Industrial output and air pollutant emissions: A study of Chinese cities

With data on 287 cities from 2003 to 2010, this study investigates whether industrial firms of different types of ownerships differ in sulfur dioxide emissions across city administrative levels and geographical regions in China. Weighted least square regression results suggest that both Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan (HMT) industrial firms and ethnically non-Chinese foreign firms are associated with statistically significant higher sulfur dioxide emissions in municipalities. HMT firms tend to emit less in southern China, where they are close to home, while foreign firms tend to emit less in other regions.