Research On The Impact Of Provincial Environmental Regulations On Haze Pollution In China

In recent years,with the rapid economic growth,the situation of haze pollution in some areas has become increasingly serious,which has seriously affected the sustainable development of society and economy,regional climate change and ecological system balance.It is of great significance to systematically study the spatial distribution and influencing factors of haze.In order to effectively control smog pollution and accelerate the improvement of the ecological environment,environmental regulation policies have been gradually implemented in various places.In this context,this paper selects 31 provincial-level regions across the country(considering the availability of data,this study does not include data from Hong Kong,Macao,and Taiwan)as samples of environmental and economic data from 2005 to2020,and constructs a panel regression model.Study the two mechanisms of environmental regulation affecting haze pollution through foreign direct investment and industrial structure upgrading;and explore the heterogeneity of the impact of environmental regulation on haze pollution based on sub-samples of environmental regulation,haze pollution and regional division.Finally,the countermeasures and inspirations are put forward for the control of haze pollution and the promotion of environmental regulation measures.The main research work and conclusions are as follows:First,the temporal and spatial characteristics of environmental regulation and haze pollution are analyzed.In terms of environmental regulation,the national average level has increased year by year over time.In terms of space,there are significant development differences.The intensity of environmental regulation in some economically developed regions such as Beijing,Shanghai,Jiangsu Province,Fujian Province and Guangdong Province is above the national average;Above: The degree of smog pollution across the country shows a downward trend over time.In the past 16 years,there have been three obvious decline intervals,namely 2007-2010,2011-2012 and 2013-2020.Although the smog concentration rebounded slightly in some years,the overall trend is still in a downward trend.Haze pollution showed an overall improvement in space.However,some areas are still in the ranks of heavy pollution,such as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei,Shandong and Henan,and the average concentration in 2020 is still higher than the national average.The smog pollution levels in Tibet and Qinghai are significantly lower than the national average all year round.Second,environmental regulation has a significant inhibitory effect on haze pollution.Using two-way fixed effects,a benchmark panel regression model is constructed,and the reliability of the empirical results is verified by four robustness test methods of replacing explanatory variables,control variables,data shrinkage processing and spatial econometric analysis.In terms of control variables,government innovation preference and per capita education level reduce haze pollution,while marketization index,fiscal decentralization and transportation infrastructure promote the increase of haze pollution.Thirdly,environmental regulation has a significant mediating effect on haze pollution.The results of mechanism analysis show that environmental regulation can effectively curb haze pollution by promoting foreign direct investment and upgrading industrial structure.Finally,there are environmental regulation intensity,haze pollution concentration and regional heterogeneity in the impact of environmental regulation on haze pollution.Among them,the impact coefficients of environmental regulation in the high haze pollution group,the high environmental regulation intensity group,the northern region and the inland region are higher than their control groups.The inspirations and suggestions based on the research conclusions are as follows:(1)Strengthen the joint prevention and control mechanism of haze pollution between regions,and on this basis,take targeted haze reduction measures according to the development status and actual conditions of each region.,from the source to curb the degree of haze pollution;(2)Vigorously promote the implementation of environmental regulation policies,and at the same time increase the attraction of foreign investment and help the adjustment and transformation of industrial structure,and realize the suppression effect of environmental regulations on haze pollution from the aspect of indirect effects;(3)The measures to control haze should be multi-pronged.From the perspective of government innovation preference,marketization index,and transportation infrastructure,various measures should be taken to control haze and find the most effective breakthrough in haze control.