Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 6, 2025

Evaluating the Effect of Roadside Parking on a Dual-Direction Urban Street
Published on: January 20, 2023
Causality and dynamic spillover effects of megacities on regional industrial pollution reduction
Wei Wang1, Haibo Wang2, Jun Huang3
1College of Economics and Management, Chang'an University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710064, China.
Abstract:
Regional economic power and local environmental policies have a substantial impact on pollution reduction in urban agglomerations (UAs); however, whether megacities in UAs exert spillover effects of pollution reduction on surrounding cities remains unknown. This study presents a causal analytic framework to evaluate the spillover effects of megacities on regional industrial pollution reduction in three major UAs in China between 2005 and 2016. The interaction between industrial pollution reduction and infrastructure investment indicators was also examined. Results indicated a good fit for spatial spillover of sulfur dioxide reduction (SR) in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) and Yangtze River Delta (YRD) but not in the Beijing-Hebei-Tianjin cluster (JJJ). Spatial spillover of dust reduction (DR) was evident in the PRD and JJJ but not the YRD. Spatial analysis showed that infrastructure investment indicators, at megacity and UA levels, had short-term spillover effects on surrounding cities for DR but not SR. However, spatial spillover effects, at both the city and UA levels, were substantial over the long term. In addition, the results of the spatial-time lag analysis suggest a linear relationship between pollution control-related infrastructure investment indicators and long-term pollution reduction. This study provides new information regarding the spatial spillover effects of megacities on regional industrial pollution reduction in UAs.
Related Concept Videos
Causality in Epidemiology
Criteria for Causality: Bradford Hill Criteria - I
Bioremediation
Criteria for Causality: Bradford Hill Criteria - II
Toxic Reactions: Overview
Toxicity falls into two primary categories: local and systemic.
Local toxicity appears at the exposure site, such as protein denaturation caused by caustic substances.
In contrast, systemic toxicity requires the toxic agent's absorption and distribution,...
Confounding in Epidemiological Studies

