Property rights governance and urban environmental pollution

Intellectual property rights governance plays a critical role in innovation protection and fosters a stronger connection between government involvement and sustainability. This paper extends property rights governance to environmental areas and uses staggered difference-in-differences to assess its effect on urban environmental pollution, using a pilot policy named National Intellectual Property Rights Demonstration Cities (NIPRDC). Our findings indicate that NIPRDC significantly reduces environmental pollution, confirmed by a set of robust tests. Meanwhile, resource-based cities show a more prominent reduction effect, and cities with higher levels of digital infrastructure and property rights protection perform better in pollution reduction. Then, the influencing mechanisms focus on green innovation and market competition. Notably, besides its macro-effect, NIPRDC also drives an industrial green transition. This study provides valuable insights for governments to utilize the advantages of NIPRDC and adopt more effective measures to balance economy and environment.