The Impacts of Water Pollution Emissions on Public Health in 30 Provinces of China
China’s economy in recent decades has developed at a very rapid speed, as evidenced by its GDP jumping to second place in the world. Although utilization of domestic water resources has helped spur economic development, sewage discharge as an undesirable output has unfortunately caused many negative...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-04-01
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| Series: | Healthcare |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/8/2/119 |
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| author | Zhen Shi Shijiong Qin Chenjun Zhang Yung-ho Chiu Lina Zhang |
| author_facet | Zhen Shi Shijiong Qin Chenjun Zhang Yung-ho Chiu Lina Zhang |
| author_sort | Zhen Shi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | China’s economy in recent decades has developed at a very rapid speed, as evidenced by its GDP jumping to second place in the world. Although utilization of domestic water resources has helped spur economic development, sewage discharge as an undesirable output has unfortunately caused many negative effects on human health, causing concern from all walks of life. Therefore, governments in China at all levels are committed to urban sewage treatment policies in order to reduce the negative impact of water pollution on society. While most existing studies have targeted the macro-level modes of economic development and environmental pollution, their selection of research objects is too narrow by failing to adequately consider China's water pollution and the consequential national health crisis. This study takes cities in 30 provinces of China as the research objects and applies various influencing factors of urban wastewater treatment and health (as two stages) to the modified two-stage dynamic Slacks-Based Measures (SBM) Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model. The results reveal that the overall efficiency of each province is increasing and that the efficiency of the wastewater treatment stage is greater, thus contributing to overall efficiency. Conversely, the health stage’s efficiency is far lower than the wastewater treatment stage’s efficiency, which has a notably adverse effect on overall efficiency. In addition, most input-output variables need much improvement. Based on the findings herein, we offer specific suggestions to each province for improving sewage treatment capacity, the level of medical care, and the quality of national health. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T20:07:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b50a3326d36f43c18e47595023a74eb1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-9032 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T20:07:46Z |
| publishDate | 2020-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Healthcare |
| spelling | doaj.art-b50a3326d36f43c18e47595023a74eb12023-11-19T23:08:08ZengMDPI AGHealthcare2227-90322020-04-018211910.3390/healthcare8020119The Impacts of Water Pollution Emissions on Public Health in 30 Provinces of ChinaZhen Shi0Shijiong Qin1Chenjun Zhang2Yung-ho Chiu3Lina Zhang4Department of International Trade and Economics, Business School, Hohai University, Changzhou 213022, ChinaDepartment of Accounting, Business School, Hohai University, Changzhou 213022, ChinaDepartment of Accounting, Business School, Hohai University, Changzhou 213022, ChinaDepartment of Economics, Soochow University, 56, Kueiyang St., Sec. 1, Taipei 10048, TaiwanDepartment of Business Administration, Business School, Hohai University, Changzhou 213022, ChinaChina’s economy in recent decades has developed at a very rapid speed, as evidenced by its GDP jumping to second place in the world. Although utilization of domestic water resources has helped spur economic development, sewage discharge as an undesirable output has unfortunately caused many negative effects on human health, causing concern from all walks of life. Therefore, governments in China at all levels are committed to urban sewage treatment policies in order to reduce the negative impact of water pollution on society. While most existing studies have targeted the macro-level modes of economic development and environmental pollution, their selection of research objects is too narrow by failing to adequately consider China's water pollution and the consequential national health crisis. This study takes cities in 30 provinces of China as the research objects and applies various influencing factors of urban wastewater treatment and health (as two stages) to the modified two-stage dynamic Slacks-Based Measures (SBM) Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model. The results reveal that the overall efficiency of each province is increasing and that the efficiency of the wastewater treatment stage is greater, thus contributing to overall efficiency. Conversely, the health stage’s efficiency is far lower than the wastewater treatment stage’s efficiency, which has a notably adverse effect on overall efficiency. In addition, most input-output variables need much improvement. Based on the findings herein, we offer specific suggestions to each province for improving sewage treatment capacity, the level of medical care, and the quality of national health.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/8/2/119wastewater treatmenthealth efficiencytwo-stage dynamic SBM DEAheavy metal concentration |
| spellingShingle | Zhen Shi Shijiong Qin Chenjun Zhang Yung-ho Chiu Lina Zhang The Impacts of Water Pollution Emissions on Public Health in 30 Provinces of China Healthcare wastewater treatment health efficiency two-stage dynamic SBM DEA heavy metal concentration |
| title | The Impacts of Water Pollution Emissions on Public Health in 30 Provinces of China |
| title_full | The Impacts of Water Pollution Emissions on Public Health in 30 Provinces of China |
| title_fullStr | The Impacts of Water Pollution Emissions on Public Health in 30 Provinces of China |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Impacts of Water Pollution Emissions on Public Health in 30 Provinces of China |
| title_short | The Impacts of Water Pollution Emissions on Public Health in 30 Provinces of China |
| title_sort | impacts of water pollution emissions on public health in 30 provinces of china |
| topic | wastewater treatment health efficiency two-stage dynamic SBM DEA heavy metal concentration |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/8/2/119 |
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