How Does Environmental Information Disclosure Affect Public Health? Evidence from the New Ambient Air Quality Standards.

Using a quasi-natural experiment of the implementation of the new Ambient Air Quality Standards in China, this paper assessed the impact of environmental information disclosure on public health. Our empirical results showed that environmental information disclosure (EID) largely improved both physical health and mental health. Moreover, we further investigated the air pollution channel, and the empirical results showed that EID could reduce the concentration of PM2.5, which could cause an increase in public health as the concentration of PM2.5 decreases. In addition, in terms of individual characteristics, the impact of EID was larger for men, people living in the countryside and people older than 60. In terms of the heterogeneity of cities, the impact of EID was larger in cities with higher public environmental concerns, and the impact of EID was more pronounced in core cities. For regional heterogeneity, the impact of EID on physical health was more pronounced in more developed regions, whereas the impact EID on mental health was higher in less developed regions.

Identification of critical factors in construction and demolition waste recycling by the grey-DEMATEL approach: a Chinese perspective.

The extensive waste produced in construction and demolition activities affects the ecological environment, impeding green development in countries worldwide, including China. China has paid increasing attention to managing construction and demolition waste (CDW). However, most of the existing research only qualitatively studies the factors affecting the recycling of CDW and does not reveal the critical factors. Therefore, based on stakeholder theory and the grey-DEMATEL method, this paper aims to identify and quantitatively analyze the critical factors in CDW recycling from the perspective of China. This paper drew the following conclusions: (1) Stakeholders in China's CDW recycling mainly include the government, CDW production units, and CDW recycling units. (2) Public policy, government subsidies, media promotion, human resources, cost, environmental awareness, technological innovation, and supply chain management are the eight dimensions with 13 factors that constitute CDW recycling in China. (3) For the total relations between factors affecting the recycling of CDW in China, the most influential factor is specific legislation and regulations. The factor with the highest degree of prominence is environmental awareness. The factor with the largest net cause value is the rationality of disposal and landfill charges. The factor with the largest net effect value is experienced construction workers. (4) The critical factors in China's CDW recycling include specific legislation and regulations, mandatory degree of normative standards, environmental awareness, the supply of raw materials for CDW recycling units, and the sale of remanufactured products. Finally, this paper identifies the following management implications: (1) the government should prioritize the task of improving specific legislation and regulations, with a focus on a mandatory degree of normative standards. (2) CDW production units should put the task of improving environmental awareness high on their agenda, with a focus on the supply of raw materials for recycling units. (3) CDW recycling units should prioritize the issue of the sale of remanufactured products. This paper also provides a theoretical basis for revealing the critical factors of CDW recycling in other countries or regions.