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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Environmental Economics and Management
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2024.1452791
This article is part of the Research Topic Urban Carbon Emissions and Anthropogenic Activities View all 5 articles

Does the Belt and Road Initiative Reduce Smog Pollution in Key Provinces along the Route?

Provisionally accepted
Jiang Jingao Jiang Jingao Maoguo Wu Maoguo Wu *
  • Shanghai University, Shanghai, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: This study investigated the impact of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on reducing smog pollution in key provinces along the route. Utilizing data from 284 prefecture-level cities in China from 2007 to 2018, this study adopted a propensity score matching-difference-in-differences approach, and conducted a series of robustness checks. The results indicate that the BRI has overall reduced particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 µm (PM2.5) levels in key provinces along the route, and robustness checks find consistent results. Dynamic effect tests reveal a significant reduction in the annual average PM2.5 levels in key provinces along the route after the BRI was implemented in 2014. Tests on underlying mechanism find that the BRI mainly reduced PM2.5 levels in key provinces along the route by promoting technological innovation and optimizing industrial structure. Furthermore, heterogeneity tests find that the BRI significantly reduced PM2.5 levels only in cities of key provinces along the Silk Road Economic Belt, with variations in significance due to regional differences, city administrative levels, and marketization. In addition, the BRI has enhanced green total factor productivity in key provinces along the route by reducing PM2.5 levels. This study enriches research on the economic consequences of the BRI in terms of environmental protection, and also provides empirical support for the construction of the green "Belt and Road".

    Keywords: The Belt and Road initiative, key provinces along the route, Smog pollution, PM2.5, China

    Received: 21 Jun 2024; Accepted: 01 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Jingao and Wu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Maoguo Wu, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.