环境信息公开制度的工业减排效应——以中国城市空气质量排名为例

The effect of environmental information disclosure systemon industrial emission reduction:A case study of urban air quality ranking in China

【目的】2013年中国环境保护部首次公布了城市空气质量排名,并于2018年将排名范围进行扩充,评估这一制度的减排效应,对于探索中国改善空气质量的新途径具有重要意义。【方法】本文将城市空气质量排名制度作为一项“准自然实验”,基于2009—2021年中国282个地级及以上城市的面板数据,运用交错双重差分方法系统分析城市空气质量排名的减排效应。【结果】①城市空气质量排名制度具有明显的减排效应。相比于未被纳入排名城市,被纳入空气质量排名城市的工业二氧化硫排放量平均降低了18.6%,且其减排效应在北方和内陆地区更为显著。②产业结构优化和绿色技术创新是城市空气质量排名制度影响工业污染排放的重要渠道。③进一步分析发现,随着互联网普及率的提高,空气质量排名制度的减排效果得到提升;该制度对排名倒数城市的污染减排效果更加明显;该制度能够显著降低城市主要空气污染物浓度,实现预期制度目标。【结论】公布城市空气质量排名是一种有效的环境信息公开制度,对地方政府加强工业污染控制起到激励作用,进而提高城市空气质量。因此,应充分发挥好空气质量排名对城市空气质量的“倒逼”作用,有效形成城市之间空气质量的良性竞争。

[Objective]In 2013,the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China published the urban air quality ranking for the first time,and expanded the scope of the ranking in 2018,so as to assess the emission reduction effect of this system,which is of great significance for exploring new ways to improve air quality in China.[Methods]In this study,we took the urban air quality ranking system as a quasi-natural experiment and systematically analyzed the emission reduction effect of the urban air quality ranking based on the panel data of 282 Chinese cities at the prefecture level and above from 2009 to 2021 by using the staggered difference-in-differences method.[Results](1)The urban air quality ranking system had obvious emission reduction effects.Compared with the unranked cities,the industrial sulfur dioxide emissions of the ranked cities decreased by 18.6%on average,and the emission reduction effect was more significant in the northern and inland regions.(2)Industrial structure optimization and green technology innovation were important channels through which the urban air quality ranking system influenced industrial pollution emissions.(3)Further analysis revealed that the emission reduction effect of the air quality ranking system was enhanced with the increase of Internet penetration;the system had a more obvious effect on pollution reduction in the bottom-ranked cities;and the system can significantly reduce the concentration of major air pollutants in cities and realize the expected system goals.[Conclusion]Publication of urban air quality ranking is an effective environmental information disclosure system,which provides incentives for local governments to strengthen industrial pollution control and thus improve urban air quality.Therefore,air quality rankings should be fully utilized as a“pushback”for urban air quality,and healthy competition between cities in air quality should be formed effectively.