Environmental Effects of Trade Liberalization–Evidence from China’s Pilot Free Trade Zone

IF 1.3 Q3 ECONOMICS

Journal of International Commerce Economics and Policy Pub Date : 2021-09-22 DOI:10.1142/s1793993321500137

Lianghu Wang, Zhao-yang Wang, Yatian Ma

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引用次数: 6

Abstract

Free trade zone (FTZ) in China has been demonstrating remarkable achievements since its establishment, yet its effects on the environment in the zones cannot be ignored. However, there is still a lack of research on the impact of the quasi-natural experiment in the China pilot FTZ on China’s environment. Based on this, this paper uses panel data from 196 cities in China from 2010 to 2017 and uses the propensity score matching and difference in difference (PSM-DID) model to empirically test the environmental effects of the establishment of the FTZ. The result shows that there is an obvious causal relationship between the establishment of the FTZ and environmental quality. The establishment of the FTZ has exacerbated the environmental pollution problem in the pilot zone. Through a series of robustness tests, it is concluded that the estimated results of the benchmark model are robust. However, after a further study on whether the effect of the FTZ on environment is time varying, it was found that the effects of the FTZ on the environmental pollution in the test zones gradually weakened over time, which means that with the gradual maturity of China’s free trade pilot zone, the positive effect on environmental improvement will gradually highlight.

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贸易自由化的环境效应——来自中国自由贸易试验区的证据

中国自由贸易区自成立以来取得了举世瞩目的成就，但其对区内环境的影响也不容忽视。然而，中国自贸试验区准自然实验对中国环境影响的研究仍然缺乏。在此基础上，本文利用2010 - 2017年中国196个城市的面板数据，运用PSM-DID模型实证检验自贸区建设的环境效应。结果表明，自由贸易区的建立与环境质量之间存在明显的因果关系。自贸区的建立加剧了试验区的环境污染问题。通过一系列稳健性检验，得出基准模型的估计结果是稳健性的结论。然而，在进一步研究自贸区对环境的影响是否具有时变性后，我们发现自贸区对试验区环境污染的影响随着时间的推移逐渐减弱，这意味着随着中国自由贸易试验区的逐渐成熟，其对环境改善的积极作用将逐渐凸显。

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 International Commerce Economics and Policy ECONOMICS-

CiteScore

1.50

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Journal of International Commerce, Economics and Policy (JICEP) is a peer-reviewed journal that seeks to publish high-quality research papers that explore important dimensions of the global economic system (including trade, finance, investment and labor flows). JICEP is particularly interested in potentially influential research that is analytical or empirical but with heavy emphasis on international dimensions of economics, business and related public policy. Papers must aim to be thought-provoking and combine rigor with readability so as to be of interest to both researchers as well as policymakers. JICEP is not region-specific and especially welcomes research exploring the growing economic interdependence between countries and regions.