The impact of PM2.5 pollution on residents’ health and economic loss accounting in China

Reasonable assessment of the health risks and economic losses of urban residents caused by air pollution is of great significance for regional air pollution control, environmental policy planning and implementation, and the construction of health in China. Based on the data of PM2.5 Concentration and population density in 338 Cities of China from 2015 To 2017, this paper estimates the premature death and related disease incidence caused by exposure to PM2.5 Pollution by the means of the Exposure-Response model,and assesses the direct economic losses of PM2.5 Pollution by the methods of the Life Value Method (VSL) and Disease Cost (COI). The results show that: 1) From 2015 To 2017, pM2.5 Mass concentration has improved to some extent, but the overall spatial pollution pattern has not changed significantly. The highly polluted areas are mainly distributed in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei regions and their surrounding cities; 2) PM2.5 Pollution has led to a significant reduction in terminal health losses and economic losses. Among them, the number of residents who lost terminal health decreased by 23.9%,the total economic loss of residents decreased by 24.24% from 1 824.96 Billion yuan in 2015 To 1 382.64 Billion yuan in 20173) The increase of urbanization rate exacerbates the impact of PM2.5 Pollution on the health problems and corresponding economic losses, especially in some cities with high pollution and high urbanization level, such as Beijing and Tianjin. In the future, measures should be taken in line with local conditions to strengthen PM2.5 Monitoring and control in key cities and effectively protect the public health of urban residents

Population aging and pension systems : reform options for China

Using an integrated simulation model, the authors estimate the scope and speed of population-aging in China, the cost of supporting the old, and the impact of different reform options and pension arrangements. Among their conclusions: The scope and speed of population-aging in China make the present pension system financially unsustainable, even assuming that GDP grows steadily in the long term. Moving the retirement age back would provide a temporary fix for the current pay-as-you-go pension system but would be politically viable only where there is great demand for labor. Pension funds could be made more sustainable by increasing GDP growth, raising contribution rates, or gradually reducing benefit rates. But the financial costs and social obstacles of those reform options must be carefully assessed. Fully funded, privately managed pension schemes might be feasible, but require a sound regulatory framework and institutional infrastructure,including financial markets that provide adequate savings instruments and insurance options. Pension reform is a long-term, multidimensional problem involving economic, social, political, and cultural factors. Governments should not focus only on taxes and transfers to redistribute income to and among the elderly. Real income growth is needed to cope with poverty among the elderly, especially in developing countries. To establish an adequate, efficient, and equitable social security system, China must maintain long-term socioeco nomic stability and sustainable growth. China could improve the labor market by removing management rigidities, facilitating human resource development, making labor markets more competitive, improving the household registration system, improving incentives, and rewarding hard and innovative work. To reduce unemployment, China can create more job opportunities in nontraditional sectors, especially its underdeveloped service industries. To shift jobs to the nonagricultural sector, it can develop medium-size cities. And to cushion the impact of demographic shocks, China should preserve traditional values and maintain family-community support. Drawing on experience in Europe and Latin America, China should move toward a transparent and decentralized system with 1) a fully funded, portable, defined-benefit pension plan, designed to meet basic needs, and 2) occupational pension plans or personal savings accounts to satisfy demand for maintaining or improving living standards.Public Health Promotion,Health Economics&Finance,Environmental Economics&Policies,Pensions&Retirement Systems,Labor Policies,Environmental Economics&Policies,Health Economics&Finance,Governance Indicators,Pensions&Retirement Systems,Achieving Shared Growth

Drivers of Urban Sprawl in Urbanizing China – A Political Ecology Analysis

Chinese cities have undergone a process of urbanization that has resulted in significant urban sprawl in the past 20 years. This paper uses the \u27ecology of actors\u27 framework to analyze the interactions between various state, market and civil society players that result in excessive land conversion from agricultural to urban use. The paper shows that under the existing institutional setting, the interests of most actors involved in the process are aligned towards greater land development and growth. The more land is developed, the more land lease revenue for the local government, the more profit for developers, and the more opportunities for compensation for farmers. Planning actors have been powerless to apply long term planning principles. There is a need to change the underlying rules of the game so that environmental impacts of land conversion are fully taken into account in the future economic calculations of actors involved in the process

Addressing China's growing water shortages and associated social and environmental consequences

China has experienced a wide-scale and rapid transformation from an agricultural based economy to the manufacturing workshop of the world. The associated relocation of the population from relatively low density rural areas to very high density urban areas is having a significant impact on the quantity and quality of water available as inputs into the production and consumption process, as well as the ability of the water system to absorb and neutralize the waste byproducts deposited into it. Water shortages are most severe in the north of the country, where surface water diversion is excessive and groundwater is being depleted. In addition, the quality of water is deteriorating because of pollution, thereby aggravating existing water shortages. The biggest challenge ahead will be for national and local governments to craft policies and rules within China's complex cultural and legal administrative system that provide incentives for users to increase efficiency of water use, and for polluters to clean up the water they use and return clean water to stream flows. Using a standard public economics framework, water requirements for public goods-such as ecosystem needs-should be set aside first, before allocating property rights in water (to enable water markets to functionand generate efficient allocation signals). Even then, water markets will have to be regulated to ensure public goods, such as public health, are not compromised. Until water markets are implemented, staying the course on increasing water and wastewater prices administratively and encouraging water conservation are necessary to reduce the wasting of current scarce water resources, as well as the new water supplies to be provided in the future.Water Supply and Sanitation Governance and Institutions,Town Water Supply and Sanitation,Water and Industry,Water Conservation,Water Use