The green paradox puzzle: fiscal decentralisation, environmental regulation, and agricultural carbon intensity in China

The power of attention: Government climate-risk attention and agricultural-land carbon emissions

Climate change is a common challenge faced by all humanity. Promoting emission and carbon reduction in agricultural land is the most important priority for addressing climate change and realizing sustainable development. Based on data from 296 prefecture-level cities in China from 2011 to 2021, this study utilizes machine-learning and text-analysis methods to construct an indicator of government climate-risk attention (GCRA). It combines a two-way fixed-effects model to investigate how GCRA affects agricultural-land carbon emissions (ALCE) and carbon intensity (ALCI) and the mechanism of the impact. The results indicate that (1) GCRA substantially reduces ALCE and ALCI, and the conclusions are robust to a battery of tests. Furthermore, (2) mechanism analysis reveals that GCRA primarily uses three mechanisms-strengthening environmental regulation, promoting agricultural green-technology innovation, and upgrading agricultural-land mechanization-to reduce ALCE and lower ALCI. Additionally, (3) heterogeneity analysis suggests that the carbon-emission reduction effect of GCRA is more significant in the east, in arid and humid climate zones, and in non-grain-producing regions. Finally, (4) spatial-spillover effect analysis and quantile regression results demonstrate that GCRA also significantly inhibits carbon emissions and the carbon intensity of nearby agricultural land, with the inhibition effect becoming more pronounced at higher levels of government attention. This study's discoveries are helpful in promoting the emission reduction and carbon sequestration of agricultural land and provide references for developing countries to cope with climate change.

The impact of decentralization of health services at the municipal level on health outcomes: evidence from China

Objectives

Under the system of health decentralization, there are differences in the level of expenditure decentralization at different levels of government, and their impact on residents' health may also be different. This paper is one of the first to evaluate the effect of decentralization of health services at the municipal level from a multi-dimensional health perspective.

Data and methods

This paper uses the data of expenditure decentralization of health services at the municipal level to match the panel data from the China Household Panel Survey (CFPS) from 2010 to 2018, and uses the logit model, ordered logit model and two-way fixed effects model to empirically analyze the impact of health decentralization at the municipal level on health outcomes.

Results

Based on the perspective of multi-dimensional health, from the three aspects of physical health, depression status and cognitive ability, the six sub-indicators of self-rated health, BMI standards, depression scores (summation method), depression scores (factor method), phrase test scores and mathematics test scores are discussed separately. The results show that the decentralization of health services at the municipal level has a significant promotion effect on the multi-dimensional health of residents.

Conclusion

The decentralization of health services at the municipal level has important theoretical significance for promoting the reasonable division of medical and health powers and expenditure responsibilities between provincial and municipal governments, improving the efficiency of health expenditure funds, and establishing a fiscal system that matches financial resources.

Fiscal decentralization, leader localization, and reduction of pollution and carbon emissions -empirical evidence from China's fiscal "province-managing-county" reform

The fiscal system plays an important role in the government's environmental governance efforts. There is currently no consensus on how fiscal structure adjustments impact pollution and carbon reduction. This paper uses China's fiscal "province-managing-county" reform (FPMCR) implemented in 2004 as a quasi-natural experiment, utilizing panel data from 1670 counties in China from 2000 to 2020 to investigate the impact of fiscal decentralization on reduction pollution and carbon emissions (RPCE), as well as its underlying mechanisms. The results show that (1) from 2000 to 2020, China's RPCE shows an overall trend of fluctuating increase, with its value turning positive after 2013. China's RPCE exhibits a spatial pattern characterized by "lower in the north, higher in the south; higher in the east, lower in the west". (2) After implementing FPMCR, the RPCE levels in reformed counties decreased by -1.44%, showing that reformed county-level governments prioritize economic development over environmental protection. (3) The mechanism analysis found that after implementing FPMCR, reformed counties experienced a 9.16% increase in nighttime light intensity (NLI), and a 3.99% and 4.34% increase in the number of large-scale industrial enterprises (NLIE) and industrial agglomeration (IA), respectively. This suggests that FPMCR leads to radical urbanization and rapid industrialization in counties, which is detrimental to the improvement of RPCE levels. (4) The spatial heterogeneity analysis found that FPMCR's impact coefficient on RPCE levels in the eastern regions is -1.96%, while in the western regions it is -1.16%. This indicates that reformed counties in the eastern regions are more likely to invest expanded fiscal resources in economic development projects, leading to a decrease in RPCE levels. (5) The temporal heterogeneity analysis found that after the promulgation of the "Three-Year Action Plan to Win the Blue Sky Defense Battle" in 2018, the adverse impact of FPMCR on RPCE is completely reversed, leading to a 1.76% increase in RPCE levels. (6) Further analysis reveals that localizing leaders can slow down the promotion of county-level urbanization and industrialization by the FPMCR, benefiting the improvement of RPCE levels. In other words, "the outsider monk will not recite scriptures as well as a local one". This study has clarified the causal relationship and underlying mechanisms between fiscal decentralization and environmental governance, providing reliable theoretical support for optimizing grassroots fiscal systems and reducing environmental pollution in other transitional economies. It enriches the field of environmental economics related to fiscal decentralization.

Exploring the dual impact: Dissecting the impact of tourism agglomeration on low-carbon agriculture

Despite extensive research on the relationship between tourism and agriculture, the specific impact of tourism on agriculture's low-carbon transition has not been thoroughly investigated. This study analyzes the effects of tourism agglomeration on agricultural carbon intensity across 30 Chinese provinces from 2001 to 2020. It is framed within the context of rural digitalization, with a particular emphasis on the integration of agro-tourism and the total factor productivity of agriculture. Utilizing spatial econometric models, we find that tourism agglomeration hinders the low-carbon transition in agriculture by influencing carbon intensity both directly and indirectly. At the national level, the impact of tourism agglomeration follows an inverted-U curve with respect to agro-tourism integration and carbon intensity. At the regional level, the effects vary, with weaker indirect influences in major grain-producing areas. Furthermore, rural digitalization appears to lessen the adverse impacts of tourism on carbon intensity. This study also identifies significant spatial spillover effects from tourism agglomeration. The findings suggest that provinces with high tourist influx should enhance investments in climate-smart agricultural practices and technologies to counteract these negative impacts. Moreover, integrated governance of tourism and agriculture is essential for achieving carbon neutrality in both sectors.

Spatial autocorrelation and driving factors of carbon emission density of crop production in China

Mitigating carbon emissions from crop production is essential for addressing global warming. At a macro-level, existing studies have often relied on the calculation of carbon emission intensity of crop production to understand comparable carbon effects between regions. However, this approach obscures the differences in crop planting scale and natural attributes across regions, leaving room for improvement in the methods and scope of analysis. To extend the existing research, we proposed an idea for calculating the carbon emission density of crop production based on planting area. Additionally, we developed an analytical framework for driving factors of carbon emission density of crop production from a spatial interaction perspective. The provincial carbon emission density of crop production in mainland China between 2000 and 2020 was calculated, and spatial econometric models were utilized to investigate the spatial autocorrelation and driving factors. The results indicate that the national average carbon emission density of crop production was 1.462 t/hm2 annually. Over 21 years, the carbon emission density of agricultural materials, rice cultivation, soil management, and straw burning evolved from 0.384 to 0.470 t/hm2, 0.409 to 0.367 t/hm2, 0.171 to 0.169 t/hm2, and 0.317 to 0.448 t/hm2, respectively. The global Moran's index indicated a positive spatial autocorrelation of carbon emission density of crop production and the subdivided carbon sources among provinces. Regarding direct effects, an increase in the proportion of paddy fields in cropland composition and irrigation efficiency would significantly promote the carbon emission density, while factors such as cropland area, multiple cropping, agricultural personnel numbers, departmental proportion, and disaster degree would decrease the local carbon emission density. Certain factors, such as cropland area and agricultural disasters, had a spatial spillover effect on carbon emission density between provinces. The study suggests harnessing key drivers and spatial spillover effects to achieve regional low-carbon crop production.

Can China's carbon intensity constraint policies improve carbon emission performance? Evidence from regional carbon emissions

Carbon Intensity Constraint Policies (CICPs) are vital for addressing climate change challenges and advancing sustainable development. Since 2010, China has rolled out three five-year CICPs. However, there is limited understanding of their impact on carbon emission performance (CEP). Addressing this, this study pioneers the exploration of the CICP's impact on China's CEP. Drawing from government intervention and green paradox theories, this study highlights a concerning scenario: local governments achieve emission targets via excessive intervention. For deeper insights, this study melds the overall technology frontier concept with a non-radial, non-angle directional distance function, introducing a novel efficiency model rooted in the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method. This offers a CEP measure across 30 Chinese provincial regions from 2002 to 2019. Using the quasi-difference-in-differences (quasi-DID) and moderated mediation models, this study ascertains the presence of the green paradox, uncovers its reasons, and suggests mitigation strategies. The results indicate that high government intervention diminishes CEP. This negative effect intensifies under greater regional fiscal pressure. Alarmingly, local authorities' eagerness to meet targets shows a counterproductive, inverted N-shaped trend regarding CICPs' time-based influence on regional CEP. Moreover, the impact varies based on regional economic development levels and stages. This study has ensured the robustness of the findings via parallel trend tests, parallel exclusion policies, a strengthened quasi-DID framework, and diverse control variable configurations. This study underscores the need for more balanced government intervention. It offers valuable policy insights, guiding China's upcoming CICP phase to realize the ambition of peaking carbon by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.

Green production efficiency of China's hog breeding industry: Spatial divergence and its driving factors

This paper analyzes the green production efficiency (GPE) and spatial divergence of the hog breeding industry, with the aim of providing a foundation for the rational layout of hog breeding and promoting the industry's high-quality development. The paper uses the SBM model to estimate GPE in 29 provinces, cities, and districts of China from 2006 to 2019. Furthermore, it analyzes the spatial divergence of GPE and its driving factors using divergence indexes and the Geodetector. The results show that China's GPE of the hog breeding industry increased from 0.409 to 0.496 between 2006 and 2019. The highest efficiency occurred during the I-period, while the lowest efficiency was observed during the II-period. The highest efficiency was in the key development region, and the lowest efficiency was in the potential growth region. The spatial divergence of GPE in the hog breeding industry expanded, with labor input, non-point source pollution, resource endowment, and environmental load bearing being the main driving factors for the expansion in each period. The potential growth region had the largest spatial divergence, mainly affected by resource endowment. In contrast, the constrained development region had the smallest spatial divergence, mainly affected by resource endowment and pollutant emissions. The spatial divergence of moderate and key development regions was considerable, mainly affected by environmental investment, environmental load bearing, and pollutant emissions. Therefore, the key to improving the GPE of the hog breeding industry is to promote the adoption of advanced technology, such as labor-saving, material-saving, and emission reduction technologies. Moreover, several actions should be taken to reduce the spatial divergence among different regions, such as integrated breeding, clean standards, large-scale breeding, and high-end boutique.

Carbon reduction effect of agricultural green production technology: A new evidence from China

Both contemporary policy makers and scholars focus on the role of agricultural sector in better achieving carbon reduction and green transition. This paper empirically analyzes the impact and mechanism of agricultural green production technology (AGPT) on agricultural carbon emission intensity at the national level using the panel data of China's 31 provinces from 2000 to 2019 as well as the panel OLS method and spatial Durbin model. The results show that China's AGPTs adoption level have improved greatly and the agricultural carbon emission intensity has declined drastically in the period of 2000 to 2019. No-till planting and straw returning significantly inhibited agricultural carbon emission intensity, while water-saving irrigation had the opposite effect. Chemical fertilizers are substituted effect through zero-tillage planting and straw-return, thus reducing the agricultural carbon emission intensity. Water-saving irrigation serves as a supplement effect to chemical fertilizers application, inhibiting fertilizer's carbon increase effects. The role of AGPTs reduce carbon emissions is particularly dominant in main grain-producing areas. Straw-return played a significant negative spatial spillover effect on the agricultural carbon emission intensity of neighboring regions through technology dissemination across regions, and the spillover effect of zero-tillage planting and water-saving irrigation was not significant. According to local conditions, no-tillage planting and straw returning should be promoted, water-saving irrigation efficiency should be improved, and the input characteristics of high carbon elements in traditional agriculture should be gradually changed. A regional collaborative emission reduction mechanism should be established to achieve a long-term mechanism for agricultural carbon emission reduction and green development.

Can fiscal decentralization be the route to the race to zero emissions in South Africa? Fresh policy insights from novel dynamic autoregressive distributed lag simulations approach

There has been a plethora of debate on the link between fiscal decentralization and a drop in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, even though the evidence supporting this assertion is relatively sparse. Although the precise nature of this relationship is still up for discussion, economic hypothesis postulates that fiscal decentralization has an impact on environmental sustainability. Some researchers claim that fiscal decentralization could potentially result in a race to the top, while some believe it would lead to a race to the bottom. This analysis intends to shed light on the precise processes by which this connection may work in South Africa between 1960 and 2020 in light of current discussions in environmental and development economics. In contrary to previous studies, this paper employs a cutting-edge dynamic autoregressive distributed lag simulations methodology to evaluate the positive and negative variations in fiscal decentralization on CO2 emissions. Our findings demonstrate the prevalence of the race to the top strategy by illustrating how fiscal decentralization has a bearing on CO2 emissions reduction in the short and long terms. In accordance with the findings, greater fiscal decentralization should be implemented through the transfer of more powers to regional authorities, especially in the realm of environmental legislation considerations, in a bid to preserve South Africa's environmental integrity. By establishing a lower tier of government and defining roles at the federal and provincial divisions, South Africa could adopt strategies to improve green environment in an effort to fulfill the energy-saving tasks of fiscal expenditures.

Revisiting the nexus between fiscal decentralization and CO2 emissions in South Africa: fresh policy insights

The argument over fiscal decentralization and carbon dioxide emission (CO₂) reduction has received much attention. However, evidence to back this claim is limited. Economic theory predicts that fiscal decentralization affects environmental quality, but the specifics of this relationship are still up for debate. Some scholars noted that fiscal decentralization might lead to a race to the top, whereas others contended that it would result in a race to the bottom. In light of the current debates in environmental and development economics, this study aims to provide insight into how this relationship may function in South Africa from 1960 to 2020. In contrast to the existing research, the present study uses a novel dynamic autoregressive distributed lag simulation approach to assess the positive and negative changes in fiscal decentralization, scale effect, technique effect, technological innovation, foreign direct investment, energy consumption, industrial growth, and trade openness on CO₂ emissions. The following are the main findings: (i) Fiscal decentralization had a CO₂ emission reduction impact in the short and long run, highlighting the presence of the race to the top approach. (ii) Economic growth (as represented by the scale effect) eroded ecological integrity. However, its square (as expressed by technique effect) aided in strengthening ecological protection, validating the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis. (iii) CO₂ emissions were driven by energy utilization, trade openness, industrial value-added, and foreign direct investment, whereas technological innovation boosted ecological integrity. Findings suggest that further fiscal decentralization should be undertaken through further devolution of power to local entities, particularly regarding environmental policy issues, to maintain South Africa's ecological sustainability. South Africa should also establish policies to improve environmental sustainability by strengthening a lower layer of government and clarifying responsibilities at the national and local levels to fulfill the energy-saving functions of fiscal expenditures.

The impact of environmental regulation on China’s industrial green development and its heterogeneity

The research analyzes the impact of environmental regulation on industrial green development using panel data from 30 provinces in China from 2006 to 2018. We employ the Super-slack-based measuring (SBM) model to measure the level of domestic industrial green development and use the ordinary panel model, the panel threshold model, and the spatial panel model for empirical estimation. The results reveal that the environmental regulation index plays a significant role in promoting such development. Environmental regulation index, command-and-control environmental regulation, market-incentive environmental regulation, and public-participation environmental regulation all have only a single threshold of technological progress and fiscal decentralization. Further analysis shows that China’s industrial green development presents obvious spatial agglomeration characteristics, and there is a significantly positive spatial correlation between different environmental regulation indicators and industrial green development. Our findings provide useful policy recommendations for promoting industrial green development in China.