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Summary

Policymakers in China have paid attention to SO2 emissions reduction since the 1990s, as adverse environmental effects such as acid rain devastated large parts of the country. Shen empirically tests the “political regulation wave” theory based on temporal patterns in SO2 regulation between 2001 and 2010. During this time, reduction targets were nonbinding during 2001-5 but binding during 2006-10. Since SO2 emissions management entails a low level of ambiguity, regulatory efforts translate well into regulatory effectiveness. Results based on official data from statistical yearbooks and on satellite-based statistics concur that top prefectural leaders whose prefectures received high reduction targets were incentivized to produce an incremental yet steady decrease in regulation during 2001-5 to accommodate economic and stability goals, consistent with theoretical predictions. Later, when binding SO2 reduction targets became tied to local leaders’ career prospects, they fostered a more consistent regulatory implementation during their tenures.

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4 - The Case of Sulfur Dioxide Control

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4 - The Case of Sulfur Dioxide Control

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