SOE Ownership Diversification and Environmental Performance

Based on the panel data of China's 34 industrial sectors during 2005-2013, this paper tests the water pollution effects of SOE ownership diversification in China. The result shows that in general, greater state ownership and less private ownership in a sector will lead to lower water pollution...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:China economist (Beijing, China) China), 2018-05, Vol.13 (3), p.54-65
Main Authors: Wencui, Du, Haipeng, Niu, Pingdan, Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Business ownership
Coal mining
Comparative analysis
Costs
Diversification
Electric power
Environmental impact
Environmental quality
Local government
Nuclear fuels
Public enterprise
Tobacco
Water pollution
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Summary:Based on the panel data of China's 34 industrial sectors during 2005-2013, this paper tests the water pollution effects of SOE ownership diversification in China. The result shows that in general, greater state ownership and less private ownership in a sector will lead to lower water pollution intensity. Test of threshold effect shows that, irrespective of its current level, an increase in state ownership helps improve the environment by different degrees. When pollution intensity is low, ownership diversification helps reduce pollution intensity; when pollution intensity is high, state ownership is the optimal choice for mitigating pollution. This paper's findings suggest that while advancing the mixed-ownership reform of SOEs, China cannot relax the environmental responsibilities of SOEs, and still less should economic interests override environmental concerns.
ISSN:1673-8837
DOI:10.19602/j.chinaeconomist.2018.05.05