The Impact Of Income Gap On Environmental Quality:Theoretical Analysis And Empirical Test

Income gap and environmental pollution are two important issues that restrict the high-quality development of China’s current economy.The 14th Five-Year Plan lists"continuous improvement of environmental quality" and "improvement of the income distribution system and wealth distribution pattern" as one of the long-term goals in 2035.But the relationship between income gap and environmental quality in theoretical research is still unclear.The existing literature points out that there are three views about the impact of income gap on environmental quality:deterioration,improvement and uncertainty.However,no unanimous conclusion has been reached,and its internal mechanism needs to be further explored and clarified.The topic of this paper aims to explore the mechanism of the impact of income gap on environmental quality,and whether the income gap has a significant impact on environmental quality and regional differences.The main tasks of this paper are as follows:First,to sort out the relevant literature on the impact of income gap on environmental quality at home and abroad,collect statistical data and related indicators to describe and analyze the current environmental quality and the degree of income gap at the overall and regional levels in China.Second,a theoretical analysis framework for the impact of income gap on environmental quality has been constructed:The paper uses the method of supply and demand analysis to derive a theoretical model of the impact of income gap on environmental quality,and concludes that the expansion of income gap will not only reduce local residents’ total demand for environmental quality,but also it will lead to a decline in the supply of environmental quality,that is,the level of environmental governance.After that,based on the equilibrium analysis of the supply and demand situation of environmental quality and the analysis of regional heterogeneity,five levels of hypothetical propositions are put forward.Third,a comprehensive and detailed calculation of the indicators used has been carried out.The Theil index and Gini coefficient are used to measure the income gap between urban and rural residents in China,and the IPCC calculation formula is used to estimate China’s CO2 emissions.Fourth,based on the panel data of China’s provincial level from 2000 to 2018,using fixed effect model,System GMM model and instrumental variable method,the paper empirically tests the impact of residents’ income gap on environmental quality of the national level,different regions and regions with different economic levels.The paper finds that:firstly,there is an "inverted U" EKC curve between per capita carbon emissions and carbon emission intensity in China as a whole,different regions and regions with different economic levels,and none of them has reached the turning point,which is on the left side of the EKC curve.Secondly,it proves that the widening of the income gap is not conducive to the improvement of environmental quality,and the larger income gap has a significant boosting effect on per capita carbon emissions and carbon emission intensity.It shows that as the income gap widens,the environmental pollution becomes more serious,so there is an obvious negative relationship between income gap and environmental quality.Besides,through the analysis of regional heterogeneity,it is found that the change range of environmental quality to income gap is more sensitive to the mid-west and low-income areas,while the negative impact of income gap on the environmental quality of eastern and high-income areas is relatively small.This paper puts forward countermeasures and suggestions:coordinate urban and rural development,pay attention to the environmental effects of rural poverty alleviation and development policies;Improve the weight of environmental factors in local government performance appraisal,and promote green GDP accounting;Based on the comparative advantages of the region,actively adjust the industrial structure;We should control the quantity expansion of urbanization and improve the internal quality of urbanization;We should strengthen the regulation of FDI environment and give full play to its technology spillover effect.