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It is of great significance to promote rural household energy transition to improve residents' welfare and sustainable economic development. However, economic poverty and income uncertainty hinder households' transition to cleaner energy. The initiation of social pension plays a crucial role in combating income shock and promoting household consumption. In contrast, there is little literature on the relationship between social pension and household energy consumption. This article addresses this question by exploring the role of social pension in promoting household energy transition. We adopt the Chinese Household Ethnicity Survey (CHES, 2013) and apply the control function approach to test for the causal effects of social pension in promoting household energy transition. Our empirical results reveal that social pension reduces rural residents' adoption of solid fuels. The reduction effect of social pension on household solid fuel use will be significantly enhanced with the increase in family members participating in the social pension program. We also find that household members with religious faiths and the number of ethnic minorities within a family could strengthen the negative effect of social pension on household solid fuel use. Moreover, we identify intra-household transfer and labour mobility within the family as channels. Our findings suggest that expanding access to social pension would have considerable benefits in promoting household energy transition. • This paper investigates how the social pension program affects rural household energy transition. • Social pension reduces rural residents' adoption of solid fuels. • Household members with religious faiths strengthen the negative effect of social pension on household solid fuel use. • The number of ethnic minorities within a family strengthens the negative effect of social pension on household solid fuel use. • Intra-household transfer and labour mobility within the family are the underlying channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solid fuel use is harmful to the health of human beings and hinders the sustainable development of society. Although a considerable literature has sufficiently researched the negative consequences of solid fuel use, fewer studies have explored the determinants of residential polluted energy use in the framework of culture and socioeconomics by focusing on ethnic diversity groups. This paper fills this gap by investigating the impact of religion on the decision to use solid fuel for rural households in ethnic minority regions of China. In particular, we argue that to a large extent, religion provides spiritual support in ethnic minority regions, and it is positively associated with solid fuel use. We examine the issue by employing a large-scale dataset, namely, the China Household Ethnic Survey. Furthermore, this paper identifies two channels of the above finding. First, a pension is regarded as a living support that has a moderate effect in shifting towards clean energy adoption. Second, households located in less remote regions are able to counteract the sole spiritual support of religion, which also mitigates solid fuel use. The results are robust after addressing endogeneity and applying recent developments of alternative models. This paper further confirms that households with various religious activities turn out fewer working hours and have larger related expenditures, which results in less disposable income for energy use. In terms of policy implications, this article suggests the importance of recognizing the role of substantial living support and social inclusion in mitigating the negative impact of religion on clean energy use among rural households of ethnic minority regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) in early 2020 posed a significant threat to people's health and economic sustainability in China and worldwide. This study investigated whether the lockdown measures precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic affected air pollutants in the short term. Moreover, we investigated the impact of the heterogeneity of cities and regions. Using city-level daily panel data for the 2018–2020 lunar calendar, we employed a two-way fixed effects model and interrupted time-series analysis to inspect the effects of the lockdown measures. Interesting empirical findings emerged from our analysis. First, compared with the base period from 2018 to 2019, the COVID-19 lockdown measures significantly reduced air pollutants. In 2020, compared to 2018, PM 10 and SO 2 dropped by 15.28 μg/m3 and 6.55 μg/m3, and compared to 2019, PM 2.5 , PM 10 , and SO 2 declined by 7.4 μg/m3, 19.34 μg/m3, and 1.41 μg/m3, respectively. Second, our dynamic analysis showed that as more time elapsed since the start of the lockdown, the associated reduction in air pollution became more significant. Third, the proportion of secondary industries and the cumulative number of confirmed cases had a considerable heterogeneity impact on lockdown measures. Policymakers should encourage investment in new infrastructure and initiatives to boost efficiency and enhance environmental outcomes. · The effects of COVID-19 lockdown on air quality in China is assessed. · The trends of air pollutants in comparable Lunar Calendar is studied. · Air pollutants decrease significantly in 31 megacities in mainland China. · The higher proportion of the secondary industry and the more confirmed cases, the more significant the decline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extant body of academic literature has thoroughly examined the influence of political promotion institutions on various aspects of economic growth and corporate behavior. However, there remains a gap in the understanding the extent and mechanisms through which the establishment of economic growth targets influences firms' pollution emissions. Addressing this gap, we construct datasets that encapsulate both micro-level and macro-level perspectives to examine the impact of economic growth targets on corporate pollution. We find that an increase in economic growth targets leads to a significant rise in pollution emissions from industrial firms. To address potential endogeneity issues, we employ various strategies, and our results remain robust across these different approaches. We then estimate the heterogeneous impact of economic growth targets and demonstrate that the positive effect of these targets on pollution emissions tends to be less pronounced for firms situated in cities governed by female mayors. Conversely, the effect appears more pronounced for firms located in the western region, those operating in cities led by older mayors, and those in cities where mayors have lower levels of education. Finally, we explore potential mechanisms through which economic growth targets impact corporate pollution. Our results show that at the firm level, a higher economic growth target primarily leads to increased pollution emissions from enterprises by reducing firms' investment in pollution control. At the city level, an elevation in economic growth targets predominantly results in escalated enterprise-related pollution, chiefly due to its hindrance of urban green innovation, reduction in fiscal allocations for science and technology, and a decrease in educational fiscal outlays. These empirical findings strongly advocate for the implementation of measures aimed at dissuading prefecture-level city governments from formulating excessively ambitious economic growth targets, as a viable strategy for mitigating pollution stemming from manufacturing firms in developing nations. In view of this, our research is conducive to advancing the process of building a sustainable development path in China and providing reliable solutions to global ecological challenges. • Examines the effect of economic growth targets on pollution emissions by industrial firms. • Identifies the causal mechanisms linking economic growth targets to pollution emissions. • Explores the heterogeneous effects of economic growth targets on pollution emissions. • Finds increased pollution effects in western regions and in cities with older, less-educated mayors. • Advocates policy changes to curb pollution emissions arising from ambitious growth targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]