The Impact of Haze Pollution on Regional Eco-Economic Treatment Efficiency in China: An Environmental Regulation Perspective

Jian Hou, Yifang An, Hongfeng Song and Jiancheng Chen
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Jian Hou: School of Economics and Management, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Yifang An: School of Economics and Management, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Hongfeng Song: School of Economics and Management, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Jiancheng Chen: School of Economics and Management, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 21, 1-18

Abstract: “The Gray Great Wall” formed by haze pollution is an increasingly serious issue in China, and the resulting air pollution has brought severe challenges to human health, the socio-economy and the world ecosystem. Based on the facts above, this paper uses China’s province-level panel data from 2009 to 2016, systematically measures the heterogeneous structure of regional ecological economic (eco-economic) treatment efficiency through a Super Slacks-Based Measure (SBM) model and dynamic threshold models, and analyzes the forcing mechanism of haze pollution pressure on regional eco-economic treatment efficiency from an environmental regulation perspective. Results indicated that China’s eco-economic treatment has been vigorously promoted, which is significantly conducive to green growth upgrading. However, the process has a large developmental scope due to regional heterogeneity. Interestingly, the forcing impact of haze pollution on regional eco-economic treatment efficiency is limited by the “critical mass” of environmental regulations: a weak degree of regulation will facilitate an increase in regional eco-economic treatment efficiency through the forcing effect of haze pollution pressure. Once environmental regulation reaches a critical level, a stronger degree of regulation will suppress the forcing effect of haze pollution in turn and it will decrease the regional eco-economic treatment efficiency. This paper endeavors to clarify the differences, suitability and dependency in the process of ecological transformation for Chinese local governments in different regions and provide policy references for a regional ecological transformation matching system.

Keywords: haze pollution; eco-economic treatment efficiency; forcing mechanism; environmental regulation; dynamic threshold model; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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