High times and troubled relationships: Recreational marijuana laws and intimate partner violence.

This study explores the relationship between Recreational Marijuana Laws (RMLs) and intimate partner violence (IPV). While marijuana is often considered harmless, the existing medical literature reveals both positive and negative impacts of its active ingredient on brain function. Utilizing a difference-in-difference methodology spanning 2006-2016 across 39 states, we find that RMLs produce a 20 percent increase in IPV incidents per 100,000 individuals, which appears to be mediated through mental health issues and binge drinking. These findings highlight the likely need for preventive and proactive policies to address the complex interplay of marijuana, RMLs, and IPV.

Effect of long-term care insurance policy on depression in non-disabled people: evidence from China.

BACKGROUND: Policy effect might be multidimensional and spill over to non-recipients. It is unclear how the implementation of Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCI) policy affects depression in non-disabled people and how this effect differs in different non-disabled groups. METHODS: Using time-varying differences-in-differences method and nationally representative health survey data in wave 2011, wave 2013, wave 2015 and wave 2018 from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, we assessed the effect of LTCI policy on depression in non-disabled people aged 45 years and older, and discussed the heterogeneity of effect across different population characteristics: retirement, financial support and social participation status. RESULTS: We found LTCI policy statistically significant reduced depression by 0.76 units in non-disabled people compared to non-pilot cities. Depression in non-disabled people who unretired, with financial support and without social participation was reduced by 0.8267, 0.7079 and 1.2161 units, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Depression in non-disabled people was statistically significant reduced because of LTCI policy in China, and non-disabled people who unretired, with financial support and without social participation benefited more from LTCI policy. Our findings highlight the depression-reducing effect of LTCI policy in non-recipients and suggest that non-disabled people who unretired, with financial support and without social participation should be concerned during LTCI policy progress.

How do national marine parks contribute to tourism eco-efficiency in coastal cities? The case of China.

This research investigates how establishing national marine parks in China enhances marine tourism ecology. Analyzing data from 52 coastal cities between 2006 and 2019, it uses a multi-period difference-in-differences method to evaluate the parks' impact on tourism eco-efficiency. The results show that national marine parks significantly improve coastal cities' tourism eco-efficiency, especially in the Bohai Rim and seaside cities. The study attributes this improvement to the reduction of fixed asset investments, which controls the scale of tourism development. These findings provide vital insights for countries seeking to revitalize their marine tourism sectors through similar ecological restoration strategies.

Intermediary liability and trade in follow-on innovation.

Intellectual property rights have changed the market value and direction of artistic innovation throughout art history, in particular when new creations built on the art of predecessors. In this paper, we test how changes in legal frameworks and litigation risks affected market value and commercial trade around artistic reuses in the figurative arts and the 'Appropriation Art' movement in particular. Appropriation artists borrow images from different sources and incorporate them into new, derivative works of art. By doing so, they risk infringing copyright but also put auction trade and artwork availability at litigation risk as liability can extend to market intermediaries, such as auction houses, museums, or galleries. Using a differences-in-differences model and large-scale online data, we investigate the causal impact of the prominent Cariou v. Prince U.S. higher court decision on intermediary trade and the availability of artworks on sale in the Appropriation Art. As an exogenous shock, this decision changed the perceived litigation risk for market intermediaries around what constitutes fair use. Following the court decision, we find a temporary decline in the total number of global auctions in the Appropriation Art, a lower sales probability of these artworks, and a relocation of related auctions to non-U.S. houses.

A comparative analysis of accident modification functions for traffic law enforcement.

Traffic law enforcement is a road safety measure whose effects on accidents or injuries is best described by means of a function rather than a point estimate. An informative function should comprise both increases and decreases in enforcement. Currently available accident modification functions cannot serve this need. A fruitful approach to developing accident modification functions covering both increases and decreases in enforcement is differences-in-differences estimates based on multivariate accident prediction models. The paper explains how to develop such estimates and illustrates them. The interpretation of the results of empirical studies can be informed by a game-theoretic model of the effects of enforcement, previously published in Accident Analysis and Prevention (Bjørnskau and Elvik 1992, 507-520).

Effect of the characteristic town policy on sewage treatment in mountainous areas: Evidence from Chongqing.

The report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China highlighted the necessity of advancing a new type of urbanization with people at the core. Characteristic towns as an essential link between new urbanization and rural revitalization attach great importance to creating a beautiful environment. Sewage treatment is an indispensable foundation for a town's high-quality economic and social development; however, it may be hard to achieve through urban construction. Therefore, using data from 584 organic towns in Chongqing, a typical mountainous city in western China, this study empirically analyzes the effect of the characteristic town policy in China on mountainous sewage treatment and its mechanisms from 2014 to 2020. The results indicate that (1) the characteristic town policy helps enhance sewage treatment in small towns, which remains valid after a series of robustness tests. (2) Investment and human resource effects are mediators for the characteristic town policy to boost sewage treatment in small towns. Further analyses reveal that the boosting effect of the characteristic town policy on small-town sewage treatment is more significant for small towns with higher economic development levels suffering ecological and environmental pressures. These findings provide a basis for a broad recognition of the effect of the characteristic town policy and its impact. They also theoretically enrich the awareness of the Chinese government's urbanization policy concerning the economy and society.

The effects of carbon trading on resident income: a theoretical and empirical study on the pilot carbon market in China.

Establishing an efficient carbon emissions trading market is a priority to achieve the goal of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. In the context of income inequality and emissions inequality, this study examined the efficiency of carbon trading in China from the perspective of resident income. First, this paper used the Cobb-Douglas (C-D) production function to incorporate carbon intensity into the production network model and obtained the expression of household income by solving the Walras equilibrium. Secondly, this study put forward a theory that Carbon trading affects the income level of individuals. Finally, in order to test the theory, the study used the differences-in-differences (DID) method, provincial panel data from 2005 to 2019, and the quasi-natural experiment of China's carbon emissions trading pilot. The results indicated that this policy could reduce the per capita disposable income level. Further heterogeneity research showed that although the emission reduction effect was significant, the pilot policy failed to save emission reduction costs and improve residents' welfare. The low efficiency of the carbon market was mainly attributed to the insufficient liquidity of the pilot carbon market. Therefore, it not only failed to achieve efficiency but also increased unnecessary costs, which had a negative impact on income. In addition, the consumption patterns of residents and the industrial-oriented economic structure exacerbated the decline in income.

Health spillover studies of long-term care insurance in China: evidence from spousal caregivers from disabled families.

BACKGROUND: To alleviate the shortage of caregivers associated with disabled persons, China has implemented a pilot policy for long-term care insurance. This policy has the characteristics of "familialization" and "de-familialization" policy orientation, and it is indeed essential to clarify whether the policy has a positive spillover effect on the health of family caregivers, which is of great value to the pilot from local practice to national institutional arrangement. METHODS: Based on the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study microdata and time-varying DID method, our study used the implementation of the pilot policy as a "quasi-natural experiment" to assess the health spillover effects of the pilot policy on family spousal caregivers. RESULTS: This policy significantly improved the health of spousal caregivers, increasing self-rated health and life satisfaction, and reducing depression; Compared with female, urban and central-western spousal caregivers, male, rural and eastern spousal caregivers were "beneficiaries" in more dimensional health. CONCLUSIONS: Our research indicated that spousal caregivers of disabled people, particularly male, rural and eastern spousal caregivers, experienced positive health spillovers after implementing long-term care insurance. These results suggest that the imbalance between supply and demand of nursing staff could be solved in terms of de-familialization and familialization, spousal caregivers should be promoted to equally enjoy the policy benefits on gender, urban-rural and regions.

Physician-Targeted Interventions Reduce Surgical Expense and Improve Value-Driven Health Outcomes.

INTRODUCTION: Increasing health-care costs in the United States have not translated to superior outcomes in comparison to other developed countries. The implementation of physician-targeted interventions to reduce costs may improve value-driven health outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of physician-targeted interventions to reduce surgical expenses and improve care for patients undergoing total thyroidectomies. METHODS: Two separate face-to-face interventions with individual surgeons focusing on surgical expenses associated with thyroidectomy were implemented in two surgical services (endocrine surgery and otolaryngology) by the surgical chair of each service in Jun 2016. The preintervention period was from Dec 2014 to Jun 2016 (19 mo, 352 operations). The postintervention period was from July 2016 to January 2018 (19 mo, 360 operations). Descriptive statistics were utilized, and differences-in-differences were conducted to compare the pre and postintervention outcomes including cost metrics (total costs, fixed costs, and variable costs per thyroidectomy) and clinical outcomes (30-d readmission rate, days to readmission, and total length of stay). RESULTS: Patient demographics and characteristics were comparable across pre- and post-intervention periods. Post-intervention, both costs and clinical outcomes demonstrated improvement or stability. Compared to otolaryngology, endocrine surgery achieved additional savings per surgery post-intervention: mean total costs by $607.84 (SD: 9.76; P < 0.0001), mean fixed costs by $220.21 (SD: 5.64; P < 0.0001), and mean variable costs by $387.82 (SD: 4.75; P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Physician-targeted interventions can be an effective tool for reducing cost and improving health outcomes. The effectiveness of interventions may differ based on specialty training. Future implementations should standardize these interventions for a critical evaluation of their impact on hospital costs and patient outcomes.

The impact of environmental tax laws on heavy-polluting enterprise ESG performance: A stakeholder behavior perspective.

Environmental taxation is an essential tool employed by governments to compel polluting enterprises to undergo green transformation, thereby achieving sustainable development. This paper uses Differences-in-Differences (DID) approach to assess the impact of the China's environmental tax law on the ESG performance of heavily polluting industries. Furthermore, it examines the moderating effect of stakeholder behavior on the relationship between the environmental tax law and the ESG performance of firms. The research findings indicate that the environmental tax law significantly enhances the ESG performance of heavy polluting enterprises by improving the environmental factor. However, heterogeneity is observed based on ownership characteristics and regional variations. Auditors, mass media and corporate ethical behavior exhibit a significant positive moderating effect on the causal relationship between the environmental tax law and the ESG performance of heavily polluting enterprises. This study contributes to a clearer understanding of the intrinsic relationship between environmental tax laws and ESG performance, and offers insights from the perspective of stakeholder behavior for formulating a path towards sustainable development in the country, thereby providing policy lessons for numerous developing countries worldwide.

Quantifying the coal mining impact on the ecological environment of Gobi open-pit mines.

Xinjiang is a coal-rich region with many bare rocky and gravelly areas with a delicate and fragile ecology. What is the ecological impact of mining activities? In this study, the Salinity Index (SI-T), New Gravel Land Index (NGLI), and Land Deterioration Index (LD) were used to establish an improved remote sensing ecological index (IRSEI) for the HongShaQuan open-pit coal mine (HSQ). The spatial and temporal evolution of the ecological environment of the HSQ was revealed by IRSEI and unary linear regression analysis. Moreover, the influence of mining on the ecological environment of the Gobi mining area was quantitatively evaluated by the random forest model (RF) and difference-in-difference (DID) approach. The results indicated that the value of IRSEI in HSQ had typically decreased over the last 30a. The ecological environment in most areas of the study area was poor and fair levels. The ecological environment of the whole study area showed a decreasing pattern from southeast to northwest. The proportion of degraded area (52.33 %) was much higher than that of improved area (0.39 %). The average residual before and after mining in HSQ were -0.1011 and -0.2323, respectively, which were much higher than that of the whole study area (-0.0330 and -0.0658, respectively), indicating that the mining activities in HSQ harmed the ecological environment and aggravated the degradation of the ecological environment. The impact of mining activities on the ecological environment from 2000 to 2021 was -0.138 using DID. The results from the multiple regression model (MR), RF, and DID during the pre-mining period (2000-2011) were -0.0709, -0.1011, and -0.1345, respectively, while they became -0.1765, -0.2323, and -0.1963 during the post-mining period (2012-2020), respectively. The latter was worse than the former, all showing that the mining activities of HSQ had resulted in a negative effect on the ecological environment. It also demonstrated that the negative value of mining from the MR, RF, and DID have a very similar change trend and was near in value. This verified the feasibility of DID and RF in quantitative analysis of the ecological environment. The ecological environment quality of HSQ was mainly affected by climate change, and less influenced by mining, the contribution rates of both in the IRSEI improved area were 88.48 % and 11.52 %, respectively; and in the degraded area were 69.45 % and 30.55 %, respectively. Therefore, the Gobi mining area should pay attention to the protection of the ecosystem while developing coal. Planting vegetation can promote the governance and restoration of the ecological environment in the mining area.

Will green credit promote corporate environmental protection investment?

As a national macro policy, green credit is put forward in essence to guide the green transformation of enterprises. While realizing industrial upgrading and economic growth, the state should not ignore the problem of ecological environment. "Two high and one surplus" enterprises are often the key force to promote the development of the national economy, and the uncertainty of environmental protection investment brings difficulties to the decision-making of these enterprises. Therefore, can this policy promote "two high and one surplus" enterprises to increase investment in environmental protection? Based on the panel data of A-share listed companies from 2007 to 2020, this paper takes the implementation of "Green Credit Guidelines (2012)" as a quasi-natural experiment, using differences-in-differences model to explore the impact of this policy on environmental protection investment of "two high and one surplus" enterprises. The empirical results show that the green credit policy significantly reduces the environmental protection investment of "two high and one surplus" enterprises, and the policy effect has stronger inhibitory on private enterprises and enterprises located in regions that have a higher level of financial development. The research of this paper enriches the influencing factors of enterprise environmental governance behavior and the micro evidence of the effect of green credit policy, as well as enlightenment for promoting the construction of ecological civilization and realizing green development.

Can new energy demonstration city policy reduce carbon emissions? A quasi-natural experiment from China.

Against achieving carbon peaking by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060 context in China, the new energy demonstration city policy (NEDCP) has a crucial function to perform in promoting resource utilization efficiency, building the green development policy system, and facilitating carbon emission reduction. However, existing research has rarely investigated the contribution of NEDCP on carbon reduction. To investigate the policy effect of NEDCP, the differences-in-differences (DID) model is introduced to quantify the influence of NEDCP on carbon reduction, taking a statistical sample of 285 Chinese cities over the period 2005-2017 on the basis of exploring the intrinsic mechanism of NEDCP on carbon emissions. The statistical results reveal that NEDCP significantly inhibits carbon emissions. NEDCP's dampening impact on carbon reduction is more pronounced in the eastern area but not in other areas. City size and resource endowment heterogeneity results suggest that NEDCP significantly inhibits the output of carbon emissions in non-resource-based and large cities but insignificantly in resource-based and small- and medium-sized cities. Finally, we conclude that policy-makers should not only broaden the scope of NEDCP implementation continuously but also design relevant policy combination tools following the basic characteristics of each city to provide institutional guarantees for achieving carbon emission reduction.

Can carbon emission trading pilot policy drive industrial structure low-carbon restructuring: new evidence from China.

Industrial structure low-carbon restructuring is an essential channel to accelerate China's economic growth and fulfilling carbon emission reduction goals. Whether carbon emission trading pilot policy, as an influential carbon reduction instrument, fosters industrial structure low-carbon restructuring is of major significance to green economic development. This paper empirically investigates the shock of the carbon emission trading pilot policy on industrial structure low-carbon restructuring using the differences-in-differences (DID) and synthetic control method (SCM). Statistics reveal that sectors with low carbon productivity, such as electricity, steam, and hot water production and supply, ferrous metal smelting and pressing, etc., and sectors with high carbon productivity, such as electrical equipment and machinery, electronics and telecommunication equipment, etc. The industrial structure did not develop a stable trend of change before the 12th Five-Year Plan, but a stable trend of low-carbon restructuring emerged after such a period. Carbon emission trading pilot policy significantly facilitates industrial structural low-carbon restructuring. Carbon emission trading pilot policy inhibits energy-intensive industries in the industrial sector significantly, which promotes industrial structure low-carbon restructuring. Therefore, policymakers need to develop a nationwide carbon emission trading market that includes more industries to guide production factors to industrial sectors with high carbon productivity for industrial restructuring and dual carbon goals.

Discussion on "Instrumented difference-in-differences" by Ting Ye, Ashkan Ertefaie, James Flory, Sean Hennessy, and Dylan S. Small.

We discuss Ye et al. 2022, which combines instrumental variables methods with difference in differences. First, we compare the paper to other works in the difference in differences literatures and argue that the main contribution lies in the multiply robust estimation approach. Then, we reformulate the causal assumptions in Ye et al. 2022 in the usual theoretical framework of the instrumental variables literature. This clarifies in which sense the difference in differences design can weaken the standard instrumental variable conditions.

The outgoing audit of natural resources assets and enterprise productivity: New evidence from difference-in-differences-in-differences in China.

Despite increasing evidence documenting the role of the outgoing audit of natural resources (OANRA) in environmental governance and enterprise innovation, little is known about its impact on enterprises' total factor productivity (TFP). To address this question, we treat the OANRA policy launched in 2014 in China as a quasi-natural experiment. We adopt a difference-in-differences-in-differences (DDD) method that exploits three-dimensional variations: city (i.e., OANRA cities versus non-OANRA cities), industry (i.e., more polluting industries versus less polluting ones), and year (i.e., before and after the OANRA policy). Employing a dataset of Chinese industrial listed companies from 2012 to 2019, we reveal that after the OANRA implementation, enterprises' TFP in more polluting industries of OANRA cities decreases by 4.0%. Our mechanism analysis shows that the OANRA restrains the TFP by reducing the financing scale of enterprises and increasing environmental investment of governments. Further, the heterogeneity analysis finds the inhibitory effect of the OANRA is more prominent in large-scale and state-owned enterprises, as well as enterprises located in eastern, low fiscal pressure, and high pollutant emission cities. Our findings provide support for the neoclassical economics hypothesis that the OANRA increases enterprises' compliance costs and decreases their productivity.

Did a successful fight against COVID-19 come at a cost? Impacts of the pandemic on employment outcomes in Vietnam.

Despite its low middle-income status, Vietnam has been widely praised for its success in the fight against early waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a low mortality rate of approximately 100 deaths out of a population of less than 100 million by the end of 2020. We add to the emerging literature on COVID-19 effects on the labor market for poorer countries by analyzing rich individual-level data from Vietnam's Labor Force Surveys spanning 2015 to 2020. We find post-pandemic increases in unemployment and temporary layoff rates alongside decreases in employment quality. Monthly wages declined even as the proportion of workers receiving below-minimum wages substantially increased, contributing to sharply rising wage inequality. Our findings suggest that more resources should be allocated to protect vulnerable workers, especially as the pandemic continues to cause increasingly severe damage to the global economy.

Does the construction of network infrastructure reduce environmental pollution?-evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in "Broadband China".

This paper discusses the effect of network infrastructure on environmental pollution reduction and the realization mechanism behind it. Based on the panel data of 285 cities in China from 2005 to 2019, this study regards the "Broadband China" pilot policy as a quasi-natural experiment to clarify the pollution emission reduction effect of network infrastructure construction through differences-in-differences method and other methods. The research results show the following: (1) The Broadband China pilot policy has reduced environmental pollution, that is, the construction of network infrastructure has the effect of environmental pollution reduction. The conclusion is still established after a series of robustness tests such as parallel trend test, placebo test, and instrumental variable method. Through the heterogeneity test, it is found that the pollution reduction effect of network infrastructure construction is more obvious in non-resource-based cities, first and second tier cities, and cities in the eastern region (2). The construction of network infrastructure plays a restraining role on local environmental pollution. Due to the insufficient level of regional linkage and the siphon effect of pilot cities, the spatial spillover characteristics of the pollution reduction effect are not obvious (3). The mechanism of action shows that green innovation is an important mediating effect mechanism for network infrastructure construction to reduce environmental pollution. Cities in regions with high degree of marketization and environmental regulation can strengthen the effect of network infrastructure construction on environmental pollution reduction. The research conclusions are conducive to accelerating the development of the digital economy represented by the construction of network infrastructure and provide a useful reference for promoting the level of environmental pollution reduction and achieving high-quality development.

Will the "Environmental Fees to Taxes" Affect Firm Charitable Giving?

This study examines the impact of the 2018 "environmental protection fee to tax" policy on the charitable giving of polluting firms between 2015 and 2019 using a differences-in-differences method. This study found that implementing the "environmental protection fee to tax" policy reduced the level of charitable giving by polluters. The decline in charitable-giving levels was more pronounced among firms classified as heavy polluters, firms from the East of China, and non-state firms. The results suggest that the "environmental protection fee to tax" policy cannot only encourage firms to become more environmentally conscious but can also be used to determine the motivations behind firm charitable donations. The policy of changing environmental protection fees to taxes needs to be effectively implemented in China and strengthen the implementation effect.This study enriches the literature on environmental policies and firm charitable giving and provides empirical evidence on the economic consequences of the "environmental protection fee to tax" policy. It can also help polluters and regulators to understand the "environmental protection fee better to tax" policy and help the government to improve the external systems that regulate and guide corporate social responsibility.

Carbon Emissions Trading and Green Technology Innovation-A Quasi-natural Experiment Based on a Carbon Trading Market Pilot.

Carbon emissions trading policy has received widespread attention from scholars as a core policy tool to reduce carbon emissions. While most scholars have previously focused on the carbon emission reduction effect, this paper investigates the impact of carbon emissions trading policy on green technology innovation using a differences-in-differences method based on provincial panel data from 2005-2019, using a carbon emissions trading pilot as a quasi-natural experiment. The findings show that the policy can significantly promote green technology innovation, but with a lagged effect, and this finding still holds in the robustness test. Further heterogeneity analysis reveals that the stronger the human capital, the stronger the intellectual property protection and the stronger the marketization with better policy effects. In addition, carbon emissions trading policy can indirectly affect green technology innovation by influencing research investment.