The impact of low-carbon pilots policy on health

Hong Cao; Liyan Han; Lei Li; Libo Yin; Peng Yin

doi:10.1016/j.jce.2026.02.001

The impact of low-carbon pilots policy on health

Hong Cao
, Liyan Han
, Lei Li^*
, Libo Yin
, Peng Yin

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Economics and Management

Central University of Finance and Economics
University of Göttingen
Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

This paper quantifies the health benefits of China’s Low-Carbon Pilot (LCP) policy using individual-level mortality records. Exploiting staggered policy adoption and estimating dynamic treatment effects with the Sun and Abraham (2021) approach, we find that LCP implementation reduces pollution-related mortality among older adults by 12.6%, with the largest declines in cardiovascular, ischemic heart, and cerebrovascular deaths. The mechanism evidence points to improved air quality—achieved mainly through stronger fiscal support and tighter regulatory enforcement—and the effects are amplified in places led by younger, career-motivated officials, underscoring sizeable health benefits from climate-oriented environmental regulation.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	578-597
Number of pages	20
Journal	Journal of Comparative Economics
Volume	54
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jce.2026.02.001
State	Published - Jun 2026

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 13 Climate Action

Keywords

Air quality
Government actions
Health outcomes
Low-carbon pilot policy
Staggered difference-in-differences

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10.1016/j.jce.2026.02.001

Cite this

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title = "The impact of low-carbon pilots policy on health",

abstract = "This paper quantifies the health benefits of China{\textquoteright}s Low-Carbon Pilot (LCP) policy using individual-level mortality records. Exploiting staggered policy adoption and estimating dynamic treatment effects with the Sun and Abraham (2021) approach, we find that LCP implementation reduces pollution-related mortality among older adults by 12.6\%, with the largest declines in cardiovascular, ischemic heart, and cerebrovascular deaths. The mechanism evidence points to improved air quality—achieved mainly through stronger fiscal support and tighter regulatory enforcement—and the effects are amplified in places led by younger, career-motivated officials, underscoring sizeable health benefits from climate-oriented environmental regulation.",

keywords = "Air quality, Government actions, Health outcomes, Low-carbon pilot policy, Staggered difference-in-differences",

author = "Hong Cao and Liyan Han and Lei Li and Libo Yin and Peng Yin",

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year = "2026",

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doi = "10.1016/j.jce.2026.02.001",

language = "英语",

volume = "54",

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T1 - The impact of low-carbon pilots policy on health

AU - Cao, Hong

AU - Han, Liyan

AU - Li, Lei

AU - Yin, Libo

AU - Yin, Peng

PY - 2026/6

Y1 - 2026/6

N2 - This paper quantifies the health benefits of China’s Low-Carbon Pilot (LCP) policy using individual-level mortality records. Exploiting staggered policy adoption and estimating dynamic treatment effects with the Sun and Abraham (2021) approach, we find that LCP implementation reduces pollution-related mortality among older adults by 12.6%, with the largest declines in cardiovascular, ischemic heart, and cerebrovascular deaths. The mechanism evidence points to improved air quality—achieved mainly through stronger fiscal support and tighter regulatory enforcement—and the effects are amplified in places led by younger, career-motivated officials, underscoring sizeable health benefits from climate-oriented environmental regulation.

AB - This paper quantifies the health benefits of China’s Low-Carbon Pilot (LCP) policy using individual-level mortality records. Exploiting staggered policy adoption and estimating dynamic treatment effects with the Sun and Abraham (2021) approach, we find that LCP implementation reduces pollution-related mortality among older adults by 12.6%, with the largest declines in cardiovascular, ischemic heart, and cerebrovascular deaths. The mechanism evidence points to improved air quality—achieved mainly through stronger fiscal support and tighter regulatory enforcement—and the effects are amplified in places led by younger, career-motivated officials, underscoring sizeable health benefits from climate-oriented environmental regulation.

KW - Air quality

KW - Government actions

KW - Health outcomes

KW - Low-carbon pilot policy

KW - Staggered difference-in-differences

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DO - 10.1016/j.jce.2026.02.001

M3 - 文章

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EP - 597

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JF - Journal of Comparative Economics

IS - 2

ER -

The impact of low-carbon pilots policy on health

Abstract

UN SDGs

Keywords

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