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As a crucial basic natural resource, water resources are the cornerstone for sustainable national economic development. This paper takes the 2014 pilot water rights trading policy (WRT) as an entry point and uses a difference-in-differences (DID) model to test the policy effect of WRT on water-use efficiency (WUE) based on panel data for 30 Chinese provinces from 2005 to 2021. The study shows that WRT can significantly improve the regional WUE, and these results remain valid after a series of robustness tests, such as the parallel trend test, placebo test, and PSM-DID. Mechanistic analysis revealed that WRT can produce the Porter effect, which affects the WUE through technological innovation. The results of the heterogeneity analysis based on the synthetic control method (SCM) showed that WRT effectively improved WUE in Jiangxi, Henan, Ningxia, Hubei, and Guangdong, but did not achieve the expected effect in Inner Mongolia or Gansu. This paper provides solid empirical support for assessing the effectiveness of WRT and accelerating the process of establishing a unified national WRT market in China by 2025. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper employs the difference-in-differences (DID) to investigate the impact of “going global” on enterprises' financialization. Baseline estimation shows that the degree of financialization of enterprises participating in the Belt and Road Initiative was lower compared with those not participating in the Initiative. Mechanism analysis reveals that “going global” through Belt and Road Initiative has improved enterprises' profitability of real sector investment and inhibited their motivation of financialization. These findings provide new perspectives for more effectively promoting enterprises to participate in the Belt and Road construction and helping inhibit enterprises’ financialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As ESG (environmental, social, and corporate governance) is consistent with the spirit of sustainable development, it is useful to elevate ESG performance to realize the sustainable development of enterprise and society. Using the data of Chinese A-share listed firms in the period of 2011 to 2019, this paper takes the National Big Data Comprehensive Pilot Zone policy as a quasi-natural experiment and uses the difference-in-differences method to assess the effect of digital economy development on ESG performance. This paper reveals the following: (1) the digital economy can facilitate ESG performance; (2) digitalization of the economy helps enterprises to propel digital transformation, which in turn lifts ESG performance; (3) digital economy development has a deeper impact on private enterprises, especially for those in China's capital cities; and (4) digital economy development moderates the inhibiting effect of ESG performance on corporate financial constraints. The findings of this paper indicate that digitalization of the economy can help to achieve sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how National Eco-industrial Demonstration Parks (NEDP) in China affects carbon emission efficiency. The difference-in-differences (DID) strategy is used for analysis. This paper finds that the construction of NEDP is conducive to the improvement of carbon emission efficiency, and the findings remain robust through placebo tests and propensity score matching. Heterogeneity analysis shows NEDP construction has greater utility on carbon efficiency in non-resource-based cities as well as in environmentally friendly cities. The mechanism analysis found that green technology innovation, industrial restructuring, and the relocation of industrial enterprises are effective ways to improve carbon efficiency in NEDP. Finally, this paper finds that the construction of NEDP has obvious spatial spillover effects on carbon efficiency, which can effectively heighten the carbon efficiency level of this locality and nearby areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the data of 282 cities from 2006 to 2019, this paper conducts a quasi-natural experiment with National Forest City as a proxy variable for urban ecological culture construction (Cul), using the difference-in-differences model to verify its impact and mechanisms on residents' green living. The results are described as follows. (1) Urban ecological culture construction helps form residents' green living, specifically, reducing carbon emissions from electricity, transportation, and heating, and this conclusion still holds after a series of robustness tests. (2) Urban ecological culture construction helps form residents' green living through two mediating channels: enhancing public environmental protection participation and forming green consumption awareness. (3) Confucianism plays a positive moderating role in the process of urban ecological culture construction promoting residents' green living, while the moderating role of exotic culture is not significant. It is worth mentioning that the role of Confucianism remains unchanged even when the above two cultures coexist. In view of this, this paper argues that urban ecological culture construction matters in forming residents' green living. The organic integration of modern urban ecological culture construction with the region's excellent traditional culture is worth noting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The air pollution control in China has gradually transitioned from single pollutant control to multi-pollutant collaborative governance. Among the relevant factors, the control of ozone (O3) pollution has received widespread attention. Among the numerous air pollution regulations, environmental protection tax (EPT) is highly valued, as it can effectively control the emissions of O3 precursors. The objective of this study is to investigate whether the implementation of an EPT can reduce urban O3 pollution in China. Based on this, we used the difference-in-differences (DID) method, combined with the panel data from 221 cities in China from 2015 to 2020, to conduct an empirical analysis of the impacts of EPT reform policy on O3 pollution. The econometrics results indicate that the EPT reform policy can effectively inhibit urban near-surface O3 pollution by approximately 2.1%, and this result was confirmed to be accurate by multiple robustness tests. Additionally, significant spatial heterogeneities of this control effect are captured in this paper. Due to urban development levels and geographical factors, the better pollution reduction effects were national-model environmental protection, and efforts based on inland cities and high-level financial cities. Furthermore, three potential mechanisms, including cutting energy consumption, industrial structure optimization, and technological advance, were verified as being relevant to the impact path of EPT reform policy as to O3 pollution. This paper can provide empirical evidence for O3 pollution control in China, and also contribute to the further improvement of environmental protection policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural subsidy policy can improve the planting enthusiasm of rural households by increasing their income. It is of great significance to assess and summarise the effect of the soybean and cotton target price subsidy policy and to determine future policy direction. Using the national rural fixed-observation point socioeconomic survey data from 2009 to 2017, the study employed the difference-in-differences (DID) method to evaluate the impact of the target price policy (TPP) on rural household income in China. TPP had no significant impact on the total income of rural households. Specifically, TPP increased the farm income of rural households but simultaneously reduced the wage income and had no significant impact on the other income. Moreover, the impact of TPP on rural household income varied with the planting scale and income level; the effect of TPP was strong among the non-poor or scale operation rural households. TPP implementation affected rural household farm and wage income by affecting farmers' allocation of working time and cost input. Therefore, implementing TPP should consider farmers' participation in non-farm employment, further adjust the subsidy intensity and scope, and combine direct subsidies with the poverty reduction effect in poor areas. The contribution of this article is to explore the implementation effect of target price subsidy policies from the perspective of farmers' income, to deconstruct farmers' income, and explore the mechanism of policy action. This paper provides a theoretical basis and policy inspiration for China to improve and adjust the agricultural subsidy policy, mobilise farmers' enthusiasm to cultivate, and ensure national food security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on five‐period panel data from the China Family Panel Studies 2010–2018, this paper uses the propensity score matching difference‐in‐differences (PSM‐DID) method to comprehensively evaluate the effects of the New Rural Pension Scheme (NRPS) on alleviating rural households' relative poverty. At the same time, based on the theory of sustainable livelihoods of rural households, the mediating effects model is applied to analyse the mechanism of rural households' livelihood capital. The results of the study are as follows. (1) The NRPS helps alleviate the relative poverty of rural households. (2) The livelihood capital of rural households is an important mechanism for the NRPS to alleviate the relative poverty of rural households, and social capital, financial capital, and human capital all play a part in the mediating effect. (3) The results of the heterogeneity tests based on the stage of rural households' participation in the NRPS and the region of participation in the NRPS indicate that the governance effects of the NRPS on rural households' relative poverty are more significant among households in the contributory stage and the central and western regions. Additionally, the results are supported by robustness tests, such as replacing the dependent variable and the PSM method. The findings of this paper have important implications for the establishment of a long‐term mechanism to address relative poverty and the construction of a more efficient and inclusive rural social pension insurance system in China and other developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving carbon emission efficiency (CEE) is a necessary consideration in response to economic downturn and climate change. In this case, industrial symbiosis paves the way for cities to conserve energy, reduce carbon emissions, and upgrade economic development patterns. This paper verifies the influence of industrial symbiosis policies on CEE, represented by National Demonstration Eco-industrial Parks (NDEPs). The difference-in-differences (DID) and spatial DID (SDID) models, as well as panel data of 282 Chinese cities during 2003–2019, were used to complete this argumentation process. The results show that NDEP policy dramatically increases the CEE of pilot cities. Compared with cities without NDEP, pilot cities climb by 3.49% on CEE, mainly due to industrial structure upgrading and green technological innovation. Moreover, eastern, non-resource-based, and multi-NDEP cities experience a noticeable increase in CEE. NDEP increases not only the CEE of pilot cities but also that of their neighboring cities within 450 km through diffusion and demonstration effects. All these findings help promote China's NDEP construction and offer decision-making guidance for climate governance and low-carbon transition in China and others following a similar pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effects of the green credit policy on forming three types of "zombie firms," namely, credit-subsidized zombie firms, poorly managed zombie firms, and comprehensive zombie firms, considering the quasi-natural experiment of the implementation of the "Green Credit Guidelines" in 2004. In this paper, I implement a difference-in-differences method and use the data of all Chinese A-share non-financial listed companies from 2008 to 2017. The results show that the green credit policy attempts to inhibit the formation of credit-subsidized zombie firms by reducing bank loan subsidies and evergreen lending. However, the green credit policy promotes poorly managed zombie firms by strengthening firms' financial constraints and reducing the working capital and investment efficiency. The green credit policy has not shown a significant impact on comprehensive zombie firms. Moreover, the green credit policy has shown a more significant impact on state-owned firms, firms in industries that heavily rely on external financing and are highly competitive, and firms involved in high financial marketization areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education researchers often encounter scenarios where an abrupt policy change occurs within or across jurisdictions or populations that affect key student outcomes. Difference-in-differences is a research design analysts can use to estimate causal effects of these "natural experiments." This article introduces education researchers to the difference-in-differences approach. We provide an overview of the standard two-by-two design, which examines changes in outcomes over time between a treated and an unaffected group. Then, we discuss the key assumptions and threats to validity that researchers must address to have maximum confidence in their results. We also discuss commonly used alternative specifications that provide researchers with a more nuanced approach to estimating policy effects. Throughout the paper, we illustrate the difference-in-differences approach using the example of the implementation of an after-school tutoring program to increase economically disadvantaged students' academic performance. In supplementary material, we provide Stata code to help assist researchers adapt the approach to their own scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the effects of the Housing First model on the utilization of public health services and claims among chronically homeless individuals and in the process addresses the problem of attribution to natural stabilization on account of regression to the mean. The study uses Medicaid claims data from participants in a Massachusetts "Housing First" program (n = 1,342) and non-participants (n = 44,022) who included chronically homeless individuals. A control group design, propensity score matching techniques, and difference in differences were employed to estimate effects on utilization of and claims for emergency room visits, inpatient hospitalization, mental health encounters, and pharmacy and other claims. We find that both groups registered statistically significant pre–post improvements in utilization of health care services and claims, but these are greater among the Housing First cohort. The findings suggest that Housing First significantly reduces utilization of health care services beyond regression to the mean and that the resultant health care savings offset a significant portion of the cost of housing. Policy proponents and opponents of Housing First must recognize that the model has a significant portion of its costs offset by savings from lower Medicaid claims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation is a channel through which financial reform promotes economic growth. Drawing on the quasi-experiment of China's Financial Reform Pilot Zones, panel data from 293 prefecture-level cities in China from 2003 to 2019, and a difference-in-differences method, this paper evaluates the effect of financial reform on innovation. We find that financial reform significantly motivated innovation by promoting financial development, such as equity market development and credit market development. Moreover, the effect of financial reform on innovation shows diminishing marginal utility: in cities that started with a lower level of financial development, the policy effect on innovation is stronger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a Chinese solution to build a community of human destiny, Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has shown China's international responsibility by promoting its green development. Based on the annual panel data of Chinese cities from 2004 to 2018, this paper systematically explores the effect of BRI on the Green Total Factor Productivity (GTFP) of cities along its domestic route using the difference-in-differences (DID) method. The results of the study show that (1) BRI significantly increases the GTFP of cities along its domestic route, and this finding holds after excluding a series of robustness tests such as endogeneity issues and other policy disturbances. (2) BRI promotes the growth of GTFP in the region mainly through improving science and technology innovation, increasing foreign direct investment and enhancing trade cooperation. (3) From the perspective of heterogeneity, the promotion effect of BRI on the GTFP of inland cities along the route is much higher than that of coastal cities, and cities along the route with stronger environmental concerns have a more significant enhancement effect. (4) Based on the policy context and the undertaking of role functions, there is a significant positive linkage effect between BRI Initiative and the Free Trade Zone (FTZ) construction in promoting GTFP growth. (5) From a spatial perspective, BRI has not only increased the GTFP of cities along the route, but also radiated the growth of GTFP in neighboring cities along the route. The conclusion of this paper provides a policy reference and theoretical basis for further building the green "Belt and Road" and promoting the sustainable development of China's economy and high-quality transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New energy vehicles (NEVs) offer a sustainable private transportation alternative. Charging points are the source of power for NEVs; thus, their construction can significantly lower the costs associated with their use, thereby encouraging their adoption. This could potentially impact the subway demand, which is reflected by the relationship between housing prices and subway proximity in this paper, leading to a decrease in the premium for properties near subway stations. Utilizing a comprehensive data set of 599,916 housing transactions in Beijing and a difference-in-differences approach based on the hedonic price model, we found that China's NEV charging point subsidy policy significantly decreases the subway premium of housing prices and mitigates housing price disparities. Furthermore, we explored the spatial heterogeneity of this impact, finding that the policy has less influence on residents living near the city center. Our findings indicate that the policy has resulted in a considerable decrease in the subway premium, ranging from ¥19,217 to ¥55,936 ($2745 to $7991) per transaction, which is equivalent to the annual income for an average individual at the time of the policy. The results address the far-reaching implications and significant role of NEV development in urban transportation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

City deals – place-based agreements between central and local state actors – are an increasingly common intervention for supporting economic performance in urban areas. This paper presents empirical evidence on the effectiveness of city deals by estimating the impact of the UK's City Deals scheme on rates of economic growth, productivity and job creation across England between 2010 and 2019. Because the City Deals were introduced in two waves, we estimate its effects using a differences-in-differences (DiD) with multiple time periods (MTPs) approach. Our DiD estimates indicate that, overall, the City Deals were associated with improvements in local economic performance, but that the first wave of city deals resulted in gains of around 2.5% to 3% that were not observed in the second wave. These results suggest that city deals are most effective when appropriate institutional structures are in place and highlight the value of MTP approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates changes in political participation following a disaster. Drawing on the electoral results and flood declarations after the 2010 flood in Slovakia, a dataset was constructed that illustrates when and how often each municipality was affected by disastrous conditions before the elections. The analysis revealed that experiencing a flood significantly increased the level of political participation in a municipality. However, the effect of flooding on elections is conditional. First, significantly higher turnout occurs only when a flood affects the municipality on election day. Second, repeated flooding before the elections does not change the overall participation rate. In contrast, it is the one‐time, continuous extreme weather event that most mobilises voters. Third, only severely affected municipalities demonstrated a significant turnout effect. Lastly, the timing variable is crucial in determining the impact of repetition and severity. This paper distinguishes between different kinds of flood events that can influence disaster behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientific retraction practices are intended to help purge the continued use of flawed research and assist in maintaining the integrity, credibility and quality of scientific literature. However, the practical effect of retraction is still vague and needs to be further explored. In this study, we analysed the citation counts and sentiments (positive/negative) of retracted articles in psychology journals from Web of Science to explore the effect of retraction. Causal inference strategies were used to measure the net effect of retractions on citation. Results show that the retraction practices induced the citation counts to reduce as expected. However, the proportion of negative citations also decreased because of retraction, indicating an unsatisfied effect. The retraction practice of high-impact factors and open access journals was more effective than other journals. The study integrated an understanding of the dissemination of erroneous publications and provided implications for liabilities involved in the whole retraction process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy efficiency is the key to green development, and the government plays a vital role in energy efficiency. This paper clarifies the mechanism by which the Yangtze River Delta Economic Coordination Committee affects the energy efficiency of urban agglomeration by promoting market integration. Based on panel data of China's prefecture-level cities from 2004 to 2017, we take the Yangtze River Delta Economic Coordination Committee as a quasi-natural experiment of government cooperation and use the difference-in-difference method to test whether this organization has enhanced the energy efficiency of urban agglomeration. The results show that the Yangtze River Delta Economic Coordination Committee can significantly improve energy efficiency in urban agglomerations. The mechanism analysis shows that it reduces the energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product by enhancing the marketization level, perfecting the relationship between the government and the market, and improving the factor market development. The heterogeneity analysis shows that cities with lower city size, lower level of innovation, and cleaner industrial structures gain more benefits in energy efficiency from government cooperation in urban agglomeration. This paper provides empirical evidence for cities to realize integrated energy conservation through government cooperation and market integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing studies have not reached a consensus on whether environmental regulations can drive economic development while strengthening pollution control. Based on the panel data of 226 cities in China from 2004 to 2016, this paper uses the difference-in-differences (DID) estimation to investigate the impact of the River Chief System (RCS) on regional economic development for the first time. The findings are as follows: (1) the RCS significantly increases the regional gross domestic product (GDP) and per capita GDP, and a series of robustness tests also prove this conclusion; (2) the heterogeneity tests indicate that the positive effect of RCS on economic development is more significant in cities with a lower administrative level, eastern cities, small cities and cities with lower water resource endowments; and (3) the mechanism tests show that the RCS promotes urban economic development mainly through the two channels of industrial structure upgrading and technological innovation. These findings are of practical significance for China and other countries to balance economic development and environmental protection when formulating and implementing environmental regulatory policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops a theoretical model to describe how exporting firms manage their inventory stocks in response to an exogenous trade policy uncertainty shock. Using firm‐level data from China Industrial Enterprise Database and China Customs Database on inventory and exports over the period around China's WTO accession, we show that a reduction in trade policy uncertainty significantly increased exporting firms' inventory holdings. The result was robust to various robustness checks. This effect was found to be stronger for private and foreign firms than state‐owned enterprises and mainly driven by firms from the coastal region. We also found that the reduction in trade policy uncertainty increased the frequency and the average volume of export transactions, and that this was the mechanism behind the effect. This paper helps to understand exporting firms' optimal inventory problem arising from trade‐policy uncertainty and shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the short-run impact of work resumption, extensively launched on February 10, 2020 in China, on air quality after the subsiding of COVID-19. Utilizing the data of 1012 air-quality monitoring sites in 233 cities derived from the Real-time Release Air Quality Platform and the difference-in-differences method, we find that alternative measures of air quality index in non-Hubei provinces increase significantly, compared with those in Hubei province which was temporarily not allowed work resumption due to the severity of epidemic. Specifically, our results reveal a rise in AQI of 11.28 per cent, in PM2.5 of 12.47 per cent, in PM10 of 10.49 per cent, and in NO2 of 23.64 per cent, relative to the baseline mean. Moreover, the deterioration of air quality is found to be caused by intracity rather than intercity migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]