Policy Analysis of Environmental Governance in the Bohai Rim Region (2001–2021)—A Perspective Based on the Vertical Synergy of Policies

Yan Zhao, Ruiqian Li () and Guangyue Gao
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Yan Zhao: School of International Affairs and Public Administration, Ocean University of China, Songling Road, Laoshan District, Qingdao 266100, China
Ruiqian Li: School of International Affairs and Public Administration, Ocean University of China, Songling Road, Laoshan District, Qingdao 266100, China
Guangyue Gao: College of Management, Ocean University of China, Songling Road, Laoshan District, Qingdao 266100, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 9, 1-22

Abstract: This study utilized policy text quantification, the entropy weighting technique, and the standard setting of the vertical policy synergetic degree to measure the synergy status of the environmental protection and governance policies in the Bohai Rim Region horizontal space (2001–2021). The standard setting of the vertical policy synergetic degree encompasses three dimensions, namely the policy subjects, policy objectives, and policy instruments. A comprehensive text database was established to facilitate analysis with 122 pieces of Bohai Sea environmental governance policies. After policy text quantification, this research found that the weight coefficients of the three indicators of policy subjects, policy instruments, and policy objectives were slightly different. This study found that provinces should balance the roles of policy issuers, the selection of policy instruments, and the setting of objectives to enhance compatibility between local and central governance policies; the vertical synergy of policies is closely related to the scientific nature of policy formulation. The incompleteness of the vertical synergy of policies affects the effectiveness of Bohai Sea environmental governance. In the future, the Bohai Rim Region’s environmental governance should continue to deepen the synergy of policies, strengthen scientific governance, promote regional linkage, and improve the scientificity of the policy system.

Keywords: marine environmental governance; policy text quantification; vertical synergy of policies; Bohai sea; marine sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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