Research On The Impact Of Local Fiscal Pressure On Environmental Pollutio

In the new normal,China’s economic development has shown characteristics of speed changes,structural optimization,and power transformation.The ecological environment is related to people’s livelihood and sustainable development.The Third Plenum of the 18 th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposed to accelerate the construction of an ecological civilization system,and the Fifth Plenum of the 18 th Central Committee proposed a "green" development concept.The quality of the ecological environment is particularly important during China’s economic transformation,as it relates to the well-being of future generations.Local governments play a leading role in the environmental governance system.However,looking at several rounds of fiscal and tax system reforms,the transfer of financial powers upward and the transfer of administrative powers downward,the fiscal pressure on local governments has gradually become prominent.With the introduction and implementation of a series of tax reduction and fee reduction policies,the fiscal pressure on local governments has further increased.local governments have faced financial pressure,on the one hand,lacking funds to govern the environment,and on the other hand,may choose to lower environmental regulations to develop the economy.Therefore,this article aims to explore the impact of local fiscal pressure on environmental pollution under the background of China’s economic transformation.This article explores the impact of local government behavior on environmental pollution from the perspective of fiscal pressure.Using panel data from 265prefecture-level cities nationwide from 2014 to 2018,the fiscal deficit is used to measure fiscal pressure.A comprehensive environmental pollution index is constructed through principal component analysis.A two-way fixed effects model is constructed for empirical analysis,considering the regional heterogeneity of economic development levels and the mediating effect of energy consumption.The empirical analysis examines the impact of local fiscal pressure on environmental pollution,and finally draws relevant conclusions and proposes suggestions.Based on the research results of this paper,the following conclusions are drawn:local fiscal pressure has a positive impact on environmental pollution.With several rounds of fiscal and tax system reforms as well as policies of tax cuts and fee reductions,local governments faced with fiscal pressure seek to expand industrial production to generate revenue,ultimately leading to environmental pollution.However,when fiscal pressure is below a certain threshold,it can reduce environmental pollution.The impact of local fiscal pressure on environmental pollution varies among cities with different levels of economic development.Energy consumption has a certain mediating effect on the impact of local fiscal pressure on environmental pollution.For cities with high or moderate levels of economic development,fiscal pressure has a significant positive effect on environmental pollution levels.Therefore,to address the positive impact of local fiscal pressure on environmental pollution,the government should deepen fiscal and tax system reforms,improve the local tax system,enhance the environmental protection assessment system,establish comprehensive performance evaluation indicators,optimize the industrial structure,promote green development,adopt a "prosperity first,followed by development" strategy,achieve common development,improve energy efficiency,and develop new energy industries.