A Study On The Impact Of Discharge Auditing Of Natural Resource Assets On Environmental Performance:the Mediating Role Of Government Environmental Governance Behaviour

Efficient management of natural resources is the way to achieve sustainable economic and social development.Since the piloting of the policy on the discharge audit of natural resources assets in 2014,governments around the world have explored a series of institutional models.After several years of practice,has the natural resource asset ex-liberation audit system strengthened the environmental governance behaviour of local governments?Has it improved environmental performance?These questions require theoretical analysis and empirical evidence.Firstly,an analysis framework of the policy effects of natural resource asset discharge audits is constructed based on theories of public fiduciary responsibility,natural resource value,externality,"deep pocket" and institutional economics.Secondly,descriptive statistics and t-tests,correlation analysis were conducted using data from 30 provinces,autonomous regions and municipalities from 2012-2017 as the research samples,and the impact of natural resource asset discharge audits on environmental performance was analysed using the double difference method,based on parallel trend tests,propensity score matching,counterfactual tests,deletion of some samples for robustness tests,and heterogeneity tests by economic regions.Finally,mediating variables of local government environmental governance behaviour were introduced to explore the mechanism of the effect of natural resource asset discharge audits on environmental performance.The study found that:(1)The implementation of natural resource asset discharge audits significantly improved environmental performance and exerted a long-term mechanism.(2)Robustness tests further validated the basic regression results.The impact of natural resource asset discharge audits on environmental performance was tested again through parallel trend tests,propensity score matching,counterfactual tests and partial sample deletion,and the robustness test results were fully consistent with the baseline test,further verifying the stability of the results.(3)Spatial heterogeneity in the impact of natural resource asset discharge audits on environmental performance.The heterogeneity test found that in the eastern and northeastern regions,the contribution of natural resource asset discharge audits to environmental performance was more pronounced.(4)The environmental governance behaviour of local governments mediates the relationship between natural resource asset discharge audits and environmental performance.The mediating effect test found that the impact of natural resource asset discharge audits on environmental performance is achieved by strengthening the environmental governance behaviour of local governments,which is manifested in the environmental investment behaviour of local governments and the environmental regulatory behaviour of local governments.Based on the above findings,suggestions for optimising natural resource asset discharge audits are put forward at three levels:the national system,government audit departments and local governments.