive-compatible environmental regulation policies, by using a tripartite evolutionary game model. Numerical simulations were introduced to examine the asymptotic stability of various evolutionary stabilization strategies and the effects of parameter variation on these strategies. The results demonstrate that national government supervision is critical to achieving the goals of environmental regulation policies since the supervision costs can influence the final evolutionary stable strategy. Although the employment losses caused by environmental regulation will affect the national government's payoffs, the national government's strategy depends on the costs and expected benefits of the strategy itself. Moreover, increased default penalties and compliance incentives can encourage local governments to enforce environmental regulations more effectively, thereby alleviating conflicts of interest among various stakeholders. Therefore, non-democratic and non-Western states need to design incentive-compatible environmental regulation policies according to various influencing factors to coordinate the interests of stakeholders. • A theoretical framework is established based on tripartite evolutionary game model. • National government supervision is critical for goals of environmental regulation. • Employment losse isn't the primary factor for national government decision-making. • Penalty and incentive alleviate conflicts of interest among various stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary environmental challenges have led governments to seek innovative ways to overcome the limits of traditional regulatory models, demanding a "change management". This article addresses a case study regarding innovations promoted in the extended-producer responsibility (EPR) implementation by São Paulo state, Brazil. After facing resistance from industry, local government changed its approach from traditional regulation to negotiated agreements. As one of the researchers was an active part of the process, the Active Research method was adopted, through the "changing as three steps" model, aiming to understand how change occurs and what its critical factors (facilitators, barriers and improvement opportunities). Results indicate that the incorporation of the principles of regulatory quality has made it possible to overcome the gridlock and reopen the dialog, leading to agreements between industry and government. The evidence also shows that the EPR strategy has been continued and expanded, with the renewal of commitments with more ambitious goals, besides the inclusion of retailers in some EPR systems. Regulation has also evolved, with the incorporation of EPR in the environmental permitting, intending to combat free riders. Facilitators for change included recognition of the government, a gradual approach, cultural changes in companies and the systematization of information. Among the barriers, the most crucial were the low adherence of retailers and importers, the considerable presence of free riders, difficulties with the participation of municipalities, the absence of tax incentives, the low adhesion of generators, high operating costs, and collection problems. Finally, among the opportunities for improvement, results show the expansion of participants, mainly municipalities and retailers, a tax review, inclusion in environmental education programs, incorporation in environmental permitting, increased surveillance to combat free riders, and incentives to the recycling chain. Finally, the conclusions emphasize the success in incorporating principles of environmental regulatory quality in the São Paulo EPR implementation strategy. This fact strengthens the conclusions of previous research and suggests that its incorporation in policy design has the potential to overcome implementation gridlocks in complex environmental regulations. • The consideration of "principles of regulatory quality" at environmental policy design can improve its performance. • Most relevant facilitators to change management were: the recognition of companies efforts, gradual approaches, companies cultural changes and information systematization. • Most relevant barriers to change management were: low adherence of regulated community, presence of free riders, absence of tax incentives, and high operating costs. • Negotiated agreements has the potential do overcome implementation gridlocks at complex environmental regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental problems are among the world's major challenges. To alleviate the environmental pressure caused by rapid economic growth, many governments have implemented a series of environmental regulation policies to reduce energy consumption and pollutant emissions. While existing studies have shown that environmental regulations can affect industrial development, the impact of environmental regulations on industrial structure upgrading in regional development remains unclear. This paper studies such an impact by quantitatively analyzing the environmental policies of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in China and provides insightful recommendations for regional integration governance. By analyzing the policy texts from 2003 to 2014, this paper defines a series of indices to quantify the policy objective of industrial structure upgrading and six types of policy measures. Based on these quantitative indices, this paper builds econometric models to study the spatial effect and time-lag effect of environmental regulations on industrial structures. The main findings include: (1) the environmental regulations in these three regions have no influence on each other, yet the upgrading of industrial structures shows significant negative spatial dependence; (2) environmental regulations have direct and indirect spatial effects on industrial structures across regions; and (3) environmental regulations have a long-term promotion effect on industrial structure upgrading, and economic measures tend to be more effective than noneconomic measures. This paper provides insights into the importance of the integrated development across regions of environmental regulations and industrial development. This paper also shows the significant effectiveness of economic measures of environmental regulations for industrial structure upgrading. • Environmental regulations can help to upgrade local industrial structure. • Without coordination, regulations in one region can harm its neighboring regions. • Effects of environmental regulations on industrial structure tend to be long-term. • Economic measures in environmental regulations tend to be more effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]