Study On The Effects Of Heterogeneous Environmental Regulation On Carbon Emissions

Extreme phenomena such as global warming,sea level rise,drought and flood polarization caused by excessive carbon dioxide emissions have seriously affected human survival and development.In this context,promoting low-carbon development has become the consensus of all sectors of society.As the country with the largest carbon emission in the world,China actively assumes social responsibility and puts forward the "30·60" double carbon target,raising the pressure of carbon emission reduction to an unprecedented height,and to achieve the "double carbon" target on schedule,we must rely on various environmental policies and measures launched by various departments to control carbon emissions.Compared with the mature and efficient environmental regulation system of developed countries,China’s environmental regulation is still in the development stage,but it also has a relatively rich environmental regulation tools.Therefore,it is of great practical significance to explore the impact of different types of environmental regulation tools on carbon emissions for the realization of the "two-carbon" goal and the formulation of relevant policies.Based on Porter’s hypothesis,externality and other theories,this paper selects the relevant data of 30 provinces,cities and autonomous regions from 2005 to 2019 and uses entropy weight method to measure three environmental regulation indicators: command-control type,market-incentive type and public participation type.First,the theoretical mechanism of the impact of heterogeneous environmental regulation on carbon emissions is analyzed.Secondly,the paper analyzes the current situation of China’s carbon emission,carbon emission intensity and three types of environmental regulations from the perspective of time and space.Thirdly,the baseline regression model,multiple intermediary effect model and spatial panel econometric model were established to analyze the direct,indirect and spatial spillover effects of heterogeneous environmental regulations on carbon emissions.Finally,the robustness of the empirical results is tested by replacing the spatial weight matrix.The conclusions of this paper include:(1)During the sample period,China’s carbon emissions showed an overall upward trend,and the growth rate of carbon emissions fluctuated greatly.The proportion of carbon emissions in central and eastern regions decreased year by year,while the proportion of carbon emissions in western regions fluctuated and increased;The carbon emission intensity of eastern,central and western regions and the whole country showed a downward trend,and the overall performance was eastern > national > Central > western region;The intensity of the three types of environmental regulations has regional heterogeneity,and the difference between provinces is large.The intensity of environmental regulations in Jiangsu and Shandong provinces is higher,and the intensity of environmental regulations in Ningxia and Gansu is lower.(2)During the sample period,command-and-control environmental regulation will increase carbon emissions,and the effect of "green paradox" is obvious,while market-incentive environmental regulation will reduce carbon emissions,and the carbon reduction effect of public participation environmental regulation is not effective;The results of multiple intermediary effects model show that command-and-control environmental regulation indirectly affects carbon emissions by hindering technological progress,upgrading industrial structure and industrial agglomeration,while market-incentive environmental regulation can reduce carbon emissions by promoting technological progress and industrial agglomeration.(3)From the perspective of space,command-and-control environmental regulation will have a positive spillover effect on neighboring carbon emissions,showing the characteristics of "mutual damage";Market incentive environmental regulation will reduce both local and neighboring carbon emissions,showing the characteristics of "one prosperity and one prosperity",while public participation environmental regulation has a negative effect on local and neighboring carbon emissions,but it is not significant.Based on the empirical results,this paper puts forward similar suggestions to improve the environmental regulation and governance system.