Population agglomeration in Chinese cities: is it benefit or damage for the quality of economic development?

This paper explores the impact of population agglomeration on urban economic development quality in various cities of China. The results show that population agglomeration significantly contributes to the improvement of urban green total factor productivity by increasing population diversification, promoting knowledge spillovers, and reducing pollution emission intensity. Moreover, we find that population agglomeration in type II big cities and type I large cities significantly improves green total factor productivity, while the impact of population agglomeration in metropolises and mega-cities on green total factor productivity is not significant. On the one hand, type II big cities and type I large cities are in the period of rising economic development, the population has not yet reached saturation, and there is still a large demographic dividend space. On the other hand, excessive population agglomeration also brings about "urban diseases" such as population congestion and traffic congestion, especially in the metropolises and mega-cities. Finally, using data on producer services and its sub-sectors, we identify a more significant driving effect of high-end talent agglomeration on green total factor productivity.

Effects of the terms and characteristics of cadres on environmental pollution: Evidence from 230 cities in China.

This study investigates the effects of cadres' terms and characteristics on environmental pollution by collecting data of 230 prefecture-level cities in 2002-2014. Results show that (1) the cadres' term shows an "inverted U" effect on environmental pollution, or it shows "first deterioration and later improvement" effect on environment. (2) Highly educated cadres are aware of the importance of environmental protection for sustainable economic development and have negative effects on environmental pollution; also, the aged cadres are less likely to be promoted and thus help to environmental protection. (3) The party congress will cause the cadres to focus on economic growth, thus ignoring environmental protection. (4) The effects of cadres on environmental pollution vary across different regions; the effects in central and western China are more serious than that in eastern China. It enriches the evidence on the relationship between governance and environmental pollution, which is significant to the government's formulation and implementation of policies related to environment protection.