Study On The Influence Of Environmental Regulation On Water Resource Utilization Efficiency

Water resources are a critical asset for propelling economic and societal advancement,serving as the bedrock foundation that underpins sustained national economic growth and social advancement.The Yangtze River Economic Belt and the Yellow River Basin both belong to major strategy that rely on the formation of large rivers.These two areas have natural comparability in terms of economic development and ecological environment.How to achieve the reciprocity of water resource utilization efficiency improvement and environmental protection in these two major strategic regions is a problem that deserves further consideration.As a crux dominant affecting the productiveness of WUE,environmental regulation has important theoretical and practical significance in clarifying the intrinsic logical relationship between environmental regulation and water resource utilization efficiency in achieving coordinated and sustainable development.Drawing on a comprehensive review of pertinent domestic and international scholarship,this study scrutinizes the specific mechanisms through which environmental regulation exerts a direct influence on water resource utilization efficiency,as well as the indirect pathways by which such regulation shapes water resource utilization efficiency via technological innovation and foreign direct investment.Subsequently,by applying the entropy method and the super-efficiency SBM method,this research computed the comprehensive strength of environmental regulation and the level of WUE in 108 urbanizes in the Yangtze Economic Belt and58 urbanizes situated in the Yellow River Basin,during the period of 2005 to 2020,with the aim of examining the spatio-temporal discrepancies in water resource utilization efficiency and environmental regulation in these two key strategic regions.Finally,using a comprehensive regression model and a mediation effects model,the differences in the impact of environmental regulation on WUE in the two major strategic regions are empirically analyzed,aiming to find a balanced development strategy that is compatible with both "environmental regulation" and "WUE" in two key strategic regions.The main research conclusions of the paper are as follows:(1)Both major strategic regions show a fluctuating upward trend in water resource utilization efficiency and environmental regulation measurement levels,although the annual average value of the Yangtze River Economic Belt is much lower than that of the Yellow River Basin during the research period,the growth rate of the Yangtze River Economic Belt is faster and surpasses the Yellow River Basin in the later stage.(2)Environmental regulation exerts a notable enhancing impact on water resource utilization efficiency in both strategic regions,with a slightly higher level of environmental regulation observed in the Yangtze River Economic Belt than in the Yellow River Basin.(3)Regarding the Yangtze River Economic Belt,it is noteworthy that environmental regulation can exert a remarkable influence on enhancing water resource utilization efficiency,whereby foreign direct investment serves as a partially intermediary factor,whereas technical innovation bears a disguising impact.As for the Yellow River Basin,it is similarly noteworthy that environmental regulation can significantly stimulate the advancement of water resource utilization efficiency,yet both foreign direct investment and technical innovation display a disguising impact.Figure 11 table 8 reference 80...