A Study On The Impact Of Local Government Competition On Environmental Pollution Control In China

Under the governance model of "centralized political power and decentralized economic power" in China,local government competition is an important driving force for rapid economic growth,which drives regional economic growth,thus promoting rapid overall economic development and gradually improving people’s living standards.At the same time,the environmental problems caused by local government competition have become more and more prominent,and have a negative impact on the sustainable development of the economy and social life,which cannot be ignored.Therefore,based on the previous research,this paper combines the concept of green development with the analytical framework of "triple incentive-double constraint" to investigate the impact of multi-dimensional local government competition on environmental pollution management at different stages,so as to provide theoretical and practical support for further improving the effectiveness of environmental pollution management in China.The research of this paper consists of six chapters.Chapter 1 introduces the background,purpose and significance of this paper,reviews related domestic and international studies,and introduces the research methodology,contributions and shortcomings of this paper.Chapter 2 defines the concepts and theoretical foundations of this paper,defines the core concepts of this paper,and sorts out the relevant lines of Marxist ecological view,fiscal decentralization theory,and local government competition theory.Chapter 3 reviews the changes and characteristics of local government competition model after the tax sharing reform,and analyzes the current situation and effectiveness of local government environmental pollution management.Chapter 4 is the theoretical part of this paper.In the previous literature on the impact of local government competition on environmental pollution governance tends to ignore the changes that exist depending on the stage they are in,and secondly,most of the current literature mainly focuses on the impact of local government competition on environmental pollution governance in a certain dimension.To make up for this theoretical deficiency,this paper uses the Marxist ecological view as a guide and uses the theories of fiscal decentralization and local government competition to construct a "triple incentive-double constraint" analytical framework to analyze the impact of local government competition and fiscal competition on environmental pollution management after the tax sharing system.The framework of "triple incentive-double constraint" is constructed to analyze the impact of local governments’ opening up to competition and fiscal competition on environmental pollution management after the tax sharing system.With the formal introduction of the green development concept,the specific contents of incentives and constraints and the external environment have changed,which have a direct impact on the behavior of local governments and lead to changes in their behavior,so we further analyze the impact of the green development concept on local governments’ environmental pollution management.Chapter 5 is the empirical analysis part of this paper,roughly taking the tax sharing reform and the introduction of the green development concept as nodes,and constructing a fixed-effects model based on the previous theoretical study to discuss the impact of local government competition on environmental pollution governance in stages.Based on the benchmark regression,the impact of local government competition on environmental pollution governance through green technological innovation and industrial structure optimization and adjustment after the introduction of the green development concept is further verified.Finally,through theoretical research and empirical tests,the following conclusions are drawn: under the GDP-oriented assessment system from 1998 to 2013,local governments,in order to gain advantages in promotion,will try their best to promote local economic growth and strengthen their economic strength,and start a "race to the bottom" under the strong economic,political and private incentives.From 2014 to 2021,with the adjustment of local government assessment methods and indicators and the change of development philosophy and work focus,local governments no longer pursue GDP growth rate,and their willingness and ability to manage environmental pollution under the guidance of green development philosophy has been increasing,reflecting the positive influence of local government competition on environmental pollution management.This reflects the positive influence of local government competition on environmental pollution management,and helps environmental pollution management by enhancing regional green technology innovation and promoting industrial structure optimization and adjustment.In addition,the competition behavior of local governments varies from region to region,and the impact on environmental pollution control also varies.In response to the conclusions drawn from the theoretical and empirical analyses,this paper puts forward the following policy recommendations: i.Adjust the international trade structure,expand the degree of investment openness,and better utilize the positive effect of foreign investment on environmental pollution governance.Optimize incentive and constraint mechanisms,focus on officials’ environmental assessment,and also strengthen public supervision of local government behavior.Third,adjust the structure of fiscal expenditure,standardize the tax incentives of local governments,improve the level of green technological innovation in the region,and vigorously promote the optimization and adjustment of industrial structure.Fourth,to solve environmental problems according to local conditions,each local government should choose methods and measures to combat environmental pollution that meet the actual local situation.