| By: |
Zhu, Mingying;
Chen, Bo;
Hu, Zhiren;
Du, Wei |
| Abstract: |
This paper investigates whether productivity growth in the service sector can
improve environmental quality. Using the expansion of China's national
5A-level tourist attraction list as a natural experiment, we find that when a
city obtains its first nationally recognized "best" tourist attraction, the
PM2.5 concentration declines by about 5.1% over the following decade. The
improvement in air quality is driven by structural transformation resulting
from the reallocation of capital and labor toward the service sector, rather
than strengthened environmental regulations. The air quality improvement
generated an additional USD 3.1 billion in revenue for China's tourism sector
over the decade. |
| Keywords: |
Community/Rural/Urban Development |
| Date: |
2025 |
| URL: |
https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea25:360758 |