Accountability audit of natural resource, air pollution reduction and political promotion in China: Empirical evidence from a quasi-natural experiment

Using the Accountability Audit of Natural Resource (AANR for short) issued in 2015 as a quasi-natural experiment, this thesis has explored the relationship of AANR, air pollution reduction, and political promotion in China. The results show that AANR has to some extent effectively reduced air pollution, except for Ozone. In addition, the spatial spillover effect of AANR on reducing air pollution is not only basically supported among the treated cities, but also partially established in the untreated cities neighboring the treated cities. Furthermore, there is a clear evidence that AANR has effectively broken the excessive dependence on the traditional “political tournament mechanism”, while the establishment of a new political promotion mechanism still has a long way to go. Overall, this thesis sheds light on the coordination of economic development and environmental protection from the perspective of the career concerns of local officials.