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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Environmental Health and Exposome
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1446248
This article is part of the Research Topic Greening Urban Spaces and Human Health, Volume II View all 21 articles

The Impact of Environmental Protection Tax on the Health of Middle-aged and Elderly People: Evidence from CHARLS Data in China

Provisionally accepted
Hao Wang Hao Wang 1Ruifan Zhou Ruifan Zhou 2*Haohan Luo Haohan Luo 3Shanwen Liang Shanwen Liang 4Youzhuan Kong Youzhuan Kong 5
  • 1 University of International Business and Economics, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
  • 2 Sichuan Provincial Party School, Chengdu, China
  • 3 Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
  • 4 China National Technical Import and Export Corp, Beijing, China
  • 5 Chengdu Normal University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

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

    With the aging population, the relationship between human health and the ecological environment has gained increasing attention. In China, it is imperative to evaluate the policy effects of the Environmental Protection Tax (EPT) on improving the ecological environment and enhancing the health of middle-aged and elderly people. This study, based on data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), employs a Difference-in-Differences (DID) model to assess the health effects of the EPT policy. The findings indicate that the EPT policy significantly improves the health of middle-aged and elderly individuals and reduces the prevalence of chronic diseases. The EPT policy affects the health of middle-aged and elderly people through two main mechanisms: emission reduction and psychological effects. These are evidenced by reductions in PM10 particle concentration and sulfur dioxide emissions, improvements in public sleep quality and memory, and significant changes in environmental awareness and concern. Heterogeneity analysis reveals differences across urban and rural areas, age groups, and education levels. Following the implementation of the EPT policy, there are notable improvements in reduction of chronic diseases among rural residents, self-rated health among urban residents, and overall health among the elderly and individuals with a junior high school education or lower. The study's results confirm the importance of environmental policies in promoting public health, providing a reference for the refinement of the EPT system, and offering insights for environmental pollution control in developing countries.

    Keywords: Environmental protection tax, Ecological environment, Public Health, Policy evaluation, Difference-in-differences model

    Received: 09 Jun 2024; Accepted: 07 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wang, Zhou, Luo, Liang and Kong. 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: Ruifan Zhou, Sichuan Provincial Party School, Chengdu, 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.