Public environmental complaints and regulatory intensity

IF 5.9 3区经济学 Q1 BUSINESS

Journal of Environmental Economics and Management Pub Date : 2025-08-23 DOI:10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103221

Jiaqi Zhang , Robert J.R. Elliott , Bing Zhang , Mengdi Liu

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Public complaints are increasingly employed as a governance tool to supplement environmental enforcement, yet empirical evidence on how regulators respond to such bottom-up signals remains limited. This paper examines the impact of environmental complaints on the allocation and intensity of on-site inspections in Jiangsu Province, China. Employing a local projection estimator, we show that firms receiving complaints within a given month experience a 13.92 percentage point increase in the likelihood of an on-site inspection in the same month, with effects persisting over the next two months. Contrary to concerns about regulatory crowd-out, public complaints complement existing enforcement efforts and even prompt additional inspections initiated by local regulators. Moreover, complaint-triggered inspections are at least as effective as routine inspections in identifying violations and are associated with higher penalty amounts. These findings underscore the broader value of citizen engagement in enhancing regulatory effectiveness.

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公众环境投诉和监管力度

公众投诉越来越多地被用作一种治理工具，以补充环境执法，但关于监管机构如何应对这种自下而上的信号的经验证据仍然有限。本文研究了江苏省环境投诉对现场检查配置和强度的影响。通过使用当地的预测估算器，我们发现，在给定月份内收到投诉的公司在当月接受现场检查的可能性增加了13.92个百分点，其影响将持续到接下来的两个月。与对监管机构人满为患的担忧相反，公众投诉对现有的执法工作起到了补充作用，甚至促使地方监管机构启动了额外的检查。此外，由投诉引发的检查在查明违反行为方面至少与常规检查一样有效，而且罚款数额更高。这些发现强调了公民参与在提高监管效率方面的更广泛价值。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Environmental Economics and Management Multiple-

CiteScore

8.00

自引率

4.30%

发文量

期刊介绍： The Journal of Environmental Economics and Management publishes theoretical and empirical papers devoted to specific natural resources and environmental issues. For consideration, papers should (1) contain a substantial element embodying the linkage between economic systems and environmental and natural resources systems or (2) be of substantial importance in understanding the management and/or social control of the economy in its relations with the natural environment. Although the general orientation of the journal is toward economics, interdisciplinary papers by researchers in other fields of interest to resource and environmental economists will be welcomed.