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In this study, we examine the green innovation effect of investor preference on Chinese listed companies from 2008 to 2020. We observe that investors with environmental protection preferences can significantly increase enterprise green innovation. The baseline conclusions remain robust after we conduct multiple sensitivity tests, such as establishing a shift-share instrumental variable (Bartik IV), using the Heckman's two-step method, changing the regression methods, substituting the core variables, adopting the DID method, and considering investors' ownership. Our analysis shows that the green innovation effect of environmental investors is highly pronounced in companies with a high level of indebtedness and low managerial ability. We verify that environmental investors can improve the green innovation level of enterprises through two potential mechanisms, namely, easing corporate financing constraints and incentivising managers. In addition, political and public attention can strengthen the positive relationship between environmental investors and green innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The opening of high‐speed rail (HSR), as an exogenous shock, has had a profound and complex effect on social life. This study analyzes the effect of the opening of HSR on social trust. Results show that the opening of HSR promotes social trust. Mechanism analysis showed that although the opening of HSR accelerated population mobility and decreased trust in strangers, economic growth and improvement of local social issues mitigated the negative effects of its opening. In addition, our results also show that individuals turn to trust in their parents, neighbors, and doctors. Considering the potential endogeneity problem, instrumental variable and difference‐in‐differences estimators consistently indicated the promoting effect of the HSR opening on trust. Heterogeneity analysis showed that the opening of HSR had a greater effect on female, urban residents, younger groups, and married people. Last, cities with larger populations and tourist cities were more vulnerable to shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the data of Chinese listed enterprises in 2007–2020, we investigate the relationship between green innovation (GI) and enterprise reputation via OLS regression, IV‐Lasso, and random forest. Findings show that GI can improve enterprise reputation, and it has a significant positive lag effect. Additionally, we compare the different effects of green patent applications and approved green patents. A possible mechanism is that GI reduces the pollution emission of enterprises. GI also performs better in improving the reputation of coastal enterprises, state‐owned enterprises and large‐scale enterprises, and old enterprises. Our finding on the causal relationship between GI and enterprise reputation is of great significance in further understanding the practical value of GI activities, and it has certain reference value for the policy formulation of governments and decision making of enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We estimate the relationship between high‐temperature exposure and land transaction using daily transaction data from 2013 to 2018 in China. Standard hedonic price method is used to perform multidimensional fixed effects regression on 458,564 transaction samples. This study shows that each additional day of the extremely high temperature increases the average bid price by 0.6%, which is equivalent to an additional annual increase of 15.018 billion yuan in land transaction costs. The effect of high temperature on land prices is considerably stronger for residential and commercial lands. We further find that high‐temperature‐induced changes of mood and cognition play a role. Extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) algorithm is used to calculate price deviation, which overcome missing eigenvalues and reduce nonlinear measurement error. Our findings indicate that heat can make investors more aggressive, which occurs when bidders continue to raise prices to win. The number of bidding behavior will not drop due to the hidden costs of land transactions. Specially, bidding experience offsets the cognitive output bias. This study contributes to the behavioral finance and decision‐making literature, helps investors make better investment management decisions, and alleviates the negative effect of land transaction premium on the real estate market. Plain Language Summary: Extreme temperatures are becoming more frequent due to climate change. Extreme temperature can affect people's cognitive performance. Using large‐scale land transaction data and a fixed‐effects model, this paper analyzes the impact of extreme temperature on decision‐making. Results show that each additional day of extremely high temperature increases the average bid price by 0.6%, which is equivalent to an additional annual increase of 15.018 billion yuan in land transaction costs. This paper analyzes the impact of extreme temperature on human cognitive performance from the perspective of e climate change and uses land transaction behavior as a measure of decision‐making to reveal the mechanism of climate change affecting cognitive performance. Key Points: Each additional day of the extremely high temperature increases the average bid price by 0.6%Heat can make investors more aggressive, which occurs when bidders continue to raise prices to winBidding experience offsets the cognitive output bias [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Utilising data from listed companies in China from 2007 to 2020, we first examine whether and how corporate green innovation affects stock liquidity. We demonstrate that corporate green innovation, especially green invention innovation, significantly increases stock liquidity. This promotion effect is stronger in small enterprises, enterprises in cities with serious air pollution, and enterprises in regions with strict environmental regulations. The mechanism analysis suggests that green innovation reduces information asymmetry and improves the financial performance of enterprises. Finally, we explore what types of investors prefer green innovation, and confirm that corporate green innovation is favoured by green investors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The trade war between the US and China affects the fluctuation of RMB exchange rate. We collect news on China–US trade policies and talks from January 2017 to July 2020. Results show that China–US dialogue and tariff imposition have the greatest impact on the percentage of RMB appreciation and depreciation. Additionally, tariff relaxation and increasing enterprise restrictions can cause a sharp appreciation and depreciation. "Policies" events and trade news from the US influence RMB fluctuations the most significantly. Finally, positive events cannot significantly cause RMB appreciation, but negative events can significantly cause RMB devaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from non-financial listed firms in China from 2008 to 2020, this study investigates the effect of the new Environmental Protection Law on corporate financialization based on the difference-in-differences model. Findings show that the law's implementation significantly increases the financialization behaviors of corporations in polluting industries. This effect remains robust after a series of robustness checks. Heterogeneity analyses suggest that the policy effect of the law is more pronounced for non-state-owned enterprises, enterprises with high fixed assets ratios, and enterprises in regions with excellent market competition. The new Environmental Protection Law also promotes the financialization of enterprises by increasing costs, reducing commercial credit financing capabilities, increasing risks, and hindering innovation. This article provides new evidence for understanding macro-environmental regulation and micro-firm effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from 3212 enterprises in China's A‐share market during the 2007–2018 period, this paper investigates the relationship between green innovation (GI) and enterprise value by using ordinary least squares (OLS) and two‐stage least squares (2SLS) regression. We find that for every 1% increase in the proportion of the number of the enterprise's green patent applications, the enterprise value (Tobin's Q) will increase by 0.023. Moreover, GI still has a positive lag effect on enterprise value after 2 to 6 years. However, the positive effect of GI on enterprise value may only exist in young non‐state‐owned enterprises. At the same time, GI has better performance in heavy pollution industries and non‐high‐tech industries. Moreover, we prove that the improvement of profitability may be a mechanism for GI to affect enterprise value, with a mediating effect accounting for 26.1% of the total effect. The finding on the causal relationship between GI and enterprise value in this study is of great significance for further understanding of the practical value of GI and has certain reference value for the formulation of incentive policies for different industries and enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Extreme temperatures lead to an increase in local fiscal pressure. • Areas with intensive agriculture and low power consumption are more sensitive. • Productivity, population mobility, and power supply are the main mechanisms. • PMC reform mitigated the fiscal revenue loss and increased fiscal expenditure. This paper investigates the impact of climate change on government fiscal pressure using local governments' fiscal data in China from 2000 to 2020. While previous studies have extensively explored the effects of climate change on individuals and economies, there has been limited research on the negative effects of climate change from a government fiscal perspective. Our study makes contributions by using county-level fiscal data in China, allowing for a detailed examination of the fiscal implications of weather extremes. Moreover, we comprehensively analyze the underlying mechanisms involving population mobility, industrial structure, and electricity consumption. The empirical results indicate that each additional day of extreme temperature in a year leads to a CNY 0.002 billion increase in the general public budget deficit, which is equivalent to 0.1093% of the local fiscal deficit. Furthermore, local governments heavily reliant on agriculture, experiencing low electricity consumption, and significant population outflows face even greater challenges. Notably, medical insurance and the "province-managing-county" reform program emerge as crucial mitigating factors against fiscal pressures. By providing a thorough assessment of climate change's fiscal impact on local governments, this research contributes to the theoretical foundation for governmental initiatives aimed at reducing carbon emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With rapid economic development, air pollution became a serious problem in China. Vehicle's exhaust emissions are among the main sources of air pollution. With samples of 173 prefecture-level cities in China from 2006 to 2016, this paper takes the implementation of driving restrictions as a quasi-natural experiment to examine the relationship between driving restrictions and air quality through the difference-in-differences method based on the propensity score matching. Results indicate that driving restrictions have not improved the air quality in terms of average treatment effect as there is no clear evidence that people turn from private cars to busses or subways. Furthermore, heterogeneous effects of driving restrictions exist across different regions and cities of China. The implementation of driving restrictions has significantly positive impacts on air pollution in the Eastern and Central cities of China, while it has significantly negative effects in non-capital cities. This study implies that the development of local public transportation needs to be taken into account when formulating the policy of driving restrictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the popularity of internet finance and its potential shocks to the business of traditional commercial banking in China. Using data on 200 commercial banks in China during the period 2011 to 2016, this paper investigates whether internet finance, measured by P2P (peer-to-peer lending) lending and third-party payment, has a negative impact on the profitability of commercial banks. It concludes that P2P lending and third-party payment has significant negative influence on the profitability of loans and deposits at China's commercial banks. By intensifying competition, the development of internet finance has decreased the interest income of loans, increased the interest cost of deposits, lowered the growth rate of loans and deposit, and brought about more risk. City and rural banks and unlisted banks are more vulnerable to internet finance than large government-owned and joint-stock banks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Our paper examines the productivity levels of Chinese airline market over the period 2006–2016 using Malmquist productivity indexes. Applying a decomposition technique on the estimated productivity index we decompose airlines' productivity levels into technological, pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency change components. The results signify that the reforms made on the Chinese airline industry have forced the airlines to enhance both their catching-up ability and their innovation capacity. This in turn is reflected on their estimated productivity levels. Then in a second stage analysis we utilize the methodological framework by Phillips and Sul (2007, 2009) and we test for the existence of convergence clubs among the estimated productivity components. The results verify the hypothesis of convergence among airlines' technological change and pure technical efficiency levels identifying distinct convergence clubs. The estimated relative transition paths reveal the insights of the enhanced competition among the Chinese airlines. Highlights • We examine the productivity of Chinese airlines over the period 2006–2016. • We decompose airlines' estimated Malmquist productivity indexes. • We identify convergence on airlines' pure technical efficiency change levels. • We identify convergence on airlines' technological change levels. • The results suggest the existence of a highly competitive market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abnormal weather can negatively affect people's cognitive performance, which can lead to some decision biases. To accurately quantify the effect of abnormal weather, we use abnormal temperature data and loan data from Renrendai, a Chinese FinTech credit market. We estimate the impact of abnormal temperature on borrowers' behavior and decision-making. Results show that abnormal temperatures change the amount of loans. Several robustness checks are consistent with baseline results. We find that abnormal temperatures have various effects on different populations. Loan experience is an important factor. Individuals who have taken out multiple loans are more slightly affected by abnormal temperatures. In addition, we find that abnormal temperatures have some cumulative effects. Bias due to abnormal weather may have some effect on financial markets. Therefore, financial markets are also exposed to the risks associated with climate change. Quantifying the negative effect of abnormal weather should consider its effect on financial markets. • The relationship between extreme weather and loan decisions is analyzed. • Daily loan data and weather data are used. • The extreme weather changed the number of loans. • Loan experience can reduce the negative impact of extreme weather. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Evaluate the effect of environmental pollution on socioeconomic inequality in China. • Employ the recentered influence function regressions with the panel data. • Increasing environmental pollution exposure widens socioeconomic health inequality. • Difference in health behavior of different income group is an important mechanism. • The socioeconomic health inequality effect is larger for the middled-aged. Recent work on socioeconomic health inequality has explored the possible determinants, but there is a lack of empirical evidence examining the associations between environmental pollution and socioeconomic health inequality. Most of studies employed the one-dimensional decomposition method, focusing on health but ignoring rank, to analyze the factors of health inequality. Hence, we fill this gap by using nationally representative individual-level data, employing the recentered influence function regressions method (a two-dimensional decomposition method), and estimating the marginal effect of environmental pollution on socioeconomic inequality in three health outcomes in China straightforward: physical discomfort, chronic disease, and self-rated health. Findings show that environmental pollution increases the income related health inequality of people, and the effect is larger for the middle-aged. The evidence of the possible channel through which environmental pollution is correlated with socioeconomic health inequality is also provided. In the face of environmental pollution, the rich pay more attention to their health condition and increase beneficial health behaviors, such as increasing sleeping hours, decreasing smoking, or having a more balanced diet, compared with the poor. It partly explains why environmental pollution widens the income related health inequality. These findings imply that reducing environmental pollution is an effective strategy for improving environmental quality and narrowing the income related health inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite rapid economic development, the transport industry has been claimed to account for a major part of climate change. This paper investigates total factor carbon-sensitive productivity growth in the regional transport sector in China and decomposes its dynamic changes over time taking account of the regional heterogeneity of different provinces. Thus, the contemporaneous metafrontier Malmquist-Luenberger approach that combined with non-radial directional distance functions is proposed and define a new indicator called the contemporaneous metafrontier Malmquist-Luenberger carbon emission performance index (CMML). This total factor indicator includes the metafrontier efficiency-change index (MEC), the metafrontier technology-change index (MTC), and the metafrontier technology-gap-change index (TGC). Results show an about 4% increase in overall total factor carbon emission productivity during the period of 2000–2012. Different growth patterns are also observed in the transport sector across different area of China. In the eastern region, the growth of carbon productivity is driven mainly by pure efficiency changes, whereas the central region is driven mainly by innovations in the low-carbon transport technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study empirically examines the effects of high-speed rail (HSR) projects on individual happiness by matching city-level HSR data with individual-level happiness data. This study finds that the opening of an HSR project can promote individual happiness, with a coefficient of 0.076. This study constructs instrumental variables, namely, urban slope and area, and performs a series of robustness checks to address the potential omitted variable bias. Results show that in the study of happiness, the omitted variables of the HSR project are less biased. Further analysis reveals that provincial capitals, individuals with a rural hukou, men, the elderly, and healthy individuals are likely to benefit from the HSR project. In addition, the HSR project can improve the happiness of residents through the environment, commodity prices, and income. This study provides a new perspective on the tradeoff between the costs and benefits of HSR projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reports on the performance assessment of Chinese airlines from 2006 to 2014 using a stochastic distance function where technical efficiency and a measure of flight delays follow a joint structural autoregressive process. This model is used to investigate whether technical efficiency causes flight punctuality or the other way around. The model, however, yields a non-trivial likelihood function and is not amenable to estimation using least squares or standard maximum likelihood techniques. To estimate the model therefore, we propose and implement maximum simulated likelihood with importance sampling. The results suggest a mutual dependence (feedback) between technical efficiency and delays. Policy implications are derived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses spatial econometric models to analyze the spatial distribution of Chinese airports from 2002 to 2012, taking into consideration the factors that explain the distribution of airports around the country. A cost function allowing for latitude and longitude is estimated based on spatial location, which leads us to advise the implementation of policies that take into account the spatial distribution of the airports. Results show that the development of airports in China needs to consider the spatial relationship among the many different regions of China. To improve the cost efficiency, airports should be located in more economically developed areas. Meanwhile, it also helps to reduce the cost when listing on the stock market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital transformation is continuous and costly, thereby posing a challenge to the stability of firms' cash flow. Tax cuts are conducive to improving cash flow condition. This study examines the impact of the business tax to value-added tax (BT to VAT) policy on digital transformation by using data of listed firms in China from 2007 to 2019. We measure the degree of firms' digitization by textual analysis and find that the BT to VAT policy significantly promotes the digital transformation of firms. Our results remain robust after several robustness checks. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the driving effects of the BT to VAT policy on digital transformation are considerably pronounced for high-tax-burden, low-profit, and non-state-owned firms; firms with high financing constraints; and firms located in the eastern region. Lastly, this study examines the potential mechanisms. Findings suggest that the tax cut effects of the BT to VAT policy enable firms to undertake digital transformation. We also find that digital transformation strengthens firms' competitive performance, thereby possibly further enhancing the willingness of enterprises to pursue digital transformation. • Estimate effect of BT to VAT policy on digital transformation of China's listed firms • Use the data in 2007–2019, and measure firm's digitalization by textual analysis • BT to VAT policy had significantly promoted digital transformation of firms in China. • Heterogenous for ownership, tax burden, profit, financing constraints and location • Tax cut effects and enhanced performance is potential channels to digitalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After three decades of reform, the medical care system in China has experienced significant changes. However, the present research has not made a tentative evaluation of it to justify further reform. This paper analyses the cost efficiency of Chinese hospitals in 31 provinces during the period from 2002 to 2011 and adopts a Bayesian stochastic frontier model taking account of the identified heterogeneity according to the background of Chinese medical system reform, including the coastal location, 3A class hospital proportion, public subsidies and medical insurance reforms. It finds that the public subsidies and medical insurance reforms have improved the cost efficiency of Chinese hospitals, while the coastal location and 3A class hospital proportion have decreased the cost efficiency of Chinese hospitals. Therefore, these results imply that it will be beneficial for Chinese medical system to optimize the fiscal subsidies of public hospitals, encourage the entrance of private hospitals, improve the medical insurance coverage and set up the pre-triage system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Economic spatial structure has the polycentric characteristic. • Economic spatial structure shows significant regional differences. • The intensity of transvariation is a major contributor to regional differences. • There is a polarization characteristic concerning economic spatial structure. • Absolute and conditional β-convergences both have emerged. The economic spatial structure (ESS) is of paramount importance to the robust development of urban agglomerations (UAs), which requires further and deeper inquiry. This paper measures the ESS of UAs using the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), examines its regional differences by Dagum's decomposition of the Gini coefficient, explores its distribution dynamics through kernel density estimation (KDE), and tests the convergence with the coefficient of variation (CV) and regression models. According to the results, the HHI of each UA was at a low level, showing a prominent polycentric structure composed of rising, stable, and low-level types. There were significant regional differences within and between UAs concerning ESS, and the overall difference displayed an N-shaped trend of "rising-falling-rising", with the intensity of transvariation as a major contributor. The center and change interval of the overall distribution curve of UAs' ESS tended to move rightward slightly over time, which was characterized by polarization. There were absolute and conditional β-convergences within and between UAs at different levels and as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses long range fractional dependence of China pollution in four major cities, namely Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen from September 28 of 2013 to December 12 of 2015. Unit roots hypotheses are tested by using fractional integration methods using both uncorrelated and autocorrelated errors. The results reveal that the pollution is persistent, meaning that it will continue until strong anti-pollution measures are adopted. Policy implication is derived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The relationship between China's Anti-corruption Campaign and Corporate Environmental Responsibility is analyzed. • Anti-corruption campaign improves the CER performance of high-corruption enterprises. • The promotion effect is heterogeneous by corporate ownership and industry. • Mechanisms are environmental regulations, corporate rent-seeking and innovation behaviors. • Anti-corruption improves corporate profitability, but the effect is partly offset by increased CER. Taking advantage of China's vigorous anti-corruption campaign implemented in 2013, this study examines the impact of anti-corruption activities on the corporate environmental responsibility (CER) performance of listed Chinese enterprises from 2010 to 2016. The empirical analysis employs a Difference-in-Differences design to identify the causal effect by using the anti-corruption campaign as an exogenous policy shock. Results indicate that China's unprecedented anti-corruption campaign launched in 2013 significantly improves the CER performance of high-corruption enterprises. Such an effect is most evident for state-owned enterprises, especially local government-owned ones and those in pollution-intensive industries. These results remain after a series of robustness tests. The mechanism results suggest that the promotion effects of the anti-corruption campaign on CER performance can be achieved through environmental regulations, corporate rent-seeking, and innovation behaviors. Moreover, anti-corruption improves the profitability of enterprises, but the effect is significantly offset by increased CER activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The causal relationship between air pollution and loan decisions is analyzed. • Short-term changes of air pollution are exogenous and random. • Daily data from online peer-to-peer lending platform are used. • Air pollution has significant positive effects on loan amounts. • Health expenditure and behavioral bias are potential mechanism. Studies have largely discussed the impact of air pollution on the stock market. However, the latter requires certain financial knowledge and certain income, which may lead to sample selection bias. To address this concern, using unique data from online peer-to-peer lending platform, namely, RenRenDai, this paper analyzes the effects of air pollution on loan decisions in China. In the identification strategy, we use approximate exogenous and random daily level air pollution to alleviate the endogenous problem. In a preferred specification, results show that air pollution has significant positive effects on loan amounts with elasticity of 0.013. Such result is driven by health expenditure and behavioral bias. Specifically, after air pollution rises for two or three days, individuals will then increase loan amounts for health and consumption. However, air pollution has no proof of increasing investment. Our study provides new evidence on the effects of air pollution on cognitive performance, particularly on financial behavior. It then reveals the mechanism how air pollution influences loan decisions. In view of the negative impact of air pollution, we also need to know the risks it poses to the financial industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper analyses the duration of housing project sales in the city of Beijing, China. In the housing market, new properties sometimes experience delays before they are sold. Such delays reflect the preferences of buyers with regard to the characteristics of the dwelling. Therefore, it is important for managerial purposes to identify the causes of delays in the sales of housing projects. A survival model with heterogeneity is adopted in the present research. The principal finding of this study is that delays are largely explained by the characteristics and the location of the housing project. Policy implications of the research findings, particularly those related to means of reducing the delays, are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In the housing market, new properties sometimes experience delays before they are sold. Such delays reflect the preferences of buyers in respect of the homes’ characteristics. Therefore, it is important for managerial purposes to identify the causes of housing sales delays. After analysing the delays in sales of housing in Beijing City, China, the principal finding of this study is that delays are largely explained by the dwellings’ characteristics and location. Policy implications of the research findings, particularly those related to means of reducing the delays, are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

• This study analyzes the effects of extreme heat on health using CHNS. • Health cost is about CNY 38.97 million for one day of extreme high temperature. • Mechanism is reducing physical activity and walking commutes. Climate change has led to significant health effects. This study uses data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) to analyze the effects of extreme heat on health. The results show that extreme heat increases morbidity, disease severity, hospitalization, and treatment costs. Each additional day of extreme high temperature leads to an increase of approximately CNY 38.97 million in health expenditure, which is a non-negligible health cost. We further consider the environmental migration situation and model specifications, and the results remain consistent. In addition, we find that male, rural, and unemployed residents are more vulnerable to extreme heat. Education and income can moderate the negative effects of extreme heat, while increasing age increases the health effects of extreme heat. In addition to the negative health effects of extreme heat, we find that extreme heat affects individual health by reducing physical activity and reducing walking commutes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The effect of ETS pilot policy on green innovation in enterprises is analyzed. • Company level data in 31 Chinese provinces from 1990 to 2018 are used. • The DDD model is used to identify causal relationship. • ETS pilot policy cannot stimulate green innovation in enterprises. • Reducing output is a potential mechanism. For climate change mitigation, China launched seven pilot areas before establishing a unified carbon emission trading system in 2014. This study explores the "weak" version of the Porter hypothesis while focusing on listed companies in 31 provinces (municipalities or autonomous regions) from 1990 to 2018. In this study, we provided preliminary evidence on the influence of China's carbon emission trading scheme pilot policy on green innovation based on green patent data. Results show that the "weak" Porter hypothesis has not been realized in the current carbon trading market of China. Moreover, the pilot policy has significantly decreased the proportion of green patents by approximately 9.26%. Then, we find that the pilot policy has an evident lagging effect on restraining the green innovation of enterprises. Furthermore, inhibition is more pronounced among the samples of small-scale, manufacturing, and non-state-owned companies, including companies in the eastern and central regions. Most importantly, companies mainly choose to reduce output rather than increase green technological innovation to achieve their emission reduction targets. Moreover, companies reduce their investment in research and development because of the reduction in cash flow and expected income, which is not conducive to green innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of climate change on the economy are becoming increasingly evident. Based on information of all newly registered enterprises in China from 2000 to 2019, we discuss the relationship between heatwave and entrepreneurial activities at county level. Results indicate that extremely high temperatures can negatively affect entrepreneurial activities. Moreover, after considering endogeneity issues and conducting a series of robustness checks, the conclusion remains. In addition, mechanism testing shows that extremely high temperatures reduce the attractiveness of entrepreneurship by generating fiscal pressure effects, industrial dependence effects, and leading demonstration effects. Finally, heterogeneity analysis indicates that the adverse effects of extremely high temperatures will be alleviated in areas with large populations and high levels of education and healthcare. Different from the relief effect brought by the vigorous development of the secondary and tertiary industries, regions that rely more on the primary industry suffer more severe damage. • Temperature rise suppresses the growth of entrepreneurial activities. • Temperature rise has a negative impact on agriculture, industry, and finance. • Temperature rise has heterogeneous effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the outbreak of COVID-19 (Corona Virus Disease, 2019), China adopted traffic restrictions to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Using daily data before and after the outbreak of COVID-19, an exogenous shock, this paper analyzes the effects of private vehicle restriction policies on air pollution. We find that the private vehicle restriction policies reduce the degree of air pollution to a certain extent. However, their effect varies with other policies implemented in the same period and the economic development of the city itself. Through the analysis of different categories of restrictions, we find that restriction policy for local fuel vehicles and the restriction policy based on the last digit of license plate numbers have the best effect in reducing air pollution. Under the background of COVID-19 epidemic and the implementation of private vehicle restriction policies and other traffic control policies during this period, we have also obtained other enlightenment on air pollution control. • The causal relationship between air pollution and restriction is analyzed. • An exogenous shock from COVID-19 is used to identify this relationship. • The private vehicle restriction reduces the degree of air pollution. • The restriction policies have heterogeneous effects. • The effects of restriction are affected by other policies against COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the China Health and Nutrition Survey, this study quantifies the causal effects of air pollution on the demand for medical insurance from the perspective of avoidance behavior; an instrumental variable approach was used. The rise in air pollution is associated with an increased probability of purchasing medical insurance. Results suggest that the effect of air pollution on the demand for medical insurance may be overestimated without considering the migration of people. Furthermore, the substitution between basic medical and commercial insurance is becoming increasingly evident with the reform of the medical system. The effect of air pollution on the demand for medical insurance is mainly observed on women, children, the elderly, and people with high income and educational levels, all of whom are more likely to take an avoidance behavior. This study suggests that environmental issues must be considered in future medical insurance designs due to avoidance behavior to mitigate the negative effects of poor air quality. Avoidance costs must also be considered when governments formulate environmental policies. • The causal relationship between air pollution and insurance demand is analyzed. • Instrumental variable approach deals with endogenous problems of air pollution. • China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) data in 2004–2015 are used. • Air pollution rises the demand for medical insurance and has heterogeneous effects. • The medical reform is effective in mitigating negative effects of air pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the sustainability efficiency of the Chinese transportation system by investigating the relationship between CO 2 emission levels and the respective freight and passenger turnovers for each transportation mode from January 1999 to December 2017. A novel Robust Bayesian Stochastic Frontier Analysis (RBSFA) is developed by taking carbon inequality into account. In this model, the aggregated variance/covariance matrix for the three classical distributional assumptions of the inefficiency term—Gamma, Exponential, and Half-Normal—is minimized, yielding lower Deviance Information Criteria when compared to each classical assumption separately. Results are controlled for the impact of major macro-economic variables related to fiscal policy, monetary policy, inflationary pressure, and economic activity. Results indicate that the Chinese transportation system shows high sustainability efficiency with relatively small random fluctuations explained by macro-economic policies. Waterway, railway, and roadway transportation modes improved sustainability efficiency of freight traffic while only the railway transportation mode improved sustainability efficiency of passenger traffic. However, the air transportation mode decreased sustainability efficiency of both freight and passenger traffic. The present research helps in reaching governmental policies based not only on the internal dynamics of carbon inequality among different transportation modes, but also in terms of macro-economic impacts on the Chinese transportation sector. • Examine carbon inequality for China's four transportation modes in 1999–2017. • a novel Robust Bayesian Stochastic Frontier Analysis was employed. • Chinese transportation system has high sustainability efficiency with fluctuations. • Waterway, railway, roadway improved sustainability efficiency of freight traffic. • Railway improved sustainability efficiency of passenger traffic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses the China Health and Nutrition Survey data to investigate the relationship between infrastructure construction and health inequality, particularly by exploring a quasi-natural experiment, namely, high-speed rail (HSR) projects. We find that HSR accessibility improves the health of local residents with a coefficient of 0.298, which means that HSR operation will lead to a 2.30% increase in health. HSR accessibility also increases individual income, per capita household income, and the probability of purchasing medical insurance, thereby increasing the health level of individuals. Further analysis shows that HSR reduces the health gap across gender and urban–rural areas. Unfortunately, HSR also increases the health gap among different income groups. • This paper evaluates the health effects of high-speed rail (HSR). • HSR accessibility improves the health of local residents. • HSR accessibility have increased the health gap among different income groups. • HSR layout should be complementary with medical resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Civil aviation is a crucial transportation mode, which plays a crucial role in air pollution. This study investigates the effect of aircraft frequency on the PM 2.5 level. This study evaluates whether flight frequency has a significant positive effect on air pollution based on the monthly data of aircraft movements from 59 major airports in China from January 2014 to December 2017 by employing the two-way fixed effects model. The effect occurs mainly through two channels, namely, the aircraft and the emissions while commuting to the airports. The former is significantly positive, whereas the latter is significantly negative. This study utilizes the spatial econometric methods to consider the spatial correlation. Results show that after considering the spatial correlation, the aircraft frequency also has a substantial effect on the PM 2.5 level. These results indicate that decision-makers should provide attention to air pollution driven by aircraft and emissions while commuting to the airport. This study also calls for the concern of the spatial correlation in the reduction of air pollution. Moreover, the study provides a distinctive contribution to the relative field by identifying the influence of each channel and considering the spatial correlation. • Explore the impact of the aircraft's frequency on the PM2.5 concentration. • Use a two-way fixed-effects model with samples of 59 cities during 2014–2017. • Aircraft's frequency has a positive impact on the PM2.5 concentration. • The railway plays a crucial role in mitigating effects of aircraft's frequency. • Considering the spatial correlation, the influence is more substantial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local government debt plays a vital role in achieving financial financialization and regional economic growth. However, the environmental side effects of the debt-financed infrastructure development model have received little attention. Using a large panel data of Chinese enterprises from 2007 to 2016, we explored the relationship between local government debt in terms of urban investment bonds and corporate pollution emission. We observe that the increase in local government debt exaggerates the intensity of COD emission, equal to 26% of the average. This pollution-promoting effect remains after a series of robust checks. In heterogeneous analysis, local government debt is more likely to affect enterprises located in coastal areas, from pollution intensive industry, operating in regions with weak fiscal strength and operating in regions with low governance quality. The mechanistic exploration from government environmental governance and financial constraint reveals that the local government debt increases corporate pollution when the local fiscal finance emphasizes economy over environmental governance, which has been alleviated after the central government advocates the construction of an environmentally friendly and resource-saving society; An increase of corporate pollution is also possible when local government debt increases the financing constraints of enterprises. We also unveil the source of corporate pollution, and find that if enterprises do not actively adopt environmental strategies either in terms of "end-of-pipe" or "source prevention", they choose to emit more to face with the onslaught of local debt. This study uncovers the environmental impacts of government debt, and explores the potential mechanisms, which can help reduce pollution from local government debt and achieve global climate governance. • Exploring the effect of local government debt on corporate pollution. • Local government debt significantly exaggerates corporate pollution. • The positive promotion effect is heterogenous by areas, industry, fiscal strength, and governance quality. • Mechanism is explored from government environmental governance, and financial constraint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical health has been associated with ambient temperature and heatwave. With the frequent occurrence of heatwave, the adaptive effects and mechanisms on mental health remain uncertain. On the basis of the China Health and Nutrition Survey, we estimated the relationship between heatwaves and self-assessed mental health scores in the Chinese population aged 50 and above. This study has identified that with each additional heatwave event, mental health scores decreased by an average of 0.027 points, which is equivalent to 0.3% of the average level. Heat is more likely to affect groups with low education, no medical insurance, and living in rural areas. In mechanistic exploration, we found that stress emotion is a fully mediating effect. Heat led to reduced health activities and more frequent drinking, which may lead to lower psychological well-being. Moreover, good dietary preference is a regulator that can help mitigate the adverse effects of heat on mental health. This study corroborates the impact of heat on spiritual welfare, and demonstrates the mechanisms and channels of impact, which can help reduce global economic losses due to mental health problems. • We examine the negative effects of heatwave events on mental health. • We incorporate environmental adaptation into the research framework. • Vulnerable groups such as the elderly, the medically uninsured and the less educated are more sensitive. • The impact of high temperature on mental health is mainly transmitted through stressful emotions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water rights trading is a market mechanism that promotes the conservation, protection and optimal allocation of water resources. This paper takes the water rights trading pilots' policy as a quasi-natural experiment, and then adopts the spatial difference-in-differences model to investigate the water-saving and wastewater-reducing effects of water rights trading pilots by using the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2006 to 2019. The results indicate that water rights trading has good environmental governance effects on water-saving and wastewater-reducing in the pilot areas. However, water rights transactions are mainly concentrated within provinces, and there is no spatial spillover effect. Besides, the pilot policy has more long-term dynamic effects in reducing sewage discharge than water-saving due to rebound effect possibly. The optimization of the industrial structure and environmental regulation play important roles in the realization of the policy effects of the water rights trading pilots. An important implication is that water rights trading pilots are worthy of promotion throughout China in view of the policy effects, and China should focus on inter-regional market transactions and industrial structure transformation to promote the optimization of the water rights trading mechanism. • Take the water rights trading pilots' policy as a quasi-natural experiment in China. • Adopt the spatial difference-in-difference model with the panel data of 30 provinces. • Evaluate the water-saving and wastewater-reducing effects and exploit its drive mechanism. • Has good environmental governance effects on water-saving and wastewater-reducing in the pilot area. • The optimization of the industrial structure and environmental regulation are important mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by the importance of environmental innovation to corporate sustainable development, this study investigates whether and how the education levels of chief executive officers (CEOs) promote corporate environmental innovation. Using a panel sample of listed nonfinancial Chinese enterprises from 2008 to 2017, we provide robust evidence that enterprises with highly educated CEOs are likely to engage in environmental innovation, especially when they operate in regions with strict environmental pressures. The heterogeneity analysis also shows that the promotion effect of CEO education is heterogeneous in terms of corporate ownership, industry attributes, and CEO characteristics. By exploring potential mechanisms, we confirm that the promotion effects of CEO education on corporate environmental innovation are driven by corporate green research and development investment and environmental responsibility. Our findings contribute to the clean and sustainable development literature by providing a new driver for corporate environmental innovation from the perspective of CEO education and revealing the role of corporate internal and external factors on green production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conservation and efficient use of water resources are directly related to the sustainable and high-quality development in China. This paper regards the pilot policy of water-saving society construction as a quasi-natural experiment, and employs a differences-in-differences approach to evaluate the effectiveness of urban water-saving policies and exploit its drive mechanism by using the panel data of 263 cities in China from 2001 to 2016. Findings show that the pilot policy of water-saving society construction can achieve better water-saving effects, which can not only promote the reduction of urban water consumption in intensity and total amount, but also improve the efficiency of water resources utilization. And this policy has brought long-term dynamic effects on the urban water resources conservation. Heterogeneous effects exist in different types of cities, that is, the water-saving performance is more significant in cities with sufficient water resources and in central China. Besides, this paper finds that the impact of this water-saving policy on urban water resource conservation is mainly through two channels such as water resources infrastructure investment and water resources pricing. These findings provide useful inspirations for local governments to take effective economic measures to manage water resources. • Regard the pilot policy of water-saving society construction as a quasi-natural experiment. • Employ a differences-in-differences approach with the panel data of 263 cities in China from 2001 to 2016. • Evaluate the effectiveness of urban water-saving policies and exploit its drive mechanism. • Water-saving society construction can achieve better water-saving effects. • Water infrastructure investment and water pricing are important mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green innovation (GI) is an important way to build an ecological civilization and an innovative country. The study on urban green innovation (UGI) is of great significance for enriching the research on GI and rationally formulating high-quality urban development policies. The green patent data obtained using a web crawler was used to represent the level of UGI. The spatiotemporal evolution and influencing factors of UGI in China were analyzed by standard deviation ellipses, spatial autocorrelation, and Geodetector. The research shows that: From 2005 to 2020, the level of UGI in China tended to rise rapidly. The center of gravity of UGI in China was located in the southeast of China's geometric center and tended to move to the south and west. The standard deviation ellipse was distributed in a "northeast-southwest" pattern, the area was gradually shrinking, and the length of the two semi-axes was shortening. UGI in China showed obvious global and local spatial autocorrelations. The degree of global spatial autocorrelation was gradually increasing. Among the types of local spatial autocorrelation, the largest number of low-low agglomeration cities was mainly located in the northwest and southwest part of China, while high-high agglomeration cities were distributed in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, and Pearl River Delta. The government intervention expressed by the proportion of scientific and technological expenditure in fiscal expenditure and environmental regulation is the dominant factor affecting UGI., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The improvement of carbon emission efficiency is crucial to the realization of the global carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals. Based on the panel data of 282 cities from 2004 to 2018 in China, this paper employs the stochastic frontier analysis approach combined with the Sheppard distance function to calculate the total factor carbon emission efficiency of each city. Regarding the low-carbon pilot city policy as a quasi-natural experiment, we evaluate the impact of the pilot policy on carbon emission efficiency and its spatial spillover effect using the spatial difference-in-differences model. The results show that the pilot policy can significantly improve the carbon emission efficiency and has long-term dynamic effects. Also, the effect of the policy has spatial spillover, and has a positive impact on the neighboring cities. Mechanism analysis implies that optimal allocation of resources, energy conservation and green technology innovation make the low-carbon policy play an important intermediary role in promoting carbon emission efficiency. Besides, the effects of the pilot policy have obvious heterogeneity, especially cities in large, higher population densities and the north. These findings reveal that low-carbon pilot city policies are indispensable for both implementing the dual-carbon strategy and winning the defense for the blue sky., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This research explores the sustainability drivers of the Chinese road transportation system in terms of its cargo and environmental productivity levels. A novel Fuzzy Double-Frontier Network Data Envelopment Analysis (FDFNDEA) model is proposed to investigate the relationship between desirable (freight and passenger turnovers) and undesirable (CO 2 and NO x emission levels) outputs against the respective power consumed in each one of the 29 Chinese provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions) between 1985 and 2017. The power consumption emerges spatially and temporally as a consequence of the evolution of the road system's productive resources (employees, highway length, number of vehicles, and fuel consumed) at the province level over the course of time. Shannon's entropy is used as the cornerstone to quantify input and output vagueness of this evolution in terms of triangular fuzzy numbers (TFN), thus allowing the building of alternative optimistic and pessimistic double efficiency frontiers. Respective Malmquist Productivity Indexes (MPI) for overall and each stage productivity are regressed against contextual variables related to demography, economic activity, competitor infrastructure, and highway quality using bootstrapped Cauchy regressions. Results confirm the disruptive evolution of the Chinese road transport system over the course of the years and different expansion strategies at the regions. The energy and environmental efficiency of the Chinese road transportation system is affected by these contextual variables., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This study examines the causal effect of air pollution on health expenditure using a sample of the China Health and Nutrition Survey in 2015. It concludes that exposure to air pollution is associated with the increase in health expenditure with an elasticity of 10.013. The coefficient is roughly seven times bigger than the cost of traditional respiratory diseases. The large coefficient will be the social cost of medical insurance and various diseases. Results also indicate that sample mobility can underestimate health cost. Meanwhile, we identify heterogeneity among different populations and pollutants. The estimates show that PM 2.5 is the main cause of health expenditure and that males, high-income individuals, highly educated individuals, people with health insurance, and older people are more sensitive to air pollution. Moreover, our evidence suggests that air pollution nonlinearly affects health expenditure. We also find that the mechanism is through diseases occurrence and diseases severity to increase health expenditure., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)