Does the air pollution joint prevention and control policy possess the Porter effect in China -evidence from two perspectives

Abstract In order to fundamentally get rid of the plight of air pollution, China has introduced and implemented a series of joint prevention and control (AJPC) policies on air pollution. The Porter hypothesis emphasizes that environmental policies can create both environmental and economic dividends, building a win-win prospect for energy efficiency and economic growth, that is the Porter effect. However, the Porter effect of AJPC has not received the attention it deserves. Therefore, we empirically studied the short- term and long-term Porter effect of AJPC. Firstly, using the data of 283 prefecture-level cities, we studied the short-term Porter effect of AJPC by applying Propensity Score Matching Difference-in-Difference model (PSM-DID). Then, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was used to estimate the potential Porter effect of AJPC, that is, the potential economic and environmental dividends of AJPC. In addition, we also calculated regional Global Malmquist Luenberger (GML) to observe variations in total factor productivity to observe the technology change caused by AJPC. Results showed that, AJPC policy has not realized Porter effect from the short-term perspective. In the long run, AJPC has environmental dividends but no economic dividends. In other words, there is no long-term Porter effect with AJPC. The implementation of AJPC policies can increase regional total factor productivity, in which technical efficiency is improved but technological progress remains unchanged.