Effects Of Discharge Fees Of Pollutants On Heterogeneity Industry Employment

Environmental protection and employment are two of the China's major people's livelihood issues of both strategy and society. In recent years, the "optimization of employment" has become an important target option of macroeconomic policy. At the same time, an effective environmental policy should make the relations between the environmental and economic sectors become more balanced. Compared to the environmental effects of discharge fees, employment effects of discharge levy had received little attention. Therefore, how to balance environmental protection goal and employment more fully target become the research topics today.Based on the measurement of industry sector discharge fees of waste water and waste gas from 2002 to 2011, this article used the panel data model with the heterogeneous industry assumption to test the nonlinear relationship between pollutant discharge fees and industry employment in China in order to review the historic role of discharge fee and to provide with policy implications for the upcoming transfer from discharge fee to pollution tax. The study showed that the overall relationship between the discharge fees of pollutants and industry employment is “U” type, and turning point is 9.33. In terms of industry heterogeneity, the cleaning industries such as light manufacturing and clean production sectors have lower pollution emissions intensity, and then bear the relatively lower discharge fees. But the discharge levy and employment relations are also belonging to the “U” type. The polluting industries such as the heavy industry and pollution intensive industry sectors have higher pollution emissions intensity, and then bear the relatively higher cost, but the discharge levy has no significant impacts on the polluting industries. In terms of discharge heterogeneity, the relationship between wastewater discharge levy and industry employment is “U” type, but the waste gas discharge levy has no significant effect on the industry employment.Therefore, in order to achieve a win-win situation, on the one hand, policy makers can improve discharge levy standard, expand the levy scope and develop the emission standards for different types industry to strengthen environmental protection; on the other hand, policy makers can optimize the industrial structure and actively support and develop high technology industries to promote industrial jobs.