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The impact of air pollution on residents’ health in China: the mediating effect of population migration

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Jianru Fu
Jianru Fu
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Haifeng Fu
Haifeng Fu
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Chaoping Zhu
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Abstract and Figures

At present, air pollution remains a serious environmental issue with extensive attention in China. It may not only cause population outflow but also poses significant threats to residents’ health. Therefore, it has become an imperative initiative to explore the impact of air pollution on the residents’ health. In this paper, we map the spatial distribution of air pollution, population migration, and residents’ health between 2010 and 2020 based on panel data from 31 Chinese provinces. Theoretical analysis and empirical tests are then carried out to investigate the intrinsic logical relationships between the three. The research findings demonstrate the following: (1) Air pollution not only has a direct negative impact on residents’ health, but it also has an indirect impact on residents’ health through the mediating effect of population migration. (2) Air pollution has a significant negative spatial spillover effect on residents’ health, and neighboring residents are at greater health risk of being exposed to air pollution than local residents. (3) Economic development, environmental regulation, and their interaction term exhibit a single threshold effect on the health risk of air pollution. (4) From the perspective of regional heterogeneity, we find that the health risk of air pollution is greater in northern China and the southeast of the Hu Line. This paper provides valuable insights for promoting the implementation of the grand strategies of “Beautiful China” and “Healthy China.”
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Vol.:(0123456789)
Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health (2024) 17:1281–1293
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-024-01506-5
The impact ofair pollution onresidents’ health inChina: themediating
effect ofpopulation migration
JianruFu1· HaifengFu1,2· ChaopingZhu3· YingSun1· HonghaoCao1· XinDeng4
Received: 2 August 2023 / Accepted: 8 January 2024 / Published online: 24 January 2024
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2024
Abstract
At present, air pollution remains a serious environmental issue with extensive attention in China. It may not only cause
population outflow but also poses significant threats to residents’ health. Therefore, it has become an imperative initiative
to explore the impact of air pollution on the residents’ health. In this paper, we map the spatial distribution of air pollution,
population migration, and residents’ health between 2010 and 2020 based on panel data from 31 Chinese provinces. Theoreti-
cal analysis and empirical tests are then carried out to investigate the intrinsic logical relationships between the three. The
research findings demonstrate the following: (1) Air pollution not only has a direct negative impact on residents’ health, but
it also has an indirect impact on residents’ health through the mediating effect of population migration. (2) Air pollution has
a significant negative spatial spillover effect on residents’ health, and neighboring residents are at greater health risk of being
exposed to air pollution than local residents. (3) Economic development, environmental regulation, and their interaction term
exhibit a single threshold effect on the health risk of air pollution. (4) From the perspective of regional heterogeneity, we
find that the health risk of air pollution is greater in northern China and the southeast of the Hu Line. This paper provides
valuable insights for promoting the implementation of the grand strategies of “Beautiful China” and “Healthy China.”
Keywords Air pollution· Population migration· Residents’ health· Mediating effect· Spatial spillover effect· Threshold
effect
Introduction
Since the reform and opening up, the development style
of “pollution for growth” at the expense of the ecological
environment has made China one of the most seriously
polluted countries in terms of sulfur dioxide and particu-
late matter (Liu etal. 2021a; Qiu etal. 2020). According
to the Bulletin on the Ecological Environment of China
in 2022, 126 out of 339 prefectural-level and above cit-
ies in 2022 are still faced with air quality problems that
do not meet the standards (MEE and PRC 2022). In fact,
the National Population Development Plan (2016-2030)
has highlighted the need to restrict population migra-
tion, promote ecological migration in an orderly manner,
and strive for an optimal balance between population,
resources, and the environment (SC, and PRC, National
Population Development Plan 2017). Besides, as pro-
posed in Opinions on Implementing Actions for a Healthy
China, effective measures ought to be taken to improve
the healthy environment and prevent and control diseases
associated with environmental pollution. Additionally,
it is projected that by the year 2030, the health literacy
level of the national population will be no less than 30%
(SC, and PRC, Opinions on Implementing Healthy China
Action 2019). Therefore, it can be seen that the Chinese
government has realized that it exists a certain relationship
between air pollution, population migration, and residents’
health. This suggests that it is of great theoretical and
practical significance to investigate the intrinsic logical
relationships among them.
* Haifeng Fu
201950000082@jxnu.edu.cn
1 Research Center ofManagement Science andEngineering,
Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang330022, China
2 School ofFinance, Jiangxi Institute ofApplied Science
andTechnology, Nanchang330100, China
3 School ofSoftware, Jiangxi Normal University,
Nanchang330022, China
4 School ofBusiness, Jiangxi Normal University,
Nanchang330022, China
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
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