What is the Role of Openness for China's Environment? An Analysis Based on Divisia Decomposition Method From the Regional Angle

摘要

Observing the weakness in the previous structural analyses on EKC formation, in this paper, author deepens the analysis into the detailed data of production and SO2 emission intensity of China's 29 industrial sectors (occupying over 98% of the total industrial production) in each province during 1991-2001. With the aid of Divisia Index Decomposition method, the variation of the provincial-level industrial SO2 emission with regard to the original level of 1990 is decomposed into the contribution from its three determinants: the variations in its production scale, its composition transformation and its technique character changes. The following analysis aims to reveal regional differences in environmental impact of industrialization and to further interrogate the potential links between these regionspecific environmental impacts of industrialization and development of commercial openness in each province.