Haitao Yin - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Haitao Yin

International Marketing Review, May 29, 2009

PurposeIn recent years, “trade up” argument has gained momentum. It argues that international int... more PurposeIn recent years, “trade up” argument has gained momentum. It argues that international integration can benefit developing countries' environments by fostering the adoption of voluntary environmental standards, such as International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001 certification. Based on this argument, a social marketing program that encourages greenness among buyers, especially downstream industrial buyers (for example, auto industry) in developed countries could motivate firms in developing countries go green. The purpose of this paper is to provide an investigation on whether “trade up” is a real hope, and what is required to make it real.Design/methodology/approachTheoretical modeling and case studies.FindingsThis paper finds that international trade does gear up the adoption of ISO 14001 standards in China through increasing pressures from international green customers. However, our analyses suggest that the adoption of ISO 14001 certification does not necessarily improve firms' compliance with existing environmental regulations in China. The actual impact depends on how stringently environmental agency carries out inspections. We also find that in China, ISO 14001 certification motivates little, if any, environmental performance improvement beyond bottom‐line environmental regulations.Research limitations/implicationsThis finding suggests that the “trade up” argument as well as a social marketing strategy targeting international buyers (including downstream industries) need to be scrutinized carefully before being used to guide practice.Originality/valueFew efforts have been made to explore the actual impacts of ISO 14001 certification in developing countries. This paper fills this gap. It provides empirical support for Andreasen's argument that social marketing should be applied more broadly to achieve the desired impacts.

Social Science Research Network, Sep 28, 2010

Several US states have passed renewable portfolio standard (RPS) policies in order to encourage i... more Several US states have passed renewable portfolio standard (RPS) policies in order to encourage investment in renewable energy technologies. Existing research on their effectiveness has either employed a cross-sectional approach or has ignored heterogeneity among RPS policies. In this paper, we introduce a new measure for the stringency of an RPS that explicitly accounts for some RPS design features that

Environment and Development Economics

This paper investigates whether pollution-intensive industries develop faster in a time of econom... more This paper investigates whether pollution-intensive industries develop faster in a time of economic downturn. Using firm-level panel data from 2005 to 2013, we find supporting empirical results in an analysis of China's manufacturing industries in the 2008 economic crisis. We find that pollution-intensive firms tended to produce more compared with non-pollution-intensive firms in the 2008 economic crisis, with the pre-crisis period as a baseline. We further find that this effect is more pronounced in areas with higher export dependence and a smaller proportion of production from pollution-intensive industries. The relatively faster production expansion in pollution-intensive industries is more evident for state-owned enterprises.

Carbon Neutrality

After a decade of planning and trials, China officially launched a national carbon trading in Jul... more After a decade of planning and trials, China officially launched a national carbon trading in July 2021. Using a standard economic model, this study shows that an unconstrained carbon trading market would face a dilemma between minimizing pollution control costs and maximizing social benefits. We further show that this would be a significant challenge in China. Our results show that areas with higher population densities also would have higher costs for carbon reduction, and hence the polluters in those areas would be net buyers in the national market. Moreover, our analysis indicates a significantly high correlation between carbon dioxide emissions and other local pollutants. Therefore, cross-regional transactions may result in more emission of other pollutants in areas with higher population density under the unconstrained national cap-and-trade system and cause larger losses in social benefits. We call for more studies to address the issue.

Associations between pollution and life expectancy, infant mortality, and cardiorespiratory disea... more Associations between pollution and life expectancy, infant mortality, and cardiorespiratory disease are documented in China. Yet, less is known about environmental drivers of Chinese cancers. Here, we systematically link polluting industrial activity to cancer incidence, cancer mortality, and cancer cluster designations. We investigate county-level associations between industrial production and age-adjusted incidence and mortality reported in official cancer registries. We then combine the locations of roughly 3 million enterprises with administrative data from roughly 600,000 villages and cancer cluster documentation from 380 villages. We show that county-level value-added from industry is associated with age-adjusted incidence and mortality for all cancers; bronchus, trachea, and lung cancers; stomach cancers; and esophageal cancers. We show that the odds that a village contains a documented cancer cluster increase 3-4 times if the village contains a pollution-intensive industrial...

Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 2018

The consumption of natural gas in China increased by only 5.7 percent in 2015, a sharp drop from ... more The consumption of natural gas in China increased by only 5.7 percent in 2015, a sharp drop from the previous year. This has resulted in aggressive restrictions on production and resale of long-term contracts. The question is: What will the supply of and demand for natural gas look like in China in the future? We estimate China's future natural gas demand based on unique panel data, and then investigate supply capacity through domestic production and international imports. Our analysis of supply and demand reveals that supply would be very likely to exceed demand in China in the future if there were no significant policy shocks. This is driven by the fact that the industrial sectors that consume natural gas the most grow much slower compared to earlier years. Possible policy shocks include price cut and encouraging the use of gas as a replacement for coal to reduce environmental woes. We also suggest that the plan for adding more supply capacity should base on a demand estimation that considers future economic growth, industrial structural shifts and environmental policy development.

Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 2019

China's 'Belt and Road Initiative' (BRI) is a major global initiative with severe implications fo... more China's 'Belt and Road Initiative' (BRI) is a major global initiative with severe implications for economies, policies and societies; yet its impacts on environment and natural resource use have received little attention. This paper fills such a gap by assessing environmental and resource impacts of China's international trade with those BRI countries after the start of the BRI in 2013. Despite potential concerns over problem shifting, we find that China's net export growth after the BRI is concentrated in pollution-intensive and resource-intensive industries, compared to what would happen otherwise, and therefore increases China's domestic environmental and resource burden. This alleviates the concern over a migration of pollution and resource exploitation from China to other BRI countries and provides valuable insights to the Chinese policy makers. Several policy recommendations are raised in order to improve the overall sustainability of China's BRI.

China combines green energy and industrial policy in its power market reform with various policy ... more China combines green energy and industrial policy in its power market reform with various policy initiatives, including price support scheme for electricity from renewable sources and subsidies in the push for broader use of greener energy. This study focuses on the impacts of power market reform on the stock price volatility of listed power companies: 1) we use the Iterative Cumulative Sums of Squares (ICSS) algorithm to identify structural break points in stock prices; 2) we analyze the characteristics of stock price volatility based on the GARCH model; 3) we report the impact of power regulation on stock price fluctuations based on the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model. The result suggests three structural breaks in China’s power stock price volatility were related to the promulgation of power market reform policies. We find that industrial policies promote the reduction of power stock price fluctuations and its impact on power stock price volatility is consistent...

Most existing empirical research on the impact of Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) policies ha... more Most existing empirical research on the impact of Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) policies has employed a cross-sectional approach or oversimplified measure for RPS which ignored the heterogeneity in RPS designs. In this paper, we have introduced a new way to measure the stringency of RPS that explicitly accounts for some RPS design features that may have a significant impact on the strength of an RPS. The difference between this new measure and other more commonly used measures is striking; some seemingly aggressive RPS policies in fact provide only weak incentives, while some seemingly moderate RPS policies are in fact fairly ambitious. We also investigate the impacts of renewable portfolio standards on the renewable electricity development using our new measure of RPS stringency, and compared the results with those when alternative measures are used. The difference in the estimates is again striking. Using our new measure, the results suggest that, on average, RPS policies have had a significant and positive effect on renewable energy development. These findings are masked when differences between RPS policies are ignored. We also find that another important design feature-allowing "free trade" of REC's-can significantly weaken the impact of an RPS. These results should prove instructive to policy makers that are interested in RPS policies, especially for countries who are developing an RPS such as China.

Journal of Business Ethics, 2011

Based on the institutional theory, this article attempts to examine two consecutive questions reg... more Based on the institutional theory, this article attempts to examine two consecutive questions regarding the impact of various factors on corporate decision in environmental information disclosure (EID): (1) whether or not to disclose; and (2) the level of disclosure. The relevance of these factors is empirically tested using data collected from publicly listed manufacturing companies from 2006 to 2008 in China. Some interesting findings appear. We find that firms that are state-owned, those that operate in environmentally sensitive industries, those having more industrial peers engaged in EID, and those with better reputation are more likely to disclose environmental information. When it comes to the content of EID, variables that attempt to capture external institutional pressures exhibit either no or weak explanatory power. Only the variable of organizational image and reputation is demonstrated to have a significant impact on both the act and the content of EID. This study provides a snapshot of the dialogues between constituencies in the organizational field and EID development.

Business Strategy and the Environment, 2009

Journal of Regulatory Economics

Environmental and Resource Economics, 2017

ABSTRACT We develop a model of state voluntary cleanup programs (VCPs) that treats them as negoti... more ABSTRACT We develop a model of state voluntary cleanup programs (VCPs) that treats them as negotiated agreements, but within a context where the background “regulatory threat” is highly contingent on particular status quo conditions. We consider three possible ...

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2007

Risk Analysis, 2010

Private risk reduction will be socially efficient only when firms are liable for all the damage t... more Private risk reduction will be socially efficient only when firms are liable for all the damage that they cause. We find that environmental insurance can achieve social efficiency even when two traditional policy instruments-ex post fines and risk management mandates with ex ante fines-do not. Inefficiency occurs with ex post fines, when small firms declare bankruptcy and escape their liabilities, limiting the incentives from this policy tool. Firms ignore mandates to implement efficient risk management because regulatory agencies do not have sufficient resources to monitor every firm. The evolution of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's and states' underground storage tank programs suggests that mandating environmental insurance can address inefficiency due to small firms declaring bankruptcy. Comparing insurance mandates to risk management mandates, the burden on a regulator is lower if all it has to do is to confirm that the firm has insurance rather than that the firm has actually, and effectively, implemented required management practices. For underground storage tanks, we show that insurance lowered toxic releases.

The Energy Journal, 2010

Renewable portfolio standards (RPSs) for electricity generation are politically popular in many U... more Renewable portfolio standards (RPSs) for electricity generation are politically popular in many U.S. states although economic analysis suggests they are not first-best policies. We present an empirical analysis of the political and economic factors that drive state governments to adopt an RPS, and the factors that lead to the inclusion of in-state requirements given the adoption of an RPS. Although advocates claim an RPS will stimulate job growth, we find that states with high unemployment rates are slower to adopt an RPS. Local environmental conditions and preferences have no significant effect on the timing of adoption. Overall, RPS adoption seems to be driven more by political ideology and private interests than by local environmental and employment benefits, raising questions as to when environmental federalism serves the public interest.

The Journal of Law and Economics, 2011

Energy Policy, 2010

The passing of the Renewable Energy Law (REL) in 2005 demonstrated China's commitment to renewabl... more The passing of the Renewable Energy Law (REL) in 2005 demonstrated China's commitment to renewable energy development. In the 3 years after the REL, China's renewable electricity capacity grew rapidly. From 2006 to 2008, China's wind capacity installation more than doubled every year for 3 years in a row. However, three facts prevent us from being optimistic about China's renewable electricity future. First, considered as a share of total capacity, renewable electricity capacity is decreasing instead of increasing. This is due simply to the rapid growth of fossil fuel capacity. Second, a significant amount of renewable generation capacity is wasted because it is not connected to the electricity grid. Finally, renewable electricity plants are running at a low level of efficiency. Based on an in-depth analysis of China's existing renewable energy policy, we suggest that these challenges should be dealt with by introducing a market-based mandatory renewable portfolio requirement coupled with strong regulatory monitoring of grid enterprises.

Ann Arbor

]. This printed version incorporates the amendment identifi ed by the erratum notice. Business St... more ]. This printed version incorporates the amendment identifi ed by the erratum notice. Business Strategy and the Environment Bus. Strat. Env.

Delays in cleaning up contaminated “brownfield” sites have led many states to adopt voluntary cle... more Delays in cleaning up contaminated “brownfield” sites have led many states to adopt voluntary cleanup programs (VCPs), but the incentives they create remain poorly understood.We present the first theoretical model ofVCPs, motivating it from a reviewof their institutional background, and the limited empirical literature on their effects. We show that tort liability alone leads to excessive development and insufficient riskmitigation, motivating the creation of mandatory cleanup programs (MCPs). We then show that MCPs with budget constraints lead to insufficient development and excessive risk mitigation, motivating the creation of VCPs. We analyze both the effect of VCPs on the extensive margin (whether a site is developed or not) and the intensive margin (mitigation level). VCPs do not increase mitigation efforts at all sites, but do increase the number of contaminated sites that areremediated and redeveloped. If designed properly they can induce highly-contaminated sites that are unknown to regulatory authorities to come forward to join the VCP.