Collaborative Governance Of Haze And Its Path Optimization From The Perspective Of Environmental Regulation

In recent years,the haze problem is becoming severe across China,showing characteristics of high frequency,heavy pollution,wide distribution and d ifficult governance,which poses a serious threat to public health,social stability,economic development and ecological environment,attracting great attention of the central and local governments.Preliminary statistics show that,by the end of 2017,atmospheric related policy,regulation,standard,plan and program as more as 280 items have been issued,among which,the newly revised Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law of the People's Republic of China in August 2015 clearly states that “collaborative control of particulate matter,sulfur dioxide,nitrogen oxides and other atmospheric pollutants should be implemented”.To reverse it,strategies of “Build China into a Beautiful Homeland with Blue Sky,Green Land and Clear Water” and “Blue Sky Protection Campaign” were advocated,demanding improved environmental regulation efficiency,scientific and precise control of haze pollution.Therefore,exploring the formation process,evolutionary trend,driving factor and control path of haze pollution in China is an urgent issue to be addressed in the current academia.It is also a key point to realize the development of “innovation,synergy,green,development and sharing” under the New Normal.Therefore,this paper takes the collaborative governance and path optimiza tion of haze pollution in China as the research theme from the perspective of environmental regulation.First,theoretically analyze the mechanism of environmental regulation on haze control,including influential mechanism,coordination mechanism and opti mization mechanism,forming a comprehensive theoretical framework.Then,using the exploratory spatial data analysis technology to explore the spatial distribution and evolution characteristic of haze and environmental regulation,and empirically tested the effects of environmental regulation on haze pollution.Furthermore,based on the perspective of synergy and stakeholder,the horizontal cross-regional collaboration of environmental regulation and the synergy of vertical stakeholder were further introduced to study the collaborative governance of haze pollution.On this basis,through the synergy effect and mediation effect of environmental regulatio n,the direct and indirect path of haze management are optimized and analyzed,and the regulation efficiency on haze pollution is improved.Details and results are as follows:First,theoretically analyse the mechanism of environmental regulation on haze pollution,and construct the overall theoretical framework of haze collaborative governance and path optimization from the perspective of environmental regulation.Based on the “three major hypotheses” related to environmental regulation,synergetic theory,and stakeholder theory,and combined with the characteristic of haze spatial overflow cross-domain transfer,the influential mechanism,collaborative governance mechanism and path optimization mechanism of environmental regulation on haze pollution are expounded from the perspective of environmental regulation coordination and optimization with normative research method.Second,the formation process,temporal and spatial evolution characteristic and influencing factor of haze are studied by introducing literature review,exploratory spatial data analysis and spatial econometric model.The index system of anthropogenic and natural factors of haze pollution are systematically constructed.The results show that,there is a strong spatial autocorrelation of haze pollution and its main drivers,and low-high agglomeration,high-low agglomeration have obvious trends in high-high and low-low agglomerations;different anthropogenic and natural factors play different roles on haze pollution,including monotonous increment,linear decline,“U” type,and inverted “U” curve.Therefore,the influences of these factors cannot be ignored in the following study of haze control.Third,the effects of environmental regulation on haze pollution are examined with theories of pollution paradise hypothesis,the porter hypothesis and the race-to-the-bottom hypothesis.The results show that,under the national sample,environmental regulation shows an inverse “U-shaped” curve on haze pollution,that is,the haze can only be suppressed when the environmental regulation intensity is higher than the critical value rather than the lower inten sity of environmental regulation,which shows significant spatial spillover and hysteresis effects.In addition,under the subarea sample,the regional differences are prominent in the effects of environmental regulation on haze control,and the hysteresis effect plays different roles in regulating the degree of environmental regulation effectiveness with obvious regional differences,for example,the hysteresis effect enhances ER effectiveness in the eastern region while weaken it in the western region.Fourth,based on the theories of synergy and stakeholder,the collaborative governance of environmental regulation on haze pollution is explored by constructing the indices of the horizontal cross-regional collaboration and the vertical stakeholder collaboration of environmental regulation,respectively.On the basis of the calculation of synergy indicator,the regression results of traditional panel data model and static spatial panel data model show that,the improvement of the horizontal cross-regional synergy of environmental regulation plays a negative inhibitory effect on haze pollution,meanwhile,significantly strengthening the effectiveness of environmental regulation;The enhancement of the synergy degree of vertical environmental regulation positively promotes the improvement of haze condition,furthermore,it alleviates the heterogeneity of the effects of environmental regulation on haze pollution arising from variou stakeholders such as government,enterprise,and consumer.Finally,the optimization of the direct and indirect paths of haze pollution by environmental regulation are explored through the synergy effect and the mediating effect of environmental regulation,respectively.In terms of direct path optimization,it can implement the path optimization strategy of constructing a coordinated governance system with deep multiple rights and responsibilities related to the haze prevention and control of relevant stakeholders that “ strengthen the central government's regulatory constraints,clarify the local government's regulatory responsibilities,implement corporate responsibility for pollution control,and ensure public participation in legal channels”.Regarding the indirect path optimization,three indirect paths including “environmental regulation-FDI-haze pollution”,“environmental regulation-industrial structure-haze pollution”,and “environmental regulation-technological innovation-haze pollution” are examined by the mediation effect method,and specific path optimization measures are given f rom the perspectives of policy,industry and technology.The haze research started late in the field of management,so there is room for further exploration.It shows positive theoretical significance and application value to study the collaborative governance and its path optimization of haze from the environmental regulation perspective.Theoretically,this paper deepens the understanding of the causes and evolutions of haze,and proposes the influential mechanism,collaborative mechanism and optimization mechanism of environmental regulation on haze pollution.Furthermore,it improves the theoretical research in the field of haze control,and provides theoretical support for the haze scientific management.In addition,this paper innovatively constructs the indices of the horizontal cross-regional collaboration and the vertical stakeholder collaboration of environmental regulation,which enriches the connotation and index system construction of environmental regulation coordination.From a practical point of view,it provides a new perspective on the adjustment and upgrading of industrial and energy structure,the change of development mode,the synergy of technological innovation,economic growth and green development,as well as the improvement of living environment standards.In addition,it shows important guiding significance for mobilizing the willingness of local governments,enterprises and the public to reduce emissions and the enthusiasm of energy-saving consumption.