Abatement Efforts, Technological Progress, and Pollution Control in China's Industrial Sector

This article examines the roles of abatement efforts and the technological progress in the pollution control of China's industrial sector. Based on StoNED model, as a measurement of the technological progress, the total factor productivity (TFP) of China's industry is estimated by using panel input-output data of the industrial sector at provincial level, and then, the impact of abatement efforts and TFP on the emissions of SO2 and COD in China's industry is investigated. The results show that (i) there is too much statistical noise in input-output data of China's industry, and it could lead to an underestimate of TFP if all deviations from the production frontier are attributed to inefficiency; (ii) improving TFP has greater impact on the reduction of the industrial SO2 and COD than increasing abatement efforts does, although improving TFP does not exert statistically significant effect on COD emission.