The Convergence of Sulphur Dioxide (SO<sub>2</sub>) Emissions Per Capita in China

As the third-largest SO<sub>2</sub> emitter in the world, China is facing mounting domestic and external pressure to tackle the increasingly serious SO<sub>2</sub> pollution. Figuring out the convergence and persistence of sulfur dioxide (SO<sub>2</sub>) emissions...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yu-Chen Zhang, Deng-Kui Si, Bing Zhao
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-02-01
Series:Sustainability
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/5/1781
id doaj-9f5a40f7d58e47d8be4beb5d9b97e7c6
record_format Article
spelling doaj-9f5a40f7d58e47d8be4beb5d9b97e7c62020-11-25T02:56:04ZengMDPI AGSustainability2071-10502020-02-01125178110.3390/su12051781su12051781The Convergence of Sulphur Dioxide (SO<sub>2</sub>) Emissions Per Capita in ChinaYu-Chen Zhang0Deng-Kui Si1Bing Zhao2Department of Finance, School of Economics, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, ChinaDepartment of Finance, School of Economics, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, ChinaDepartment of Finance, School of Economics, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, ChinaAs the third-largest SO<sub>2</sub> emitter in the world, China is facing mounting domestic and external pressure to tackle the increasingly serious SO<sub>2</sub> pollution. Figuring out the convergence and persistence of sulfur dioxide (SO<sub>2</sub>) emissions matters much for environmental policymakers in China. This study mainly utilizes the Fourier quantile unit root test to survey the convergence of the SO<sub>2</sub> emissions per capita in 74 cities of China during the period of December 2014 to June 2019, by conducting five traditional unit root tests and a quantile root unit test as a comparative analysis. The empirical results indicate that the SO<sub>2</sub> emissions per capita in 72 out of 74 cities in China are convergent in the sample period. The results also suggest that the unit root behavior of the SO<sub>2</sub> emissions per capita in these cities is asymmetrically persistent at different quantiles. For the cities with the convergent SO<sub>2</sub> emissions, the government should consider the asymmetric mean-reverting pattern of SO<sub>2</sub> emissions when implementing environmental protection policies at different stages. For Hefei and Nanjing, the local governments need to enact stricter environmental protection policies to control the emission of sulfur dioxide.https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/5/1781so<sub>2</sub> emissions per capitaquantile unit root testfourier quantile unit root testmean-reverting property
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Yu-Chen Zhang
Deng-Kui Si
Bing Zhao
spellingShingle Yu-Chen Zhang
Deng-Kui Si
Bing Zhao
The Convergence of Sulphur Dioxide (SO<sub>2</sub>) Emissions Per Capita in China
Sustainability
so<sub>2</sub> emissions per capita
quantile unit root test
fourier quantile unit root test
mean-reverting property
author_facet Yu-Chen Zhang
Deng-Kui Si
Bing Zhao
author_sort Yu-Chen Zhang
title The Convergence of Sulphur Dioxide (SO<sub>2</sub>) Emissions Per Capita in China
title_short The Convergence of Sulphur Dioxide (SO<sub>2</sub>) Emissions Per Capita in China
title_full The Convergence of Sulphur Dioxide (SO<sub>2</sub>) Emissions Per Capita in China
title_fullStr The Convergence of Sulphur Dioxide (SO<sub>2</sub>) Emissions Per Capita in China
title_full_unstemmed The Convergence of Sulphur Dioxide (SO<sub>2</sub>) Emissions Per Capita in China
title_sort convergence of sulphur dioxide (so<sub>2</sub>) emissions per capita in china
publisher MDPI AG
series Sustainability
issn 2071-1050
publishDate 2020-02-01
description As the third-largest SO<sub>2</sub> emitter in the world, China is facing mounting domestic and external pressure to tackle the increasingly serious SO<sub>2</sub> pollution. Figuring out the convergence and persistence of sulfur dioxide (SO<sub>2</sub>) emissions matters much for environmental policymakers in China. This study mainly utilizes the Fourier quantile unit root test to survey the convergence of the SO<sub>2</sub> emissions per capita in 74 cities of China during the period of December 2014 to June 2019, by conducting five traditional unit root tests and a quantile root unit test as a comparative analysis. The empirical results indicate that the SO<sub>2</sub> emissions per capita in 72 out of 74 cities in China are convergent in the sample period. The results also suggest that the unit root behavior of the SO<sub>2</sub> emissions per capita in these cities is asymmetrically persistent at different quantiles. For the cities with the convergent SO<sub>2</sub> emissions, the government should consider the asymmetric mean-reverting pattern of SO<sub>2</sub> emissions when implementing environmental protection policies at different stages. For Hefei and Nanjing, the local governments need to enact stricter environmental protection policies to control the emission of sulfur dioxide.
topic so<sub>2</sub> emissions per capita
quantile unit root test
fourier quantile unit root test
mean-reverting property
url https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/5/1781
work_keys_str_mv AT yuchenzhang theconvergenceofsulphurdioxidesosub2subemissionspercapitainchina
AT dengkuisi theconvergenceofsulphurdioxidesosub2subemissionspercapitainchina
AT bingzhao theconvergenceofsulphurdioxidesosub2subemissionspercapitainchina
AT yuchenzhang convergenceofsulphurdioxidesosub2subemissionspercapitainchina
AT dengkuisi convergenceofsulphurdioxidesosub2subemissionspercapitainchina
AT bingzhao convergenceofsulphurdioxidesosub2subemissionspercapitainchina
_version_ 1724714370019098624