Yao Siling, Xie Rui, Han Feng, Zhang Qi
School of Economics and Trade, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan, 410079, China.
School of Economics, Nanjing Audit University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 211815, China.
J Environ Manage. 2023 Jul 1;337:117743. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.117743. Epub 2023 Mar 17.
In China, along with the rapid development of economy, air pollution has become a hot issue of public concern, particularly in many cities. The distortion in the labor factor market can cause air pollution, but the underlying mechanism is not yet clear. To investigate this question, this article examines the effect of labor market distortion on air pollution focusing on SO emissions based on data of China's 283 cities during 2003-2015. The main objectives are to examine the direct and spillover effects of labor market distortion on air pollution using panel fixed-effects models, including the spatial Durbin model and the mediated-effects model. Results show that labor market distortion directly aggravates air pollution in cities. Mechanism analysis suggests that labor market distortion incurs air pollution through mechanisms of suppressing technological progress, hindering the upgrading of industrial structure, and reducing the efficiency of energy use. Divided the cities by their locations into those in eastern, central, and western regions, we find that such unfavorable effects are more prominent in eastern and western regions of the country. These findings highlight the impetus of mitigating the distorted labor market to ameliorate air quality and promote sustainable development.
在中国，随着经济的快速发展，空气污染已成为公众关注的热点问题，在许多城市尤为如此。劳动力要素市场的扭曲会导致空气污染，但其潜在机制尚不清楚。为了研究这个问题，本文基于2003 - 2015年中国283个城市的数据，以二氧化硫排放为重点，考察劳动力市场扭曲对空气污染的影响。主要目的是使用面板固定效应模型，包括空间杜宾模型和中介效应模型，来检验劳动力市场扭曲对空气污染的直接和溢出效应。结果表明，劳动力市场扭曲直接加剧了城市的空气污染。机制分析表明，劳动力市场扭曲通过抑制技术进步、阻碍产业结构升级和降低能源利用效率等机制导致空气污染。将城市按地理位置划分为东部、中部和西部地区后，我们发现这种不利影响在国家的东部和西部地区更为突出。这些发现凸显了缓解扭曲的劳动力市场对改善空气质量和促进可持续发展的推动作用。
