Monash University > News and Events > Monash Memo

China choking on its economic growth

13 August 2008

Professor Russell Smyth

China could significantly improve the well-being of its pollution-sick people by reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by just one per cent, a world-first study by Monash University economists has found.

Professor Russell Smyth, the study's lead author, said the findings were at odds with China's official position that curbing its emissions would have mostly negative consequences for its people.

"The findings challenge China's argument that it should keep producing big amounts of greenhouse gas pollutants, despite the huge threat posed by climate change, because the Chinese people would otherwise forego some increased quality of life," Professor Smyth said.

The study is based on a survey of 8890 adults living in 30 major Chinese cities, including Beijing. Respondents ranked their well-being on a scale of one to five.

Professor Smyth said there was a strong negative correlation between peoples' well-being and their city's level of atmospheric pollution, as measured by sulphur dioxide emissions. China is the world's biggest burner of coal, a resource that accounts for 90 per cent of the country's sulphur dioxide emissions.

"We found a one per cent increase in a city's atmospheric pollution increased the probability of a respondent classifying themselves in a lower well-being category by 15 per cent," he said.

"We also found that in cities with high levels of atmospheric pollution and traffic congestion, Chinese citizens reported significantly lower levels of well-being."

Professor Smyth said the study was the first to focus on the relationship between environmental variables and well-being in China.

"The threat posed by climate change and a better knowledge of the relationship between atmospheric pollution and well-being in urban China should be a strong incentive for China to be more proactive in curbing emissions," Professor Smyth said.

Professor Smyth is Director of the Asia Business and Economics Research Unit in the Faculty of Business and Economics at Monash University.