Placebo test.

The market-oriented reform of China’s power market has gradually transformed power prices from government pricing to market regulation, which not only promotes the production efficiency of industrial enterprises, but also inhibits the excessive consumption and waste of power by residential power users. This paper uses the data from 2006–2018 combined with the precious industrial power price data and macroeconomic data of 100 cities in China, takes the marketization reform of the power market in 2015 as a quasi-natural experiment, and uses the difference-in-differences model to empirically study the causal relationship between power market reform and air pollution for the first time. The study found that power market reform can reduce air pollution, and this conclusion is also supported by a number of robustness tests. Mechanism analysis shows that power market reform can reduce air pollution by improving power market efficiency, promoting technological progress, and reducing power consumption. Heterogeneity analysis shows that power market reform can suppress air pollution more significantly in eastern regions, regions with severe air pollution, and regions with larger populations. This paper not only provides new research perspectives and research ideas for air pollution prevention and control, but also provides empirical evidence for the positive externalities of power market reform.中国电力市场的市场化改革已逐步推动电价由政府定价向市场调节转变，这不仅提升了工业企业的生产效率，还抑制了居民用电群体的过度用电与电力浪费行为。本文采用2006—2018年的相关数据，结合中国100个城市的珍贵工业电价数据与宏观经济数据，以2015年电力市场市场化改革为准自然实验（quasi-natural experiment），首次运用双重差分模型（Difference-in-Differences Model）实证探究电力市场化改革与空气污染之间的因果关联。研究结果表明，电力市场化改革能够有效降低空气污染水平，该结论亦得到多项稳健性检验的支撑。机制分析显示，电力市场化改革可通过提升电力市场效率、推动技术进步以及降低电力消耗三条路径减少空气污染。异质性分析（Heterogeneity analysis）显示，在东部地区、空气污染程度较重的区域以及人口规模较大的地区，电力市场化改革对空气污染的抑制效果更为显著。本文不仅为空气污染防治工作提供了全新的研究视角与思路，也为电力市场化改革的正外部性（positive externalities）提供了可靠的实证依据。