As China's industrialization progresses and public environmental awareness grows, air pollution has become a widely concerned topic among the public. To address the public opinion crisis, timely and effective environmental accountability has emerged as the primary solution. This study collects news reports of environmental accountability caused by “air quality deterioration” crises since the public gained access to real-time air quality index (AQI) data online. Using a regression discontinuity design (RDD) method, the study examines the effectiveness of public attention-triggered environmental accountability in improving air quality. The study found that environmental accountability can effectively reverse public opinion crises, significantly improve air quality and that this improvement effect lasts for approximately 90 days. Further analysis revealed that the impact of public attention-triggered environmental accountability on air pollution is influenced by public sentiment. For pollutants such as PM2.5 and PM10, which are perceptible to the public, and in severely polluted regions, the more severe the public's negative sentiment, the more pronounced the governance effects of environmental accountability. Additionally, public attention leading to environmental accountability at different hierarchies produces significant differences. Due to the local management characteristics of environmental governance, provincial governments, with their information advantages, can hold accountable more promptly and accurately compared to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, resulting in better governance. Furthermore, public attention leading to environmental accountability yields more significant governance in cities with higher population densities and more transparent environmental information. Interestingly, public attention-triggered environmental accountability also has a “warning effect” on surrounding regions, prompting them to actively improve air pollution and avoid penalties. The findings of this study provide valuable references for improving air pollution and enhancing China's and global environmental governance performance through the improvement of public supervision channels and the establishment of effective accountability mechanisms.
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