Environmental Regulation,Industrial Structure Change And Economic Growth

In recent years,the focus of Chinese economy has gradually shifted from fast growth to high-quality development,and the topic of environmental protection has been attracted a lot of attention.The 2010-2020 global environmental performance index shows that in terms of sewage treatment level,air quality,heavy metals,biodiversity and habitat,etc.,there is still a certain disparity between China and many developed countries.As a constraint force,environmental regulation plays a vital role in protecting nature,affecting the industrial structure and economy development.In this article,the change of industrial structure is divided into two dimensions:optimization and rationalization.This paper studies the relationship among environmental regulation,industrial structure and economic growth,and explores the direction of industrial development under the situation that environmental preservation is increasingly valued,so as to seek green and sustainable economic development.Firstly,this article introduces the research background and meanings of the topic.Secondly,it reviews the relevant literature at home and abroad.Thirdly,it analyzes the linkage relationship and transmission path among environmental regulation,industrial structure and economic growth from the perspective of theoretical mechanism.Next,on the basis of Chinese provincial panel data from 2005 to 2018,the empirical part introduces the secondary term of environmental regulation to study its effect on economic growth,and constructs the intermediary effect and threshold effect model to analyze the transmission effect of industrial structure,then tests the heterogeneity of different regions.Lastly,in line with the empirical conclusions,relevant policy recommendations are put forward,and the future research is prospected.The results show that:(1)There is a "U"-curve between environmental regulation and economic growth.When this kind of regulation is implemented,it will inhibit the economy at the beginning.Then with the increasing intensity of regulation,it will prompt economic development when it crosses the inflection point.(2)When technological innovation is regarded as a single threshold variable,with the continuous improvement of its level,the promotion effect of environmental regulation on the optimization of industrial structure tends to be strengthened when the threshold value is exceeded.(3)Environmental regulation can directly and negatively affect the economy,and through the intermediary impact of advanced industrial structure,it will strengthen this inhibition,while through the intermediary impact of industrial rationalization,it can reduce the inhibition.(4)With the continuous improvement of the threshold variable-industrial structure rationalization,when it crosses the single threshold,environmental regulation will promote the economy instead of inhibiting the economic growth.(5)For the eastern region,when the structure rationalization level is increasing and exceeds the threshold,environmental regulation will have an influence which shifts from negative to positive on economic growth.Then regarding the central area,when the level of industrial optimization and rationalization is high,environmental regulation is always adverse to the economyAt last,there are some relevant recommendations according to the above conclusions.First,we should adhere to the road of ecological priority and green development.Although environmental regulation can not facilitate the economy immediately,it is of great significance for ecological protection and long-term development.Secondly,given the efficiency of the three industry development,the improvement of structure rationalization should be attached more importance beyond pursuing the high level of optimization.The eastern,central and western areas should play the role of structural adjustment according to local conditions to pursuit green development.Thirdly,environmental preservation needs not only the strength of the government,but also the contribution of the market and the public.We should enhance the incentive tools of market and encourage people to actively participate in the environmental protection supervision.