How Leadership Transition Accountability Mechanisms Drive Environmental Governance Outcomes
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54691/a7799m65Keywords:
Leadership Transition Accountability Mechanism, Environmental Governance, Urban Pollution, Difference-in-Differences (DID) Method.Abstract
This study investigates the impact of China’s “Audit of Outgoing Officials’ Natural Resource Asset Management” policy on urban environmental pollution. Utilizing a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) model and panel data from 281 cities between 2011 and 2020, we find that the policy significantly reduces pollution. The mechanism analysis reveals that this reduction is primarily achieved through increased environmental penalties, while the effect of environmental aid is not significant. Additionally, heterogeneity analysis shows that the policy’s effectiveness varies with local industrial structure and population density, being more pronounced in cities with advanced industrial structures or lower population density. This research provides valuable insights into the role of government auditing in environmental governance and offers recommendations for optimizing policy design and implementation to maximize its environmental benefits and promote sustainable development.
Downloads
References
[1] Blackman, A., Lahiri, B., Pizer, W., Rivera Planter, M., & Muñoz Piña, C. (2010). Voluntary environmental regulation in developing countries: Mexico’s Clean Industry Program. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 60(3), 182–192. https:// doi.org/ 10.1016/ j.jeem.2010.05.006
[2] Cao, H., Zhang, L., Qi, Y., Yang, Z., & Li, X. (2022). Government auditing and environmental governance: Evidence from China’s auditing system reform. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 93, 106705. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2021.106705
[3] Chen, C. (2011). Government Audit and National Economic Security. In M. Dai (Ed.), Innovative Computing and Information (Vol. 232, pp. 157–163). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23998-4_24
[4] Fang, C. J., Ahmi, A., & Sharif, Z. (2024). Government Auditing, Government Transparency, and Corruption: Empirical Evidence from Provincial Levels in China. South Eastern European Journal of Public Health, 1780–1796. https://doi.org/10.70135/seejph.vi.2699
[5] Gao, Z., Zhao, Y., Li, L., & Hao, Y. (2024). The environmental consequences of national Audit governance: An analysis based on county-level data in China. Journal of Environmental Management, 359, 120976. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.120976
[6] Lei, J. (2020). Reforming the natural resource auditing system from the ecological civilization perspective. Chinese Journal of Population, Resources and Environment, 18(2), 87–96. https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.cjpre.2019.01.001
[7] Li, S., Shen, J., & Sun, F. (2025). A study on the water resource assets management audit for outgoing officials considering asset elements. Journal of Cleaner Production, 494, 144931. https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2025.144931
[8] Peng, L., & Li, H. (2024). Environmental governance and firm’s environmental investment: Evidence from the natural resources and assets accountability audit of outgoing officials. Finance Research Letters, 65, 105545. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2024.105545
[9] Roth, J., Sant’Anna, P. H. C., Bilinski, A., & Poe, J. (2023). What’s trending in difference-in-differences? A synthesis of the recent econometrics literature. Journal of Econometrics, 235(2), 2218–2244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeconom.2023.03.008
[10] Siyiti, M., & Yao, X. (2024). Natural resource assets management and urban carbon emission efficiency: Evidence from quasi-natural experiment in China. Energy Economics, 140, 107963. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2024.107963
[11] Sun, L., Luo, K., Zhou, C., & Yan, J. (2025). Can the government environmental audits improve corporate green investment? Evidence from China. International Review of Economics & Finance, 97, 103782. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iref.2024.103782
[12] Weitzman, M. (1974). Prices Vs. Quantities. Review of Economic Studies, 41, 477–491. https://doi.org/10.2307/2296698
[13] Wen, Z. L., & Ye, B. (2014). Analyses of Mediating Effects: The Development of Methods and Models. Advances in Psychological Science, 22, 731–745. https://doi.org/10.3724/SP.J.1042.2014.00731
[14] Wu, X., Cao, Q., Tan, X., & Li, L. (2020). The effect of audit of outgoing leading officials’ natural resource accountability on environmental governance: Evidence from China. Managerial Auditing Journal, 35(9), 1213–1241. https://doi.org/10.1108/MAJ-08-2019-2378
[15] Yu, Y., Bao, Y., Zhang, Q., Shen, P., Yang, H., & Xu, Z. (2023). Evaluation of marine resources environmental responsibility audit based on PSR framework. Ocean & Coastal Management, 245, 106742. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2023.106742
[16] Zeng, H., Li, X., Zhou, Q., & Wang, L. (2022). Local government environmental regulatory pressures and corporate environmental strategies: Evidence from natural resource accountability audits in China. Business Strategy and the Environment, 31(7), 3060–3082. https:// doi.org/ 10.1002/bse.3064
[17] Zhang, G., Wang, J., & Liu, Y. (2024). How does auditing outgoing officials’ natural resource asset management policies affect carbon emission efficiency? Evidence from a debiased machine learning model. Journal of Cleaner Production, 478, 143932. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/ j.jclepro. 2024. 143932
[18] Zhang, W. (2018). Conducting Natural Resource Assets Departure Audit on Leading Cadres. Journal of Service Science and Management, 11(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.4236/jssm.2018.111004
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Frontiers in Humanities and Social Sciences

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.