PUBLICATION Xiao, Y., Yin, H., & Moon, J. J. (2023). Coping with Externally Imposed Energy Constraints: Competitiveness and Operational Impact of China’s Top-1000 Energy-Consuming Enterprises Program. The Energy Journal, 44(2).
WORKING PAPERS How Effective Are Low-Emission Vehicle Standards? While mobile emission standards have been used for decades in several countries, their effectiveness is rarely discussed. Using the spatial and temporal variation caused by the implementation of California’s Low Emission Vehicle (LEV) program, the paper applies the difference-in-differences method and the event study method for study. It compares the monitor level ozone concentration between states that implemented the LEV program with the states that did not. It is found that the LEV program significantly reduces the ozone concentration. By using the same empirical methods on county level mortality data, the paper also find a significant reduction in respiratory diseases. The results build the first step of evaluating the LEV program, and shed light on the less-studied field of mobile source emission standards.
Monitoring and Enforcement: the Correlation Between Monitor Breakings and Enforcement Intensity The study focuses on inspection allocations in the ground-level PM2.5 pollution regulation. I use the variation in PM2.5 monitors' data completeness status, where an incomplete monitor will be less important in determining whether a county/state meets National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). This study investigates how regulators respond to a change in monitoring intensity and reveals two important findings. As a result of reduced monitoring intensity, I found that inspection resources were allocated less to regions that have less risk of violating NAAQS. Additionally, the response strategy for state regulators and county regulators differs: state regulators reduce inspection intensity, while county regulators increase it.
WORK IN PROGRESS Too Small to be Regulated? An Empirical Study on the Spillover Effect of Colorado’s “PS Memo 10-01”