Did the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games enhance environmental efficiency? New evidence from a quasi-natural experiment

Highlights: ●NYOG in 2014 improved environmental efficiency in host city and nearby cities. ●The bidding for NYOG in 2010 also enhanced environmental efficiency in host city. ●NYOG has higher effect on environmental efficiency in host city than nearby cities. ●After NYOG, environmental efficiency decreased in host city and adjacent cities. Mega-events can improve pro-environment consciousness and decrease natural environmental pollution. However, they also increase infrastructure investment, consume more iron and steel, and cause pollution. Nanjing hosted the second Youth Olympic Games in 2014. Here, we investigated the impact of the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games (NYOG) on environmental efficiency (EE) of the host city. We used a quasi-natural experiment to assess the impact of the NYOG on EE in Jiangsu before, during, and after the phase of NYOG. We compare different policy shock effects of bidding for and hosting NYOG on EE. The empirical results confirm that hosting NYOG in 2014 improved EE in the host city, which has higher effect on the adjacent cities. EE after the phase of NYOG declined in the host city. Policy shock of bidding for NYOG in 2010 also enhanced EE in the host city. Moreover, environmental stringency had a positive effect on EE. These findings support the importance of promoting green Olympic Games via renewable energy use, green innovation, and materials recycling.