The topic of air pollution and its effect on public health has become a hot policy issue that has attracted worldwide attention, but this attention has seldom been extended to the causal relationship between atmospheric environmental policy (AEP), air pollution, and public health. This paper uses panel data from 30 provinces in China to construct spatial econometric models that analyze the impact of AEP on air pollution, the impact of air pollution on public health, and the mediation effect that air pollution may have between AEP and public health. The results demonstrate that there is a significant positive spatial spillover effect of soot and dust (SD) emission intensity and the overall air pollution level as measured by the Air Pollution Index (API). The AEP has significant inhibitory effects on the intensity of sulfur dioxide and SD emissions, as well as on overall air pollution. An increase in the overall air pollution level has a significant detrimental effect on public health as measured by average life expectancy. Air pollution as measured by API is a mediating factor in the relationship between AEP and public health. The study results could help to effectively control air pollution and promote public health by leading to improvements in regional pollution prevention and control mechanisms and strengthening of the central government's policy formulation and local governments' policy implementation process.
Keywords: Air pollution; Atmospheric environmental policy; Mediation effect; Public health; Spatial econometric model.
© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.