Ding Jingwen, Fan Dandan, Guo Yuxia, Ning Qingqing
Suzhou University, School of Business, Suzhou, Anhui Province, China.
China University of Mining and Technology, School of Economics and Management, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, China.
Heliyon. 2024 Oct 3;10(19):e38928. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e38928. eCollection 2024 Oct 15.
Despite consumption being a key measure of residential welfare, the relationship of the residential savings rates, an inverse proxy for household consumption, with air pollution is unclear. This study empirically examines the impact of air pollution on household savings rates, and the underlying mechanism. The results reveal that worsening air pollution significantly increases household savings rates; this finding holds under alternative variable specifications and employing instrumental variables to address endogeneity issues. The mechanism analysis demonstrates that air pollution enhances household savings rates through health risks. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that in developed areas with more comprehensive public medical service systems, the positive effect of air pollution on household savings rates weakens in second-tier cities and above as well as in high-income areas. Furthermore, improvements in commercial insurance coverage mitigates the positive effect of air pollution on household savings rates. Overall, this study explains the high savings phenomenon among Chinese households from an environmental perspective. The Chinese government should encourage the use of renewable energy, improve air pollution control, and reduce the inhibitory effects of air pollution on residential consumption.
尽管消费是衡量居民福利的关键指标，但作为家庭消费反向指标的居民储蓄率与空气污染之间的关系尚不明晰。本研究实证检验了空气污染对家庭储蓄率的影响及其潜在机制。结果显示，空气污染加剧会显著提高家庭储蓄率；这一发现在所采用的替代变量设定下以及运用工具变量来解决内生性问题时均成立。机制分析表明，空气污染通过健康风险提高了家庭储蓄率。异质性分析表明，在公共医疗服务体系更完善的发达地区，空气污染对家庭储蓄率的正向影响在二线及以上城市以及高收入地区会减弱。此外，商业保险覆盖范围的改善减轻了空气污染对家庭储蓄率的正向影响。总体而言，本研究从环境视角解释了中国家庭的高储蓄现象。中国政府应鼓励使用可再生能源，加强空气污染治理，并减少空气污染对居民消费的抑制作用。
