Economic Analysis and Policy最新文献

{"title":"How effective are emission taxes in reducing air pollution? A satellite-based case study for Spain","authors":"Thilo Erbertseder ,&nbsp;Martin Jacob ,&nbsp;Hannes Taubenböck ,&nbsp;Kira Zerwer","doi":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.04.012","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.04.012","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Air pollution poses significant risks to public health and the environment. Policymakers aim to counteract these risks by implementing policies to reduce pollution and emissions. Emission taxes are a prominent market-based tool. However, their real-world effectiveness remains underexplored. This study evaluates the impact of an economically significant tax on nitrogen oxide (NOx) introduced in the Comunidad Valenciana in 2013 compared to the rest of Spain using a difference-in-differences framework. To measure the area-wide spatiotemporal changes in air pollution, the study leverages satellite-based NO₂ data. The findings reveal that the emission tax achieved a modest 1.2 % decline in NO₂ levels annually, equivalent to approximately 728 tons of NOx emissions. In a series of robustness tests, heterogeneity analysis highlights stronger reductions in industrial areas, innovative firms, and larger companies, emphasizing the role of technological capacity. In contrast, firms with significant market power tend to shift the tax burden to stakeholders instead, thereby reducing its environmental impact. These results suggest that emission taxes have an effect in the intended direction; however, the effect alone does not significantly curb NO₂ pollution. Complementary measures, such as innovation incentives and stricter regulatory standards, are necessary to enhance their effectiveness. By providing granular evidence of emission taxes’ real-world impacts, this study offers valuable insights for policymakers designing targeted and efficient environmental policies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54200,"journal":{"name":"Economic Analysis and Policy","volume":"86 ","pages":"Pages 1037-1063"},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143854690","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Can innovation-driven policies enhance Chinese cities’ energy security?","authors":"Yuegang Song ,&nbsp;Miaomiao Zhu ,&nbsp;Chongmiao Du ,&nbsp;Xuming Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.04.009","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.04.009","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Energy security provides significant support for national security and is essential for addressing the overall strategic concerns of national economic and social development. Exploring the impact of innovation-driven policies on energy security can help to transcend China's energy bottlenecks in the production–supply–storage–sales industrial chain and provide theoretical support and practical insights for policymakers to establish a new era of energy security and promote sustainable energy development. In response, this study constructs a city-level energy security index for China from 2005 to 2022 to empirically analyze the mechanisms and effect of innovation-driven policies on China's urban energy security. The findings reveal that innovation-driven policies can significantly improve urban energy security in China by advancing energy technology innovation, transformation, upgrading, and diversification, and this promotional effect is more significant in China's central and western regions, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, old industrial bases, and regions with strong energy consumption intensity. This study also introduces an n-order nearest neighbor matching matrix into a spatial difference-in-differences model to examine the spatial effect of China's urban energy security under the influence of innovation-driven policies. We find that innovation-driven policies directly promote energy security and pilot innovation cities exhibit spatial spillover effects on nonpilot cities. The findings of this study provide decision-making insights to promote China's scientific and rational energy development planning and policy approaches.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54200,"journal":{"name":"Economic Analysis and Policy","volume":"86 ","pages":"Pages 858-879"},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143828835","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Driving a green future: Spatial econometric analysis of climate finance aid in renewable energy transition in developing countries","authors":"Xiaohang Ren ,&nbsp;Keyi Hong ,&nbsp;Lizhu Tao","doi":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.04.011","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.04.011","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Climate assistance plays a crucial role in supporting the mitigation and adaptation efforts of developing countries, particularly in fostering renewable energy transitions and enhancing energy security. This study evaluates climate aid's effectiveness using data from 88 developing countries between 2000 and 2020, applying a Spatial Durbin model. The results show that climate fund significantly boosts renewable energy development, primarily by improving political governance in recipient countries. Mitigation fund has a more substantial impact than adaptation finance. Additionally, countries that are more vulnerable to climate change benefit more from climate aid, while those with higher levels of social globalization struggle to fully utilize these resources. Notably, the study identifies negative spatial spillover effects, where climate fund in one country may hinder renewable energy development in neighboring countries. These insights are valuable for policymakers seeking to optimize climate aid and promote sustainable energy security.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54200,"journal":{"name":"Economic Analysis and Policy","volume":"86 ","pages":"Pages 929-949"},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143838101","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The effect of the environmental protection tax on corporate labor demand: Evidence from China","authors":"Qiuyue Yin ,&nbsp;Chenyu Meng ,&nbsp;Zhanfeng Dong ,&nbsp;Bin Li","doi":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.04.010","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.04.010","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The environmental protection tax (EPT) is the first independent green tax in China's history aimed at environmental protection. However, limited research examined its potential impact on corporate labor demand. This study tries to investigate the effect of the EPT on corporate labor demand by taking the implementation of the EPT in 2018 as a quasi-natural experiment. This study applies the difference-in-differences (DID) model and the micro-data of industrial enterprises listed on the Shenzhen and Shanghai A-share markets from 2013 to 2022. The result suggests that the EPT could significantly increase corporate labor demand, which is verified by a range of robustness checks. The result of the mechanism analysis indicates that the EPT could increase corporate labor demand by the output effect and the substitution effect, which means the EPT increases corporate labor demand by motivating firms to expand production scale and increase environmental investment. The heterogeneity analysis indicates that the EPT's impact is significant only in large-scale enterprises and state-owned enterprises. Moreover, among laborers with different skill levels, the EPT only exerts a significant influence on corporate demand for high-skilled labor. This study bears important policy implications for keeping the balance between environmental protection and employment stability.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54200,"journal":{"name":"Economic Analysis and Policy","volume":"86 ","pages":"Pages 713-730"},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143799768","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The impact of accountability for illegal operation and investment on investment efficiency of SOEs: Evidence from China","authors":"Li Wang,&nbsp;Dongqian Qin,&nbsp;Lu Pan","doi":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.04.007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.04.007","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The establishment of an accountability system is a significant step in China's ongoing reform of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). This study uses a sample of A-share Chinese listed firms (excluding financial and cultural firms) from 2013 to 2022, employing a difference-in-differences method to examine the impact of accountability system reform on the investment efficiency of SOEs. The findings indicate that accountability for illegal operation and investment (AIOI) substantially enhances the investment efficiency of SOEs, particularly for firms previously characterized by over-investment. Further analysis reveals that the primary mechanisms through which AIOI influences the investment efficiency of SOEs are the reduction of agency costs and the improvement of information communication quality. Additionally, the study finds that the positive impact of AIOI on investment efficiency is more pronounced in SOEs situated in non-western regions, regions with lower levels of corruption, during the initial years of an executive's tenure, and in SOEs where executives are close to retirement. These results underscore the pivotal role of AIOI in boosting the investment efficiency of SOEs and suggest that it encourages the government to take a more active role in supervising and guiding SOEs’ activities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54200,"journal":{"name":"Economic Analysis and Policy","volume":"86 ","pages":"Pages 731-748"},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143799769","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Land use tournaments and urban green total factor productivity: Evidence from the reform in China","authors":"Hongliang Sun ,&nbsp;Jie Chen ,&nbsp;Yanbo Wu ,&nbsp;Youmeng Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.04.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.04.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Previous studies have highlighted the adverse impact of land misallocation on economic development, but few have explored how such mismatches can be alleviated. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of the \"Heroes Ranked by Per Mu Yield\" reform (HPR)—an innovative governance model for land-use tournaments led by the local governments in China—on urban green total factor productivity (UGTFP). Using data from 41 cities in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region from 2003 to 2020, we employ staggered difference-in-differences (SDID) and difference-in-difference-in-differences (DDD) models to empirically assess the policy's effects and heterogeneity. Our findings show that the HPR significantly enhances UGTFP, especially in cities with weaker technological foundations, lower openness, and stronger government economic intervention. Additionally, the effect of the HPR is moderated by urban industrial structure and government competitiveness. Analysis of political texts reveals that the intensity of implementation and assessment also influences the reform's effectiveness. This study provides theoretical explanations and empirical evidence for optimizing the allocation of land resources, as well as policy recommendations for promoting green, high-quality urban development in China.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54200,"journal":{"name":"Economic Analysis and Policy","volume":"86 ","pages":"Pages 794-811"},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143807604","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Imported intermediate goods embedded technology and intra-firm skill premiums","authors":"MingRong Wang,&nbsp;XinYue Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.03.051","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.03.051","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>With China’s increasing integration into the global value chain, the technology embedded in imported intermediate goods has emerged as a pivotal factor influencing the skill premium within enterprises by altering the allocation of skilled and unskilled labor inputs in domestic firms. This study leverages merged data from the World Input–Output Database (WIOD), the Chinese Industrial Enterprise Database, and the customs database to empirically investigate the impact of technology embedded in imported intermediate goods on the overall and “dual” skill premiums within Chinese enterprises through the mechanism of intermediate goods industry upgrading. In this context, the overall skill premium denotes the wage disparity between skilled and unskilled labor within enterprises. The “dual” skill premium encompasses both within-group and between-group components. The between-group skill premium arises from discrepancies in observable attributes (e.g., educational attainment, productive efficiency), whereas the within-group skill premium stems from the heterogeneity of unobservable factors (e.g., capabilities, aptitudes) among individuals with identical observable characteristics. The findings reveal that the technology embedded in imported intermediate goods exerts a significant and robust dampening effect on both the overall and “dual” skill premiums within enterprises, with a more pronounced reduction in the within-group skill premium compared to the between-group skill premium. This dampening effect exhibits significant heterogeneity across production sectors, enterprise skill premium quantiles, ownership types, and industry upstreamness. Mechanism tests indicate that the technology embedded in imported intermediate goods reduces the overall and “dual” skill premiums within enterprises by inhibiting the upgrading of domestic intermediate goods industries. The conclusions of this study provide crucial empirical evidence and policy insights for coordinating the high-quality development of intermediate imported goods trade and refining the income distribution system.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54200,"journal":{"name":"Economic Analysis and Policy","volume":"86 ","pages":"Pages 673-691"},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143791970","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The impact of a scholarship with no compulsory service requirements on international students' migration decisions upon graduation","authors":"Xue Peng (彭 雪),&nbsp;Erbiao Dai (戴 二彪)","doi":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.04.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.04.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Most OECD countries have implemented selection policies for immigrants favoring international students. At the same time, intensive debates persist over whether international students studying abroad and staying overseas exacerbate 'brain drain' in countries of origin. Existing research reveals that scholarships with compulsory return-service requirements increase the likelihood of international students to return, regardless of the funding source, thereby mitigating 'brain drain'. However, the impact of scholarships without compulsory service requirements (abbr. NCSR scholarship) remains largely overlooked. This study examines the Kokuhi Scholarship—a typical NCSR scholarship and the most important Japanese Government Scholarship—finding that its international student recipients are more likely to return to their home countries upon graduation. However, this propensity is evident only among students from countries with lower income levels than Japan, not among those from higher-income countries. These findings extend existing research on scholarships and return migration by shedding light on the migration decisions of NCSR scholarship recipients, suggesting that socioeconomic considerations—including the intertwined roles of the financial source of their preceding education and their prospective future income level in the chosen country—play a role. From a policy perspective, our results suggest that NCSR scholarships provided by the host countries do not necessarily worsen the 'brain drain' issue that concerns the sending countries. Yet, if the host countries aim to retain more international graduates, they need to rely on incentive measures beyond scholarships.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54200,"journal":{"name":"Economic Analysis and Policy","volume":"86 ","pages":"Pages 779-793"},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143807603","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of high-tech industrial agglomeration and innovation on regional economic development in China: Evidence from spatial-temporal analysis and Spatial Durbin Model","authors":"Donglan Huang ,&nbsp;Guoteng Xu ,&nbsp;Chengjiang Li ,&nbsp;Shu Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.04.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.04.005","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The high-tech industry is an essential driving force for global manufacturing and significantly impacts regional economic development in developing countries. This study examines the spatiotemporal patterns of high-tech industrial innovation and agglomeration based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2012 to 2022. It also investigates their impacts on regional economic development by applying Dagum's Gini coefficient, location entropy, and the spatial Durbin model. The study mainly finds that: (1) The spatial distribution of innovation is uneven; (2) Agglomeration in some regions did not correspond to high levels of innovation; (3) Innovation harms neighboring regions' economies; (4) Agglomeration promotes local and neighboring economic development; (5) Significant regional heterogeneity in the impact of innovation and agglomeration on economic development. The study provides a framework for industry development in regional economic growth, aiding local government decision-making and offering insights for similar development strategies in other countries.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54200,"journal":{"name":"Economic Analysis and Policy","volume":"86 ","pages":"Pages 692-712"},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143791969","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The power of credit: can the implementation of a social credit system reduce the risk of corporate debt default?","authors":"Xiaoke Zhao ,&nbsp;Huirong Li ,&nbsp;Shengtao Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.04.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.04.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The increasing pressure exerted by the recent economic downturn and global trade conflicts has considerably increased the risk of debt defaults in the real economy. Understanding how to reduce this risk is fundamental to ensuring the healthy and stable functioning of an economy. In this study, we use 62 pilot cities selected in 2015, 2016, and 2021 for the implementation of a social credit system in China as a quasi-natural experiment and panel data from A-share firms listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2008 to 2023 to empirically explore the role of social credit in reducing the risk of firm debt default. The results indicate that the establishment of a social credit system considerably reduces firms’ debt default risk. Furthermore, the establishment of a social credit system helps to ease firms’ financing constraints, reduces agency costs and improve the quality of information disclosure, which reduces the risk of corporate debt default. The impact on reducing debt default risk is more pronounced for firms located in regions with a better legal environment and non-state-owned firms. These findings affirm the positive role of a regional credit system in reducing the risk of corporate debt default and preventing systemic financial failures. This study also provides insights for policymakers regarding how to leverage the power of credit to reduce the risk of corporate debt default and prevent systemic financial failures.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54200,"journal":{"name":"Economic Analysis and Policy","volume":"86 ","pages":"Pages 749-763"},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143799770","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}