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  5. Achieving Air Pollution Control Targets with Technology-Aided Monitoring: Better Enforcement or Localized Efforts?

American Economic Journal:
Economic Policy

ISSN 1945-7731 (Print) | ISSN 1945-774X (Online)

Achieving Air Pollution Control Targets with Technology-Aided Monitoring: Better Enforcement or Localized Efforts?

  • Lin Yang
  • Yatang Lin
  • Jin Wang
  • Fangyuan Peng
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy (Forthcoming)

Abstract

Weak enforcement of environmental regulations remains a global issue due to inadequate monitoring and misaligned incentives. This paper examines the effects of automated monitoring on achieving air pollution control targets amidst China’s war on pollution. Utilizing the staggered roll-out process and remote-sensing data, we find that local governments respond to the advanced monitoring system by strategically targeting areas near monitors, resulting in a 3.2% decrease in pollution adjacent to automated monitors compared to areas farther away. Furthermore, we observe heterogeneity in response across cities with varying degrees of pre-existing data manipulation and among officials facing different incentives and public pressure.

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