Research On The Impact And Mechanism Of Environmental Regulation On High-quality Economic Development

With the advancement of reform and opening up,China’s economy has grown rapidly and has made great achievements.While China’s economy is developing rapidly,the environment has also been greatly affected,with serious problems of environmental pollution and resource waste.Environmental regulation is an important measure for pollution prevention and control.Reasonable environmental regulation measures can promote green and low-carbon economic development and take the road of sustainable development.In this context,this paper takes 30 Chinese provinces(cities)from 2005 to 2019 as research samples and does empirical analysis using panel data to study the impact of environmental regulation on high-quality economic development and its mechanism.First,the level of environmental regulation and high-quality economic development in each province(city)is quantified and their current status is analyzed.Second,the direct effect of environmental regulation on high-quality economic development is examined using the general fixed-effects model,and the spatial spillover effect is analyzed using the spatial Durbin model.Finally,using the mediating effect model,the mediating mechanism of environmental regulations affecting economic high-quality development is investigated in terms of technological innovation and industrial structural transformation,and possible transmission pathways are introduced.The following conclusions are obtained.(1)The intensity of environmental regulation in China shows a trend of rising in waves in time,and the distribution of high and low values is more random in space,with no obvious aggregation area of high and low values and insignificant spatial autocorrelation.(2)The level of high-quality economic development in China has a continuous upward trend in time,and a decreasing trend in space from the eastern region to the central and western regions,with high-value provinces clustered in the eastern region and strong positive spatial autocorrelation.(3)The impact of environmental regulation on high-quality economic development includes direct effects and spatial spillover effects.The results of the ordinary fixed-effects model show that the direct effect of environmental regulation on high-quality economic development is positive,and the positive effect is greater in the eastern region than in the central and western regions.The estimated results of the spatial Durbin model show that the spatial spillover effect of environmental regulation is also positive,and the spatial spillover effect is larger than the direct effect.(4)Technological innovation and industrial structural transformation are mediating mechanisms through which environmental regulation affects high-quality economic development.Environmental regulation stimulates strategic innovation and discourages substantive innovation,and strategic innovation plays a positive mediating role because environmental regulation squeezes out human capital and R&D expenditures of enterprises for technological innovation.Environmental regulation is beneficial to the development of rationalized industrial structure and detrimental to the development of heightened industrial structure,and the rationalization of industrial structure plays a positive mediating role.As a result of the study,four policy recommendations were made:(1)Strengthen the coordination of inter-regional environmental regulations and establish a unified and effective regulatory system.(2)Actively promote the implementation of the new development concept and strive to achieve high-quality economic development.(3)Improve the institutional design for the integration of environmental regulation and high-quality economic development,and flexibly use a combination of environmental regulation.(4)Strengthen the innovative vitality of enterprises and promote the optimization and upgrading of industrial structure.