Original
Informational Crowding‐Out? Targeted Transparency, Environmental Nonprofits, and Public Concern in China
Abstract
ABSTRACT Transparency is often assumed to strengthen accountability by reducing information asymmetries between governments and citizens. Yet when transparency is designed primarily for hierarchical monitoring rather than societal oversight, its broader societal effects remain unclear. This study examines how a state‐led targeted transparency reform and the organizational strength of environmental civil society jointly shape public concern about pollution in China. Exploiting the staggered rollout of the National Air Quality Monitoring Stations and drawing on a unique panel dataset on environmental nonprofits and public concern from 2011 to 2019, we find that targeted transparency significantly increases public concern about air pollution, and that cities with stronger environmental civil society also exhibit higher levels of concern. However, the two effects are not additive: once the state becomes the dominant provider of credible pollution information, the marginal effect of environmental nonprofits declines. The findings suggest that transparency can heighten public attention while narrowing the informational role of nonprofit organizations. More broadly, the study shows that targeted transparency can reshape the distribution of informational authority between the state and civil society.
中文
信息挤出？定向透明度、环境非营利组织与中国的公众关切
摘要
透明度常被认为通过减少政府与公民之间的信息不对称来强化问责。然而，当透明度主要被设计用于层级监督而非社会监督时，其更广泛的社会影响仍不明确。本研究考察国家主导的定向透明度改革与环境公民社会的组织力量如何共同塑造中国公众对污染的关切。借助国家空气质量监测站的分阶段推行，并利用2011至2019年关于环境非营利组织与公众关切的独特面板数据集，我们发现，定向透明度显著提高了公众对空气污染的关切，且环境公民社会更强的城市也表现出更高水平的关切。然而，两种效应并非简单相加：一旦国家成为可信污染信息的主要提供者，环境非营利组织的边际效应便下降。研究结果表明，透明度能够提升公众关注，同时压缩非营利组织的信息角色。更广泛地说，本研究表明，定向透明度能够重塑国家与公民社会之间信息权威的分配。
关键词
定向透明度、环境非营利组织、公众关切、空气质量监测、信息不对称、国家与社会关系、环境治理、中国