The impact assessment of China’s Smart City Pilots in Reducing Industrial Pollution: Evidence from a Spatial Difference-in-Differences Analysis

The impact assessment of China’s Smart City Pilots in Reducing Industrial Pollution: Evidence from a Spatial Difference-in-Differences Analysis | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article The impact assessment of China’s Smart City Pilots in Reducing Industrial Pollution: Evidence from a Spatial Difference-in-Differences Analysis acheng zhang, Yonglin Wen This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2359720/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 25 Mar, 2024 Read the published version in Environmental Science and Pollution Research → Version 1 posted 5 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This article contributes to examine the causal impacts of the SCP project and its potential mechanisms by considering the spillover effects of urban industrial pollution. Spatial difference-in-difference estimates that: (1) the SCP project is strongly associated with reduced industrial wastewater and SO2. On average, cities with the SCP witnessed a 6.4 and 6.5% drop in wastewater and SO2 emission, respectively. (2) Indirectly, the SCP increased industrial pollution in its neighbors, implying that SCP project exits a beggar-thy-neighbor effect. (3) Mechanism analysis indicated that the SCP reduced industrial pollution was partially mediated by government S&T fiscal expenditure. Our findings provide a strong rationale for city administrators to promote the deployment of smart technologies and other innovations in its efforts to tackle industrial pollution. Smart City Pilots project industrial pollution S& T fiscal expenditure Spatial Difference-in-Differences analysis Full Text Supplementary Files AuthorBiography20230201.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 25 Mar, 2024 Read the published version in Environmental Science and Pollution Research → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Major Revision 02 Nov, 2023 Reviewers agreed at journal 23 Aug, 2023 Reviewers invited by journal 17 May, 2023 Editor assigned by journal 13 Feb, 2023 First submitted to journal 08 Feb, 2023 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-2359720","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":201389559,"identity":"d14abfec-5ed0-4ae8-a96f-b0538cdff335","order_by":0,"name":"acheng zhang","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABCklEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFACHjCZACIOfKhgk2Njbz9AtBbGgzPO8Bnz8ZxJIFoL82HeNrnEeRIOBng18LefPfi44FddHv/s9gtALWbpbRJA/T8qtuHUInEmL9l4Zh9bscSdMwUH55xLy22TbjzA2HPmNm5rbvCYSfP28CQ23MhJOPCm7Fhum8yBBGbGNtxa5G/wmP/m7ZFInA/SwsP2P51NIsEArxYDoC3MPD8MEjfcSD9wkKeNLYGgFsMzOcbSvA0JiRtv5DAAA5nNsA0YyAfx+UXu+BnDzzx/6hLn3Uh//AEYlfLy7e0HH/yowON9EGBsA5E8iOg4gF89CPwBEewPCCscBaNgFIyCEQkAUo1hXiL6LWQAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9311-9160","institution":"Shanghai Jiaotong University: Shanghai Jiao Tong University","correspondingAuthor":true,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"acheng","middleName":"","lastName":"zhang","suffix":""},{"id":201389560,"identity":"f6ee78e4-14fc-4cd5-98ce-0aaee2f05b42","order_by":1,"name":"Yonglin Wen","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Xiamen University","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yonglin","middleName":"","lastName":"Wen","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2022-12-09 02:07:27","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-2359720/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2359720/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-32611-8","type":"published","date":"2024-03-25T15:01:24+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":53869722,"identity":"efc1f0a4-011b-4b7c-8cf5-f67d72d52a11","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-04-01 15:11:05","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":818789,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Maintext20230208.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-2359720/v1_covered_eda0cb59-1428-4fd4-a9f9-aaab0c7603b6.pdf"},{"id":37226357,"identity":"aa5d4715-9992-4315-8ba6-0ec255d56595","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-05-19 07:27:47","extension":"docx","order_by":5,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":15116,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"AuthorBiography20230201.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-2359720/v1/be4715e3f950a0219d2e4253.docx"}],"financialInterests":"","formattedTitle":"The impact assessment of China’s Smart City Pilots in Reducing Industrial Pollution: Evidence from a Spatial Difference-in-Differences Analysis","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":true,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"environmental-science-and-pollution-research","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"espr","sideBox":"Learn more about [Environmental Science and Pollution Research](https://www.springer.com/journal/11356)","snPcode":"11356","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/11356/3","title":"Environmental Science and Pollution Research","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Smart City Pilots project, industrial pollution, S\u0026amp;T fiscal expenditure, Spatial Difference-in-Differences analysis","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-2359720/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2359720/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis article contributes to examine the causal impacts of the SCP project and its potential mechanisms by considering the spillover effects of urban industrial pollution. 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