Can pilot projects for green industrial transformation mitigate environmental pollution emissions? Evidence From China

Abstract

To achieve the goals of clean production and green development, pilot projects for green industrial transformation (PPGIT) to reduce the environmental pollution emissions from regional enterprises in China have been ongoing for more than five years. This study analyzes 283 prefecture-level cities from 2006 to 2019 using the propensity score matching difference-in-differences (PSM-DID) analysis framework to determine the effects of PPGIT policy implementation. The impacts of PPGIT policy on different pollutants are significantly negative, with the most reductions occurring for sulfur dioxide (SO₂) emissions and the least for particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions. Furthermore, the effects of implementing the PPGIT policy from region to region, with the greatest policy effects of PPGIT in the eastern region. Based on the mechanism effects in different regions, the implementation of PPGIT policy nationwide significantly reduces pollution emissions through the technology effect and structure effect and in different regions, the PPGIT policies reduces emissions through different mechanisms. Overall, this study makes a unified evaluation of the environmental governance practices occurring during China's industrial green transformation process. The results of this study are of great significance for promoting the modernization of environmental governance capacity and improving the construction of an ecological civilization through China’s green development.