Impact of Haze Pollution on Industrial Agglomeration: Empirical Evidence From China.

This study analyzes the relationship between haze pollution and industrial agglomeration using particulate matter (PM2.5) concentration data from 269 prefecture-level cities in China between 2007 and 2016. We calculate the industrial agglomeration level using the location entropy method with industrial output as the core variable. We find that the industrial agglomeration effect is adversely affected by increased haze pollution, proving a negative correlation between them. We also compare the effect of haze pollution on industrial agglomeration before and after the 18th National Congress. The comparison shows that the effect of haze pollution on industrial agglomeration during 2012 to 2016 was significantly less than that during 2007 to 2011. Therefore, the industrial agglomeration effect can be strengthened by reducing environmental pollution through vigorous environmental governance efforts. These findings provide empirical evidence for governments' continued implementation of current environmental protection policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]