Economy and Policy

Jing Cao. 2007. “Measuring green productivity growth for China's manufacturing sectors: 1991-2000.” Asian Economic Journal, 21, 4, Pp. 425-251. Publisher's VersionAbstract
Over the past two decades, China has sustained rapid economic growth of 8–10 percent, part of which is attributed to the positive total factor productivity (TFP) growth. However, this extraordinary economic performance has been accompanied by severe environmental pollution and associated health damage. The conventional TFP method is biased in interpreting the progress of technology change because it does not consider non‐marketable residues, such as environmental pollution, and, hence, efficiency improvements in terms of pollution abatement technology and environmentally friendly management are ignored. This bias might direct our attention to less efficient use of environmental friendly abatement technologies or send wrong signals to policy‐makers. To address this issue, the present paper applies a modified welfare‐based green TFP approach, treating environmental damage as non‐desirable (negative) residual output. Therefore, environmental efficiency is taken into account to accurately interpret technological progress from a social welfare point of view. Based on a national time‐series input–output table, historical capital and labor input data for China and sectoral level air pollution emission data from 1991 to 2000, the empirical results suggest that with increasingly stringent environmental regulations, many pollution intensive sectors, such as electricity, primary metal and chemical industries, improved their environmental efficiency in the late 1990s. However, because of the weak environmental regulations in construction and transportation, and in sectors primarily composed of small private or township and village industrial enterprises, firms within these industries contributed to increasing environmental degradation.
2016 May 30

"Carbon Taxes in China's Future: Role and Feasibility"

Mon - Tue, May 30 to May 31, 8:30am - 2:00pm

Location: 

Beijing, China

A closed-door interdisciplinary symposium sponsored by:

  • The Harvard China Project and Harvard Global Institute
  • The Energy Foundation China and the Innovative Green Development Program

Interviews about the symposium of the event chair, Prof. Dale Jorgenson, and Project Executive Director, Chris Nielsen, are reported in Caixin and the Harvard Gazette

 

carbon_tax_symposium

2016 Apr 20

"Resourceful Things: An Interdisciplinary Symposium on Resource Exploration and Extraction in China"

Wed - Fri, Apr 20 to Apr 22, 12:00pm - 4:00pm

Location: 

Harvard-Yenching Institute, Harvard University, and Fulton Hall, Boston College

Chaired and organized by:

  • Prof. ZHANG Ling, Fairbank Center and Boston College

Co-sponsored by:

  • Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies

  • Harvard China Project and Harvard Global Institute

  • Harvard-Yenching Institute

  • Boston College

...

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Ho on BBC Describing Economic Feasibility of Air Pollution Control

Ho on BBC Describing Economic Feasibility of Air Pollution Control

January 29, 2016

China Project economist Mun HO contrasts economic conditions in China's rust belt to that of other regions and the resulting effects on local environmental implementation. For an audio excerpt of the interview on the BBC's "The Inquiry," click here. Ho describes the challenges of unexpected economic slowdown within China and the prolonged global...

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