AUTHOR=Wang Zhimeng , Yu Lu , Zheng Mengmeng , Xing Yafei , Liu Xiaoyuan , Wang Yanwen , Xiao Zumian 

TITLE=One Fee, Two Reductions: The Double Abatement Effect of Pollutant Discharge Fees on Industrial Pollution and Carbon Emissions

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Environmental Science

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/environmental-science/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2022.928434

DOI=10.3389/fenvs.2022.928434

ISSN=2296-665X

ABSTRACT=How to formulate policies under the dual policy objectives of environmental protection and carbon neutrality in China is essential. We investigate whether the pollutant discharge fee policy be effective in reducing both industrial pollution and carbon emission. This paper uses enterprise-level panel data to empirically test that increasing pollutant discharge fee can effectively reduce industrial pollutants, including waste water and exhaust gas. In addition, we also conclude that increasing discharge fee is beneficial to reducing carbon emissions. Moreover, in terms of enterprises, pollutant discharge fees can not only directly reduce carbon emissions, but also indirectly affect that by reducing coal assumption. This paper also constructs a threshold model of the carbon emission reduction effect of population size. It has been proved that when the population size does not exceed the threshold, the utility of the pollutant discharge fee is obvious. According to the heterogeneity test, the carbon emission reduction effect of the pollutant discharge fee is more obvious in large and medium-sized enterprises and heavy pollution enterprises.