Junjie Zhang, director of the iMEP Program and Environmental Research Center at Duke Kunshan University, presented “Economics of Environmental Data Manipulation,” from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 12.

Environmental regulation is often compromised in China when government officials are facing competing political targets other than environmental quality. Zhang discussed his research to not only refine the method of data manipulation but also provide a political economy interpretation of data falsification behavior in China, using a unique data set that combines reported air quality information with resume details of city party secretaries and mayors.

This talk was part of the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and the University Program in Environmental Policy seminar series featuring leading experts discussing a variety of pressing environmentally focused topics.