Search

Strengthening environmental governance and green low-carbon policies is a key measure to improve agriculture green total factor productivity and develop sustainable agriculture. Against this background, this study explores the relationship between agriculture green total factor productivity (AGTFP), environmental governance, and green low carbon policies based on panel data of 30 Chinese provinces from 2005 to 2019, and the system generalized method of moments model is adopted. The empirical results are as follows: (1) Environmental governance will not only directly affect AGTFP, but also indirectly affect AGTFP by influencing green technology innovation. (2) Environmental governance can strengthen the promotion of green low-carbon policies to AGTFP. (3) There are regional differences in causality among AGTFP, environmental governance, and green low-carbon policies. These empirical results offer Chinese policymakers scientific and normative recommendations for improving AGTFP and developing sustainable green agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the relationship between the coal-to-gas program and air pollution in China and provides micro-evidence of the mechanism from the perspective of households. Using daily air pollution and meteorological data between January 1, 2016, and January 1, 2020, we assessed the effect of the coal-to-gas program on air pollution by introducing the regression discontinuity designs in time (RDiT). We found that the coal-to-gas program significantly improved air quality and brought significant economic benefits. In the short term, the coal-to-gas program can lead to more than 10 units of reduction in SO2, PM2.5, and AQI in the treatment group, while it can lead to more than 50 units in the long term. Using the difference-in-differences approach, we found that the coal-to-gas program has significantly reduced air pollution. Combined with the micro-panel data of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study from 2011 to 2018, we found that the coal-to-gas program changes the household heating energy choices and that the probability of coal-fired heating of households in pilot areas is decreasing. The study suggests that non-clean energy in households should be further replaced to continue improving air quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural production outsourcing, a new means of agricultural production, can optimise the allocation of resources, reduce agricultural production costs, and improve agricultural productivity. However, farmers' outsourcing behaviours are strongly interfered with by many factors such as economics, technology and institutions. Using a farmer-level data set from 2014 to 2018 in China, we examine the effects of the minimum wage increase on rice farmers' production outsourcing behaviours. Our study relies on a Logit regression framework and uses the control function (C.F.) approach to address potential endogeneity concerns. Results show that the minimum wage increase significantly reduces the probability of farmers conducting production outsourcing. We also examine the heterogeneous effects of the minimum wage increase, and find that compared with other outsourcing services, the adverse effects on harvesting outsourcing are the strongest; the negative effects on production outsourcing are stronger for rice farmers with higher education. Our results provide new insights into understanding how labour regulation affects labour division in agricultural production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a favorite means to promote the development of green agriculture, agricultural insurance can not only encourage farmers to adopt green production technology and improve production efficiency, but also achieve the purpose of reducing the input of chemicals to protect the environment. This article aims to study the dynamic relationship between agricultural insurance, air pollution, and agricultural green total factor productivity using the panel vector auto-regressive method (PVAR) and panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2005 to 2018. The empirical results show that there is a significant cross-sectional dependence and the co-integration relationship between agricultural insurance, air pollution, and agricultural green total factor productivity. The increase in agricultural insurance can improve agricultural green total factor productivity and aggravate air pollution to a certain extent. However, serious air pollution does not improve agricultural green total factor productivity. Panel Granger causality test results show that agricultural insurance has a one-way causal relationship with green total factor productivity and air pollution, and so does air pollution with agricultural green total factor productivity. In addition, impulse response results show that increasing agricultural insurance or reducing air pollution can improve agricultural green total factor productivity. These conclusions have long-term practical implications for both agricultural policymakers and environmental managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

China is moving toward the important goal of being a green and low-carbon country, and the current severity level of population aging is of particular concern to the government. Aging, renewable energy consumption, and technological progress are closely linked. In this research, a panel vector autoregressive (PVAR) model is employed to investigate the long-run equilibrium relationship between population aging, renewable energy consumption and agricultural green total factor productivity using panel data for 30 Chinese provinces (cities) from 2000 to 2019. The findings reveal that, in the long run, both population aging and renewable energy use have considerable positive impacts on agricultural green total factor productivity. In addition, in order to more intuitively understand the impact of population aging and renewable energy consumption on agricultural green total factor productivity, the analysis adopts the impulse response function and variance decomposition. The contributions of population aging and renewable energy consumption to agricultural green total factor productivity are 2.23% and 0.56%, respectively, when the lag period is chosen to be 15, which implies that population aging and renewable energy use will continuously contribute to agricultural green total factor productivity. The study results have significant theoretical implications for understanding China's aging population structure and current renewable energy use. Given the above results, this study puts forward countermeasures and suggestions from four aspects: improving agricultural infrastructure, increasing agricultural technology investment, increasing the stock of agricultural human capital and strengthening international cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitigating pollution discharges from firms and strengthening environmental governance are key objectives for political leaders. A panel dataset comprising Chinese firms and officials' individual information is constructed to investigate the impact of female political leaders on firm pollution discharges. First, the estimation results show that female political leaders can significantly reduce firm pollution discharges by 12.3 % and this finding is robustly supported by a series of empirical strategies. Second, the heterogeneity analysis suggests that the impact of female leaders on reducing firm pollution discharges becomes more pronounced for larger-scale firms, those located in cities with older secretaries, a higher proportion of tertiary industries, and higher levels of economic growth. Moreover, the reduction effect on firm pollution discharges is found to be stronger for state-owned firms and those located in the eastern region. Third, mechanism analysis indicates that female political leaders effectively mitigate firm pollution discharges through the facilitation of technological innovation. These findings underscore the pivotal role of gender in environmental governance and offer valuable political insights for curbing firm pollution discharges. • The study examines the influence of female political leaders on firm pollution discharges. • Female political leaders significantly reduce firm pollution discharges. • The impact of female political leaders on firm pollution discharges is heterogeneous. • Female political leaders promote technological innovation to reduce firm pollution discharges. [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]

Farmland abandonment, as a manifestation of the low efficiency of the rural economy, has a profound impact on the process of agricultural and rural modernization. This study uses the 2016 China Labor Force Dynamic Survey data based on 8116 samples from 104 cities, constructs the Tobit model and IV Tobit model to analyze the land abandonment quantitatively from the perspective of environmental pollution. The results show that (1) environmental pollution can significantly increase the probability and area of land abandonment, (2) there is significant regional heterogeneity in the impact of environmental pollution on land abandonment, (3) the impact of environmental pollution on land abandonment varies significantly with different family sizes and land management scales, but the land management scale is relatively more sensitive. This study provides a deeper understanding of the relationship between environmental pollution and land abandonment in China and provides a basis for formulating relevant policies to strengthen the treatment of environmental pollution to solve the dilemma of land abandonment, which is of great practical significance to sustainable development of rural economy and the guarantee of food security in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from the 2013 China Household Income Project (CHIP), this study investigates the effects of minimum wages on labour market returns for rural migrants in China and sheds light on the potential underlying mechanisms of these effects. An instrumental variable estimation is used to address the endogeneity problem of minimum wages on labour market returns. Our empirical findings indicate that minimum wages have positive effects on migrants' wages. Specifically, we observe higher effects for women and migrants who have higher education levels. Regarding the possible mechanisms through which minimum wages influence migrants' labour market returns, we find that minimum wages tend to increase rural migrants' working time but have no significant effects on allowances related to work. We could not obtain conclusive results for social insurance due to its potential endogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, severe haze pollution has not only threatened human health and food security, but also seems to have aggravated the unscientific use of pesticides by rice farmers in rural areas of China. Using original data on haze pollution across China, combined with rural household survey data collected from 2014 to 2018, we conducted a detailed empirical study on the effects of haze pollution on pesticide use by rice farmers based on the theory of risk aversion. The empirical results revealed that haze pollution with higher levels of PM2.5 positively impacted the use of chemical pesticides in rice cultivation. More precisely, with each 100% increase in PM2.5 concentrations, the use of pesticide per mu increased by 7.9%, and the average pesticide cost per mu increased by 2.3%. The results were robust to a series of tests that addressed potential endogeneity concerns, including omitted variable bias, measurement error, and reverse causality. We then examined the heterogeneous effects of haze pollution increases on the use of chemical pesticides and found that for rice farmers without rice insurance, haze pollution has a stronger effect on pesticide use and a weaker effect on pesticide cost. However, for rice farmers with more experience in rice cultivation and small-scale rice planting, the effect of haze pollution on pesticide use and cost is relatively small. Our findings provide important policy implications for pesticide risk management in rural areas of developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research on the protective effect of piped water on young children has been documented in developing countries. However, little is known about the effect of access to piped water (APW) on adolescent health. Based on China Education Panel Survey (CEPS) baseline data for 9,204 adolescents in rural China, we examine the causal effect of APW on adolescent health by employing a control function with ordered probit (CF‐oprobit) model. We find that the availability of piped water in rural households can significantly improve the adolescent health status and also that the effect of piped water on adolescent health is heterogeneous in different subgroups. The protective effect is more pronounced among minorities (rather than Han nationalities), the only‐child families, and left‐behind children during the preschool years. Consequently, piped water programs have irreplaceable significance in improving adolescent health in rural China. Furthermore, policy‐makers should pay more attention to households of ethnic minorities, left‐behind children, and other vulnerable groups in their implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current agricultural system in China highly depends on chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Consequently, agricultural production activities cause various environmental issues. Carrying out safe production provides vital support for sustainable development of agriculture, which may improve this situation. The past decades have witnessed the fast development of rural cooperatives organization in China. Given the fact that rural cooperative organization plays a crucial role in agricultural production, however, there is little empirical evidence on the relationship between cooperative membership and safe production of smallholders in China. This study aims to investigate whether the participation in farmer cooperatives contributes to safe production in agriculture in China. Using survey data covering 623 rice-producing farm households in Sichuan province in China, this study employs the endogenous switching regression model to examine the effects of the participation in farmer cooperatives on safe production in rice agriculture. The results show that cooperative membership has significantly positive effects on safe production in rice agriculture. In particular, the average treatment effects demonstrate that without the participation in cooperatives, the members' adoption of the green control techniques would reduce by 74.491%, the application of artificial weeding would reduce by 38.768%, and organic fertilizer input would reduce by 23.448%. Furthermore, the marginal treatment effect is employed to evaluate the heterogeneous effects of the participation in farmer cooperatives on safe production in rice agriculture. Heterogeneous effect analyses suggest that farmers who are more likely to participate in farmer cooperatives are easier to adopt green control technology, while farmers who are less likely to participate in farmer cooperatives are easier to adopt artificial weeding and increase organic fertilizer input. To improve safe production in rice agriculture, the Chinese government is expected to encourage rice farmers to participate in rural cooperative organizations, and to stimulate rice farmers to take collective action to address environment issues arising from agricultural production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current theories cannot explain the coexistence of China's 40 years of rapid economic growth and its imperfect financial system, insufficient investor protection, and government intervention. This study empirically tests hypotheses regarding the effects of corruption on firms' access to bank loans using econometric models based on survey data of 2,848 enterprises in China collected by the World Bank. The results show an inverted U-shaped relationship between corruption and firms' access to bank loans: a low level of corruption increases firms' access to bank loans, whereas a high level of corruption hinders firms from obtaining bank loans. Mild corruption may be a suboptimal choice for firms seeking bank loans, and bank funds allocation based on corruption can achieve Pareto optimality among firms. Moreover, government guarantees are conducive to firms' access to financing and the link between corruption and firms' access to bank loans can be explained by the role of government guarantees. The improvement of institutional quality is positively associated with firms' access to bank loans and weakens the effects of corruption on firms' external financing. This study thus sheds light on the real effects of corruption and the determinants of firms' access to bank loans in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper, based on first-hand data from 255 chairmen of planting cooperatives in Sichuan province, is threefold: to understand their social network heterogeneity; to understand the significance for members of marketing innovation in farmers' cooperatives and to understand the effects of chairmen's social network heterogeneity on cooperative marketing innovation. Design/methodology/approach: The research employs an empirical survey of the chairmen of planting cooperatives in rural Sichuan province. The researchers use the ordinary least squares method to conduct regression on the data and the generalized linear model to process the data and avoid errors in the model setting. In the study, the following two hypotheses are examined: (1) The heterogeneity of chairmen's social networks has positive effects on cooperative marketing innovation; (2) The effects of heterogeneous external and internal social networks on cooperative marketing innovation are different. Findings: The results show that both external and internal social network heterogeneity has positive effects on cooperative marketing innovation, and the effects of internal heterogeneity are greater than that of external heterogeneity. Originality/value: This paper contributes to improving the income of farmers, the innovation of farmers' cooperatives and the development of agriculture in China. It provides a new way of managing and serving members to enable the long-term sustainable development of farmers' cooperatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing population and food demand has led to steadily declining resources as a result of over-exploitation and fossil fuel consumption that cause air contamination and reduce soil fertility. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the correlation between air pollution, energy consumption, and the contribution of agriculture to national GDP. Secondary study data covering two decades were collected from different sources, and an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing model was employed to determine long-run and short-run correlations. First, the unit root test was used to determine the stationarity of variables, and results showed that variables were integrated at level, ARDL co-integration equation estimation, which rejected the null hypothesis at less than 5% significance level. Further, based on the results of the ARDL bounds testing model, F-statistic values exceeded the upper bound value. This entire model was adjusted at a speed of −2.364 towards long-run equilibrium. In addition, CUSUM test and CUSUMSQ test results confirmed the goodness of fit of this model. In light of the resulting policy implications, the Chinese government may consider measures to improve the agricultural industry to meet the food demand for the fast-growing population while maintaining a healthy environment and safeguarding the available limited resources for future generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article constructs a dataset of Chinese industrial firms between 2005 and 2010 to investigate the influence of fintech developments on the coal consumption of Chinese firms. Results reveal a significant negative correlation between Fintech and firms' coal consumption. By addressing the potential endogeneity, controlling city-level variables and interactive fixed effects, and testing the unobservable bias, the benchmark results are robust to the above alternative identification strategies. Furthermore, this article investigates the potential mechanisms and finds that Fintech can be negatively connected with coal consumption at firms by elevating export and innovation performance. Finally, this article examines the heterogeneous effects of fintech development and discovers the reduction effect of fintech development on the coal consumption of firms, which is greater for young firms located in the central and eastern regions as well as for those located in regions with lower GDP growth, lower development of the tertiary sector, and a higher level of financial development. The results may contribute to China's carbon neutrality goal by 2060 and help policymakers make policies in the energy sector. • We use big data to identity the causal relationship between fintech development and energy transition. • Fintech development has a significant reduction effect on coal consumption of firms. • We find that our results are robust to many additional checks. • Firm export and innovation are the main mechanisms of fintech development on energy transition. • The reduction effects of fintech development on energy transition is heterogenous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a production function perspective, this study constructs a manufacturing firm and city-level data set to investigate the role of minimum wage increases in firm pollution emissions. The empirical results suggest that the rise of minimum wages in China significantly increases firm pollution discharges. We adopt a series of strategies to deal with endogeneity problems and find that our results are robust to these approaches. We then estimate the heterogeneous effects of the minimum wage standard and demonstrate that minimum wages' impacts on firm pollution discharges are strong for firms in the central region, those with younger age, those with small scale and those located in the less developed areas. Finally, we explore the potential mechanisms of raising minimum wages and reveal the existing channels that the more input of fossil fuel energy and less input of pollution treatment facilities in the production process are the crucial mechanisms through which a higher minimum wage expands firm pollution emissions. Our findings provide empirical evidence for preventing firm pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the issue of how rising wages of agricultural labor affect pesticide application. Using survey data of 3399 rice farmers from 12 provinces in southern China between 2018 and 2019, this paper estimates the effect of wages of agricultural labor on pesticide application by employing the control function (CF) approach. The results suggest that a 10% rise in labor wages corresponds to a 6.88% increase in pesticide dosage and a 4.46% increase in pesticide expenses. Furthermore, this paper analyzes the heterogeneous effects of rising labor wages on pesticide dosage. The results reveal that the positive effect of labor wages on pesticide dosage is weaker for farmers who receive rice subsidies and have cooperative membership but it is stronger for farmers with more rice cultivation experience and those who use more chemical fertilizers. According to these findings, this study proposes policy implications for reducing pesticide application in terms of developing agricultural technologies, encouraging farmers to join cooperatives, and calling on governments to increase crop subsidies. • Focusing on how rising wages of agricultural labor affect pesticide application. • There is a positive relationship between wages of agricultural labor and pesticide application. • Rice subsidies and cooperative membership can weaken the positive relationship. • Rice cultivation experience and chemical fertilizer use can strengthen the positive relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pesticides play a significant role in increasing agricultural yields. However, the overuse of chemical pesticides on crops is a major challenge faced by China, which damages human health, threatens food security, and increases production costs. This paper provides empirical evidence on the relationship between crop insurance and pesticide use. Based on micro-survey data collected from 3410 households, we estimate a control function (CF) approach and find that farmers who purchase crop insurance use 33.30% lower pesticides than those who do not. A series of robustness tests confirm these findings. The results of the moderating effect analysis suggest that rice cultivation training, experience, schooling years, and agricultural laborers can negatively moderate the effect of crop insurance on pesticide use. Furthermore, we also find that the treatment effect of crop insurance is stronger for farmers who are most inclined to purchase crop insurance. • We examine the effect of crop insurance on pesticide use using control function approach. • Crop insurance is a crucial way to reduce pesticide use. • We built the theoretical framework of the effect of crop insurance on pesticide use. • We revealed the heterogenous effect of crop insurance on pesticide use. • The treatment effect of crop insurance is stronger for farmers who are most inclined to purchase insurance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to understand green finance's impact on fertilizer use and agricultural carbon emissions. We selected the macro panel data of 30 provinces (cities) in China from 2000 to 2019. The main research methods are standardized test framework (cross-sectional dependence, unit root and cointegration test), the latest causal test, impulse response, and variance decomposition analysis. Examined the long-term equilibrium relationship between green finance, fertilizer use, and agricultural carbon emissions. The results show: fertilizer consumption and agricultural carbon emissions have a positive correlation. However, green finance can significantly reduce agricultural carbon emissions. The causal test confirmed the bidirectional causal relationship between agricultural carbon emissions and fertilizer use. At the same time, verified one-way causality from green finance to both of them. Interpret the results of impulse response and variance decomposition analysis: among the changes in agricultural carbon emissions, chemical fertilizers contributed 2.45%, green finance contributed 4.34%. In addition, the contribution rate of green finance to chemical fertilizer changes reached 11.37%. Green finance will make a huge contribution to reducing fertilizer use and agricultural carbon emissions within a decade. The research conclusions provide an important scientific basis for China's provinces (cities) to formulate carbon emission reduction policies. China has initially formed a policy system and market environment to support the development of green finance, in 2020, the "dual carbon" goal was formally proposed. In 2021, the national "14th Five-Year Plan" and the 2035 Vision Goals emphasized the importance of green finance. It plays an important supporting role in carbon emission reduction goals, and green finance has become an important pillar of national strategic goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural subsidies lead to changes in the use of chemical fertilizer by farmers. Using data from a household survey conducted annually by the Rural Economy Research Center of the Ministry of Agriculture of China from 2014 to 2018, Control Function (CF) approach and Heteroskedasticity-based identification strategy were employed to analyze the impact of agricultural subsidies on chemical fertilizer use by rice farmers. After addressing the problem of endogeneity, we found that agricultural subsidies have a significantly negative impact on the use of chemical fertilizer. Precisely, every 100% increase in agricultural subsidies would result in an average decrease of 3.4% in chemical fertilizer use. In addition, results of heterogeneity analysis showed that agricultural subsidies had a stronger negative impact on fertilizer use as rice-planting experience increases. But the ability of rice-planting management and off-farm labor within household could reduce this negative impact. We also found that the effect of arable land productivity conservation subsidies policy was short-lived. Furthermore, based on the frame of structural equation model (SEM), the results of mediation analysis showed that agricultural machine and rice-planting area had partial mediation of 5.3% and 41%, respectively. It implied that agricultural subsidies reduced fertilizer use by promoting the adoption of agricultural techniques and expanding the planting area. In brief, agricultural subsidies had both technical effect and scale effect. But the mediating effect of household income was not significant. This study is intended to assist the concerned authority and agriculture sector to understand the positive role of agricultural subsidies in sustainable production, and provides some feasible policy proposals. • Higher agricultural subsidies in China reduce chemical fertilizer use. • We study the heterogeneous effects of agricultural subsidies on fertilizer use. • Agricultural subsidies have both technical effect and scale effect, but not income effect. • The effect of agricultural subsidies policy is short-lived. [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]

• To identify households with under-consumption behavior as energy poverty, hidden energy poverty indicators for the scenario of China are established. • This article finds that gift-giving norms embedded in China aggregates hidden energy poverty. • Although the share of hidden-energy-poor declines with time, two-thirds of the hidden-energy-poor is not income poor. • The non-income-poor is with larger gift-giving expenses that crowd out energy consumption, and consequently trapped in energy poverty. Responding to energy poverty elimination has provided a dominant lens for avoiding new returns to income poverty, particularly in China. Due to the significance of the energy poverty problem, a growing body of literature has extensively explored its definitions, measurements and causes. However, traditional criteria lack a nuanced understanding of the complexity of China's current energy poverty. Meanwhile, there is growing interest in how social norms contribute to energy poverty traps or escapes. This article establishes a composite index by taking advantage of climate zones (considering both heating and cooling requirements), dwelling conditions and energy expenditures, which attempts to heterogeneously identify households with underconsumption of energy behaviour as hidden energy poverty (hEP). Importantly, it further examines gift giving in relation to hEP. Employing panel data from China, this article discovers that 50.75% of households experience hEP. By robustly using a range of hEP metrics, this article reveals that gift giving increased the incidence of hEP. Particularly, compared with the income-poor group, the results suggest that the nonincome poor were associated with a larger economic burden from gift-giving expenses, which crowded out energy expenditures and eventually compressed energy needs. The focus of this article sheds light on a state-of-the-art outlook of capturing the multifaceted nature of energy poverty and promoting policy-makers to facilitate appropriate social norms instead of simplistically targeting the poor in energy poverty eradication efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemical fertilizer overuse poses a significant challenge for sustainable agriculture and food safety. Against this background, land transfers that raise farmers' resource allocation efficiency and achieve scale agricultural operation are especially valuable. Based on survey data from 12 rice-producing provinces in the south of China during the period between 2018 and 2019, this paper employs the control function approach to explore the impact of land renting-in on chemical fertilizer use. The results show that land renting-in reduces the usage of chemical fertilizers by 50.34%. The fertilizer-reduction effect is weakened with farmers who have received cultivated training but enhanced with farmers who have purchased crop insurance and farmers who hold more household assets. It is interesting to note that the reduction effect of land renting-in remains stable with an increase in household head age. Furthermore, the marginal treatment effects suggest that the reduction effect of land renting-in is significant for those rice farmers with high resistance to rent in cultivated land. Finally, we find that both land scale and land fragmentation play a mediating role between land renting-in and chemical fertilizer use. Our analysis emphasizes the importance of land transfer in fertilizer reduction and the need for policies that improve the willingness to land transfer to reduce environmental pollution and ensure food safety. [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]

This research examines the influence of political system changes, particularly official turnover, on pollution reduction in Chinese industrial firms—a response to the environmental challenges posed by China's economic growth. Utilizing micro-panel data from 2000 to 2014 and an official turnover database, this study assesses how these turnovers affect firm-level pollution. The analysis confirms that official turnovers significantly reduce emissions, with the effect more pronounced in non-state-owned enterprises, under officials who are male, hold PhDs, and are older. This impact is also stronger in areas with a larger tertiary sectors and higher economic growth. A detailed comparison reveals that mayoral turnovers have a greater abatement effect than those of municipal secretaries, especially in cases of abnormal turnovers. Crucially, this study demonstrates that mayoral turnovers lead to pollution reduction by promoting corporate exports and innovation. The baseline regression results, confirmed as robust after extensive robustness checks, underscore the significance of these findings. This paper sheds light on the political dynamics of environmental governance in China, advocating bureaucratic reforms to reduce emissions and providing strategic recommendations to improve national environmental sustainability. • Political turnover in China leads to significant pollution reduction in industrial firms. • The effect of official turnovers on reducing emissions is more pronounced in non-state-owned enterprises. • Turnover effects are stronger under older, male officials with PhDs. • Mayoral changes have a greater impact on pollution reduction than municipal secretaries, particularly in abnormal turnovers. • Mayor turnovers contribute to pollution reduction by promoting exports and innovation in firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The persistent issue of industrial pollution in China's environment has prompted industrial firms to explore new opportunities for addressing this problem through the rapid growth of financial technology (fintech). In this study, we construct a city-level fintech index using Baidu News Advanced Search and combine it with Chinese industrial firm data from 2004 to 2014, along with other city-level data, to empirically explore how fintech affects firm pollution. Our baseline results show that fintech can significantly reduce firm pollution discharges, more precisely, a 1% increase in fintech is associated with a reduction in firm pollution by 0.062%. The robustness of our findings has been confirmed through various strategies. We have identified the underlying mechanisms of fintech's impact on firm pollution discharges and confirmed that it significantly reduces such discharges through export competitiveness, environmental protection investment, and technological innovation. Furthermore, we investigate the heterogeneous effects of fintech development and find that it leads to more pronounced reductions in pollution discharges for firms with older age, for firms with larger scale, for non-state-owned firms, for firms located in both the eastern and western regions, for firms located in the areas with a higher level of competition among banks and those located in the areas with a higher level of economic growth. However, the development of the tertiary sector significantly weakens the reduction effect of fintech on firm pollution discharges. Our research provides theoretical support for exploring emerging and viable approaches to mitigating firm pollution from a financial perspective and offers promising implications for harnessing the positive externalities of fintech. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This study combines SFA approach with an ESR model to assess the impact of cooperative membership on rice TFP. • Cooperative membership has positive impacts on rice TFP, TFP growth and its components. • The impacts are highly heterogeneous across regions, farm scales and mechanization levels. • The main impact channels include mechanical cultivation, high-quality seeds and technical training. • Cooperatives should be tailored to meet specific needs of rice producers in a specific region. Productivity growth is essential for food security and sustainable development of agriculture. Since rice is a major staple food in China, understanding factors affecting the performance of rice total factor productivity (TFP) is of great importance for China's future food security. Despite the growing importance of agricultural TFP, rigorous evidence-based studies on the impacts of cooperative membership on agricultural TFP, especially rice TFP, are scant, hindering the understanding about the potential contribution of agricultural cooperatives to TFP growth. This study examines the impacts of cooperative membership on rice productivity in China by using country-representative survey data from 2014 to 2018. An endogenous switching regression model is employed to account for selection bias. The empirical results show that cooperative membership has a positive and significant impact not only on rice TFP but also on TFP change, technical change and technical efficiency change. The results are robust to alternative choice of instrument variables. The effects of cooperatives on rice productivity are highly heterogeneous with regard to regions, farm scales and mechanization levels. Rice TFP gains through cooperatives are larger for producers in the eastern and central regions, while the effect on TFP growth is the highest in the western region. Regarding farm scales, cooperative membership has a positive and significant impact on rice TFP for small and medium farms but not for large farms. Moreover, cooperatives help improve rice productivity for provinces with low mechanization level of producers. This study further explores the underlying channels through which cooperative membership impacts rice productivity, and identifies that mechanical cultivation, high-quality inputs and technical training appear to be the main channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change has become a major environmental issue facing all countries, having a significant effect on all aspects of agricultural production, such as the agricultural mechanization process and fertilizer use. Greenhouse gases produced by agricultural machinery and fertilizers during agricultural production are an important cause of climate change. On the basis of the above facts, researching the connection between agricultural mechanization, climate change, and agricultural carbon emissions is crucial for the development of low-carbon agriculture and for addressing climate change. We used a variety of econometric models and methods to analyze data from China's multiple provinces (cities) covering the years 2000 through 2019, in order to meet the research objectives. Furthermore, we utilized rainfall and sunlight as variables to assess climate change and adopted Granger tests to establish the link between rainfall, sunlight, agricultural mechanization, and carbon emissions in farming. The findings indicate a bidirectional causality relationship between rainfall, sunlight, agricultural mechanization, and carbon emissions in farming. Rainfall and sunlight are Granger causes of agricultural mechanization. Furthermore, agricultural mechanization has favorable effects on carbon emissions of agriculture, and climate change has long-term implications on agricultural mechanization and carbon emissions of agriculture. Finally, this paper investigated the green path suitable for the low-carbon development of Chinese agriculture, arguing that the government should formulate low-carbon agricultural policies by region and actively promote the upgrading of agricultural machinery.

Concern for environmental issues is a crucial component in achieving the goal of sustainable development of humankind. Different countries face various challenges and difficulties in this process, which require unique solutions. This study investigated the relationship between land transfer, fertilizer usage, and PM 2.5 pollution in rural China from 2000 to 2019, considering their essential roles in agricultural development and overall national welfare. A cross section dependence test, unit root test, and cointegration test, among other methods, were used to test the panel data. A Granger causality test was used to determine the causal relationship between variables, and an empirical analysis of the impulse response and variance decomposition was carried out. The results show that the use of chemical fertilizers had a significant positive impact on PM 2.5 pollution, but the impact of land transfer on PM 2.5 pollution was negative. In addition, land transfer can reduce the use of chemical fertilizers through economies of scale, thus reducing air pollution. More specifically, for every 1% increase in fertilizer usage, PM 2.5 increased by 0.17%, and for every 1% increase in land transfer rate, PM 2.5 decreased by about 0.07%. The study on the causal relationship between land transfer, fertilizer usage, and PM 2.5 pollution in this paper is helpful for exploring environmental change-they are supplements and innovations which are based on previous studies and provide policy-makers with a basis and inspiration for decision-making.

In the past 15 years, China has emitted the most carbon dioxide globally. The overuse of chemical fertilizer is an essential reason for agricultural carbon emissions. In recent years, China has paid more and more attention to financial support for agriculture. Therefore, understanding the relationship between chemical fertilizer use, financial support for agriculture, and agricultural carbon emissions will benefit sustainable agricultural production. To achieve the goal of our research, we selected the panel data of 30 provinces (cities) in China from 2000 to 2019 and employed a series of methods in this research. The results demonstrate that: the effect of chemical fertilizer consumption on agricultural carbon emissions is positive. Moreover, financial support for agriculture has a significantly positive impact on reducing carbon emissions from agricultural production. In addition, the results of causality tests testify to one-way causality from financial support for agriculture to carbon emissions from agricultural production, the bidirectional causal relationship between chemical fertilizer use and financial support for agriculture, and two-way causality between chemical fertilizer use and agricultural carbon emissions. Furthermore, the results of variance decomposition analysis represent that financial support for agriculture will significantly affect chemical fertilizer use and carbon emissions in the agricultural sector over the next decade. Finally, we provide several policy suggestions to promote low-carbon agricultural production based on the results of this study. The government should uphold the concept of sustainable agriculture, increase financial support for environmental-friendly agriculture, and encourage the research and use of cleaner agricultural production technologies and chemical fertilizer substitutes.

With the global concern for carbon dioxide, the carbon emission trading market is becoming more and more important. An accurate forecast of carbon price plays a significant role in understanding the dynamics of the carbon trading market and achieving national emission reduction targets. Carbon prices are influenced by many factors, which makes carbon price forecasting a complicated problem. In recent years, deep learning models are widely used in price forecasting, because they have high forecasting accuracy when dealing with nonlinear time series data. In this paper, Multivariate Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) in deep learning is used to forecast carbon prices in China, which takes into account the factors affecting the carbon price. The historical time series data of carbon prices in Hubei (HBEA) and Guangdong (GDEA) and three traditional energy prices affecting carbon prices from 5 May 2014 to 22 July 2021 are collected to form two data sets. To prove the forecast effect of our model, this paper not only uses Multivariate LSTM, Multilayer Perceptron (MLP), Support Vector Regression (SVR), and Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) to forecast the same data, but also compares the forecast results of Multivariate LSTM with the existing research on HBEA and GDEA forecast based on deep learning recently. The results show that the MAE, MSE, and RMSE obtained by the Multivariate LSTM are all smaller than other prediction models, which proves that the model is more suitable for carbon price forecast and offers a new approach to carbon prices forecast. This research conclusion also provides some policy implications.

The trend of aging is intensifying and has become a prominent population phenomenon worldwide. The aging population has an important impact on carbon emissions, but at present, there is little research on its ecological consequences, especially the relationship with agricultural carbon emissions. For a long time, China has been dominated by a scattered small-scale peasant economy. Currently, the aging population also means that the agricultural labor force will gradually become scarce, and the agricultural production will face reform. This article is intended to find the long-term impact of aging and mechanization on agricultural carbon emissions and construct a more comprehensive policy framework for sustainable development, hoping to contribute to environmental and ecological protection. The research sample in this article is from 2000 to 2019, covering 30 provinces (cities, autonomous regions) in China. We adopted methods and models including Fully Modified General Least Squares (FMOLS), Dynamic General Least Squares (DOLS), Panel Vector Autoregression (PVAR) model, etc., and used the Granger causality test to determine the causal relationship between variables. Results show that aging is the Granger cause of agricultural carbon emissions and agricultural mechanization. Agricultural carbon emissions and agricultural mechanization have a bidirectional causal relationship. In the short term, agricultural mechanization and aging both have made a great contribution to carbon dioxide emissions from agricultural production. However, in the long term, the impact of aging on agricultural mechanization is significantly negative. Therefore, it is generally beneficial to improve the environmental problems of agricultural production. Our research focuses on the latest background of population trends and global climate issues and finally provides suggestions and a theoretical basis for the formulation of government agricultural policies according to the research conclusions.

With the steady growth of CO 2 emissions embedded in trade, the driving forces of emissions have attracted extensive attention. Most of the literature has verified a bundle of the influential factors; however, further analyses are necessary to understand the predominant and heterogeneous driving factors in different economies and/or industries. Accordingly, by applying the multiregional input-output (MRIO) model, this article firstly evaluates the embodied carbon emissions of China's export from 1992 to 2020 in total volumes and by 14 industries. Then, the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) estimations allow us to discover that urbanization, technology update and gross domestic product (GDP) are the leading three prioritizing factors in generating China's export emissions. Interestingly, this paper discovers that raising the proportion of female parliamentarians contributes to an abatement of emissions. Furthermore, the empirical results suggest that the heterogeneities of those factors do exist among industries. For example, the percentage of females in parliaments turns out to have a larger effect among labor-intensive industries only. In facing with rapid globalization and economic development of China, this paper provides important policy implications towards specific industries in terms of mitigating trade emissions. It guides policy-makers to achieve "carbon neutrality" by avoiding carbon leakage in net-export countries such as China.