The effects of fuel standards on air pollution: Evidence from China

By Pei Li, Yi Lu, Jin Wang. 2020

122 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract This paper examines the causal relationship between China's fuel standards and air pollution using a difference-in-differences design and regression discontinuity analyses. Combining data on staggered prefectural implementation of the regulations with hourly station-level pollution data, we show that the enforcement of high-quality gasoline standards significantly improved air quality, especially in terms of fine particles and ozone. The average pollution across all pollutants was reduced by 12.9%. The new gasoline standard's net benefit is estimated to be about US$26 billion annually. These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of precise standards in reducing air pollution in a developing country setting.

Subfields: Economics and Econometrics, Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis, Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/f4fc2796d676ef82c913533e8af7c1233a3d8cb3