AbstractThis article estimates the effect of environmental regulation on firm productivity using a spatial regression discontinuity design implicit in China's water quality monitoring system. Because water quality readings are important for political evaluations and the monitoring stations only capture emissions from their upstream regions, local government officials are incentivized to enforce tighter environmental standards on firms immediately upstream of a monitoring station, rather than those immediately downstream.

Significance

AbstractAs a key component of informal regulation, nongovernmental organization (NGO) monitoring reduces the cost of government oversight and increases the visibility of corporate performance to stakeholders, thereby promoting corporate compliance. We conduct a nationwide randomized controlled trial (RCT) to investigate the causal effect of NGO monitoring on corporate compliance as measured by the environmental information disclosure (EID) of China's highly polluting listed companies.

We conducted a nationwide field experiment in China to evaluate the direct and indirect impacts of assigning firms to public or private citizen appeals when they violate pollution standards. There are three main findings. First, public appeals to the regulator through social media substantially reduce violations and pollution emissions, while private appeals cause more modest environmental improvements. Second, public appeals appear to tilt regulators’ focus away from facilitating economic growth and toward avoiding pollution-induced public unrest.

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Abstract

A growing literature has documented widespread variation in the extent to which insurgents provide public goods, collect taxes, and regulate civilian conduct. This paper offers what is, to our knowledge, the first study of the long-term economic legacies of rebel governance. This effect is theoretically unclear. Rebel governance may generate incentives for households to expand production and accumulate resources. However, rebel rule may be too unstable to maintain such incentives.

Abstract
This study evaluates Kenya’s policy, legal, and institutional frameworks for managing the environmental, social, and
Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) impacts of gold cyanidation, focusing on Siaya County. Despite the robust national
policies and legal structures, such as the National Environment Policy, 2013 and the Mining Act, 2016, effectiveness is
compromised by enforcement gaps and insufficient institutional resources. The Siaya County Integrated Development

Abstract: The lived realities of many rural communities, and even the urban poor in Kenya, are characterised by poverty, inequality, high dependence on natural resources, rainfed agriculture, and sociocultural norms that influence their action or inaction. Recurrent droughts, floods, and changing rainfall patterns, largely caused by climate change and climate variability, further reinforce these communities' challenges.