Effects of Ownership Reform on Energy and Emission Intensity of Chinese Firms
利用1998-2007年中国企业数据，研究国企私有化对污染排放强度的影响，发现私有化使SO2和烟尘强度分别上升12.5%和12.3%，企业转向末端治理而非生产环节减排。
This study examines the effect of privatization on the pollution emission intensity of companies by exploiting the quasi-natural experimental ownership reforms of state-owned enterprises in China. By matching corporate pollution emissions with firm-level microdata from 1998 to 2007, we employ a difference-in-differences strategy to identify the environmental effects of privatization. Our findings reveal a significant increase in corporate SO2 intensity and smoke and dust intensity by 12.5 percent and 12.3 percent, respectively. The magnitude of the effect varies significantly across regions and differs by the nature of ownership. We observe significant changes in production technologies and environmental mitigation strategies in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) after privatization. Privatized SOEs undergo major changes in their corporate energy input structures and tend to make a significant strategic shift in their approach to pollution mitigation, investing less in environmental innovation in production and focusing more on end-of-pipe treatments.