编号：E-2024-12-2
题目：Reciprocity and State Capacity: Evidence from a National Pollution Control Reform in China
作者：Yu Luo, Yongwei Nian, Ming-ang Zhang
联系方式：Yongwei Nian, yongweinian@gmail.com
摘要：We study pollution control from the social contract perspective. Lever aging granular data on Chinese industrial firms, we find that firms with prior government support achieved greater emission reductions through costly adjustments than those without, following a 2007 reform that sharply elevated the government’s pollution control incentives. We interpret these reductions as driven by the reciprocity between firms and the government, as (a) they intensified with regional reciprocity norms, and (b) the government, in turn, responded with future support. We further find that such reciprocity translated into significant declines in regional pollution concentrations, thereby strengthening the government’s capacity for pollution control.
