Can the opening of high-speed rail reduce environmental pollution? An empirical research based on difference-in-differences model

• Published in: Clean technologies and environmental policy 2024-07, Vol.26 (7), p.2309-2321
• Main Authors: Chen, Fangli, Shao, Mimi, Dai, Juncheng, Chen, Weitong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Earth and Environmental Science; Emissions; Environment; Environmental Economics; Environmental Engineering/Biotechnology; High speed rail; Industrial and Production Engineering; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Industrial emissions; Industrial pollution; Original Paper; Pollutants; Pollution; Pollution control; Sustainable Development
• ISSN: 1618-954X; 1618-9558
• DOI: 10.1007/s10098-023-02719-5

This study utilizes the opening of high-speed rail as a quasi-natural experiment and employs panel data from 281 Chinese cities at or above the prefectural level from 2003 to 2019 to empirically examine the impact of high-speed rail development on environmental pollution. The results indicate that the opening of high-speed rail significantly reduces environmental pollution, with varying degrees of effects on three types of industrial pollutants. The empirical findings pass the parallel trends test and dynamic effect test, revealing a lag of one year for the impact of high-speed rail on environmental pollution and an increasing effect on reducing industrial pollutant emissions over time. In this study, the core explanatory variable is replaced by the frequency of high-speed rail, and the baseline regression results demonstrate that an increase in high-speed rail frequency can decrease industrial pollutant emissions, with varying degrees of impact on different pollutants, ensuring the robustness of the results. Mechanism testing shows that the opening of high-speed rail can reduce environmental pollution through industrial structural adjustment and technological progress. Graphical Abstract