Journal of Northeastern University(Social Science) ›› 2019, Vol. 21 ›› Issue (5): 462-469.DOI: 10.15936/j.cnki.1008-3758.2019.05.004

• Economics and Management • Previous Articles     Next Articles

An Assessment of Rail Transit Operation Effects on Air Pollution Reduction——A Quasi-experimentation

GUO Shi-hong1, CHEN Li-qiang2   

  1. (1. School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China; 2. School of Economics and Management, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350116, China)
  • Received:2019-02-15 Revised:2019-02-15 Online:2019-09-25 Published:2019-09-25
  • Contact: -
  • About author:-
  • Supported by:
    -

Abstract: Based on the quasi-experimental design of regression discontinuity, an empirical analysis of the effects of the opening of Beijing Rail Transit on air pollution reduction is conducted. At the same time, the results are verified by robustness tests such as bandwidth check, discontinuity test, and control variable test. The regression result shows that the opening of rail transit has promoted air pollution reduction in Beijing as a whole and reduced the concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, SO2, CO and NO2 with no reduction of O3 concentration. The results are highly robust across a variety of estimation tests. The external validity and substitution effect of rail transit are verified based on a national sample. The extended tests show that rail transit still has a significant effect on improving air quality, which is mainly realized by the replacement of private cars, taxis and buses.

Key words: rail transit, air quality, regression discontinuity analysis, air pollution

CLC Number: