The Impact of Water and Soil Scarcity and Pollution on Industrial Agglomeration: Evidence from China

Yingming Zhu, Yuan Li, Yi Wang and Lingfeng Li
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Yingming Zhu: Business School, Nanjing Xiaozhuang University, 3601 Hongjing Avenue, Nanjing 211171, China
Yuan Li: Institute of International Studies and School of Northeast Asia Studies, Shandong University, 180 Wenhua West Road, Weihai 264209, China
Yi Wang: School of Economics and Management, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, 200 Xiaolingwei, Nanjing 210094, China
Lingfeng Li: School of Economics and Management, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, 200 Xiaolingwei, Nanjing 210094, China

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 10, 1-18

Abstract: Water and soil scarcity and pollution have become more severe problems in China in recent years. On one hand, rapid economic growth has led to increasing environmental problems. On the other hand, the environmental problems resulting from human economic activities can impose new constraints on industrial agglomeration, making economic development unsustainable. In the present study, an individual fixed-effect model was constructed based on the framework of the new economic geography and the provincial-level data of China. The model estimated its parameters with OLS in order to analyze how the mechanisms of industrial agglomeration are affected by resource security and environmental factors. In addition, this study also used Hausman statistical tests and Fisher–PP unit root tests to analyze the endogenous problems and robustness of the model, respectively. The results showed that water and soil scarcity and environmental pollution have negative effects on industrial agglomeration. The negative effects were observed to significantly increase with levels of local government competition, but did not vary with the regional market segmentation.

Keywords: water and soil scarcity; environmental pollution; industrial agglomeration; local government competition; market segmentation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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