Influence Of Environmental Regulation On The Industrial Structure Optimization In Henan Province

With the rapid urbanization and industrialization in China,the problems caused by environmental pollution and ecological damage have become increasingly prominent.Against the background of people’s increasing awareness of ecological protection,environmental regulation for the purpose of environmental protection has been strengthened.Under the multiple pressures such as distortion of industrial structure and disappearance of demographic dividend,environmental regulation as a restraining force will have an important impact on ecological protection and economic restructuring.The impact of environmental regulations on the optimization of industrial structure,its influence mechanism and the way of action are theoretical topics worthy of in-depth study,and are of great practical significance in the search for a win-win sustainable development path of industrial structure optimization and ecological protection.As a major industrial and agricultural province and transportation hub center in China,the environmental problems in the process of industrial structure optimization in the resource-rich Henan Province cannot be ignored as well.Based on the data of17 prefecture-level cities in Henan Province from 2004 to 2018,a dynamic panel model is constructed with dual environmental regulations as the entry point,and the role of formal environmental regulations and informal environmental regulations in relation to the heightened and rationalized industrial structure is analyzed by systematic generalized moment estimation method and threshold regression.The empirical analysis of the constructed model combined with the hypotheses shows that industrial structure optimization under the constraints of dual environmental regulations is a long-term and uninterrupted process.There is uncertainty about the impact of the latter on the former.At the early stage of regulation implementation,there is a positive driving effect on industrial structure optimization;after crossing the regulatory threshold,the reverse impedes the process of structure optimization.Informal environmental regulation has a double-threshold effect on industrial structure rationalization,with positive changes in both at the initial stage and reverse inhibition afterwards.Under the threshold constraint of informal environmental regulation,formal environmental regulation has a double-threshold effect on industrial structure rationalization;it still promotes and then inhibits the direction of industrial structure rationalization.Under formal environmental regulation,informal environmental regulation has a double-threshold effect on industrial structure rationalization while it has a single-threshold effect on heightening.Foreign direct investment fails to have a facilitating effect on industrial structure optimization,government intervention is conducive to promoting industrial structure heightening,while capital investment will have a negative impact;for industrial structure rationalization,scientific technological innovation has a positive impact.Based on the findings of the above empirical analysis,we propose the following policy recommendations: deepen the reform,improve the legal system of environmental regulation,and establish a supervision and restraint mechanism;implement differentiated environmental regulation,and pay attention to the free combination of multiple regulations;rationalize the use of foreign direct investment and technological innovation,and avoid the uncontrolled plundering of environmental resources in pursuit of short-term interests;and coordinate the efforts of multiple parties,including the government,the public,and the market,to give full play to the regulatory effect.