Does Chinese Environmental Policy Affect Income Inequality? Evidence from the Central Environmental Protection Inspection  

作　　者：Xiaoyun Wei Chuanmin Zhao 

机构地区：[1]China Academy for Rural Development and School of Public Affairs,Zhejiang University,China [2]China Investment Corporation,China

出　　处：《China & World Economy》2024年第3期130-161,共32页中国与世界经济（英文版）

基　　金：support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.72173085 and 71973094);support from a China Postdoctoral Science Foundation funded project(No.2023M743896).

摘　　要：This paper investigates the effect of environmental policy on income inequality.It focuses on the central environmental protection inspection led by the central government in China.Using a diference-in-diferences approach,it finds evidence that environmental regulation decreased the per capita income and enlarged the gap between urban and rural income while showing an insignificant effect on employment.Although the policy can reduce pollution levels and bring environmental benefits in aggregate,the findings of this study suggest that the regulations appear to have reduced the proportion of manufacturing industry and hindered general innovation and investment from entrepreneurs,which resulted in greater inequality.Rural residents suffered more from environmental regulation due to relatively high migration costs and their disadvantaged human resources on the aspects of health,education level,and skills.The local government's execution incentive can also play a key role in the effectiveness of environmental policy.Regions with lower GDP growth targets and younger government leaders were affected significantly with regard to the income growth of local residents and the urban-rural income gap.

关 键 词：central environmental protection inspection income inequality promotion incentive top-down policy urban-rural gap 

分 类 号：F124.7[经济管理—世界经济]