IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i3p1709-d1038955.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of Environmental Regulations on Pollution and Carbon Reduction in the Yellow River Basin, China

Author

Listed:
  • Chengqing Liu

    (School of Economics, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250358, China
    Institute for Carbon Neutrality, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250358, China)

  • Dan Yang

    (School of Economics, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250358, China
    Institute for Carbon Neutrality, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250358, China)

  • Jun Sun

    (School of Economics, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250358, China)

  • Yu Cheng

    (Institute for Carbon Neutrality, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250358, China
    College of Geography and Environment, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250358, China)

Abstract

Based on data from 69 cities in the Yellow River Basin from 2006–2018, this paper examines the impact of environmental regulations on the integrated management of air pollution and CO 2 emissions and its mechanism of action using a two-way stationary model. The results found that: (1) The impact of environmental regulations on air pollution and CO 2 emissions in the Yellow River Basin has an inverted U-shaped trend, the intensity of regulation is still on the left side of the inverted U-shaped curve, and the inflection point has not yet appeared. (2) Environmental regulations suppressed air pollution and CO 2 emissions by adjusting industrial structure, promoting technological innovation, and improving energy efficiency, but the current intensity of regulation is not sufficient to make the three paths fully effective. (3) The pollution and carbon reduction effects of environmental regulations are more significant in areas with higher marketization and resource dependence, national urban agglomerations, and the middle reaches of the Yellow River Basin. However, environmental regulations in other regions only show significant pollution reduction effects, and there is still more room for improving carbon reduction governance. Therefore, the Yellow River Basin should strengthen environmental regulations to promote ecological governance and high-quality development.

Suggested Citation

  • Chengqing Liu & Dan Yang & Jun Sun & Yu Cheng, 2023. "The Impact of Environmental Regulations on Pollution and Carbon Reduction in the Yellow River Basin, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-21, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:3:p:1709-:d:1038955
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/3/1709/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/3/1709/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael Greenstone & Rema Hanna, 2014. "Environmental Regulations, Air and Water Pollution, and Infant Mortality in India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(10), pages 3038-3072, October.
    2. Xu, Fei & Li, Qiangyi & Yang, Mian, 2022. "The impacts of high-speed rail on the transformation of resource-based cities in China: A market segmentation perspective," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    3. Esso, Loesse Jacques & Keho, Yaya, 2016. "Energy consumption, economic growth and carbon emissions: Cointegration and causality evidence from selected African countries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 492-497.
    4. Mingyue Wang & Junbi Zhou & Xiaojin Xia & Zitong Wang, 2022. "The Mixed Impact of Environmental Regulations and External Financing Constraints on Green Technological Innovation of Enterprise," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-18, September.
    5. Blundell, Wesley, 2020. "When threats become credible: A natural experiment of environmental enforcement from Florida," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    6. Joseph S. Shapiro & Reed Walker, 2018. "Why Is Pollution from US Manufacturing Declining? The Roles of Environmental Regulation, Productivity, and Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(12), pages 3814-3854, December.
    7. Claude Diebolt & Ralph Hippe, 2019. "The long-run impact of human capital on innovation and economic development in the regions of Europe," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(5), pages 542-563, January.
    8. Zhang, Hui & Zhang, Bing, 2020. "The unintended impact of carbon trading of China's power sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    9. Wesseh, Presley K. & Lin, Boqiang, 2018. "Optimal carbon taxes for China and implications for power generation, welfare, and the environment," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 1-8.
    10. Ruimin Yin & Zhanqi Wang & Ji Chai & Yunxiao Gao & Feng Xu, 2022. "The Evolution and Response of Space Utilization Efficiency and Carbon Emissions: A Comparative Analysis of Spaces and Regions," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-21, March.
    11. Wu, Haitao & Hao, Yu & Ren, Siyu, 2020. "How do environmental regulation and environmental decentralization affect green total factor energy efficiency: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    12. Daniela Marconi, 2012. "Environmental Regulation and Revealed Comparative Advantages in Europe: Is China a Pollution Haven?," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(3), pages 616-635, August.
    13. Arouri, Mohamed El Hedi & Ben Youssef, Adel & M'henni, Hatem & Rault, Christophe, 2012. "Energy consumption, economic growth and CO2 emissions in Middle East and North African countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 342-349.
    14. Blind, Knut, 2012. "The influence of regulations on innovation: A quantitative assessment for OECD countries," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 391-400.
    15. Kedong Yin & Lu Liu & Haolei Gu, 2022. "Green Paradox or Forced Emission Reduction—The Dual Effects of Environmental Regulation on Carbon Emissions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-15, September.
    16. Li, Qiangyi & Zeng, Fu'e & Liu, Shaohui & Yang, Mian & Xu, Fei, 2021. "The effects of China's sustainable development policy for resource-based cities on local industrial transformation," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    17. Curtis, E. Mark & Lee, Jonathan M., 2019. "When do environmental regulations backfire? Onsite industrial electricity generation, energy efficiency and policy instruments," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 174-194.
    18. Zhang, Pan & Wang, Huan, 2022. "Do provincial energy policies and energy intensity targets help reduce CO2 emissions? Evidence from China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 245(C).
    19. Jiang, Zhenyu & Wang, Zongjun & Lan, Xiao, 2021. "How environmental regulations affect corporate innovation? The coupling mechanism of mandatory rules and voluntary management," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    20. Zhenhua Zhang & Guoxing Zhang & Shunfeng Song & Bin Su, 2020. "Spatial Heterogeneity Influences of Environmental Control and Informal Regulation on Air Pollutant Emissions in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-22, July.
    21. Xie, Qunyong, 2017. "Firm age, marketization, and entry mode choices of emerging economy firms: Evidence from listed firms in China," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 372-385.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bin He & Mengzhen Qi & Ning Wang & Zhenhua Zhang, 2022. "Avoiding Real Harm but False Good: The Influence Mechanism of Political Relations on the Effectiveness of Environmental Regulation Policies," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-16, November.
    2. Wu, Haitao & Xu, Lina & Ren, Siyu & Hao, Yu & Yan, Guoyao, 2020. "How do energy consumption and environmental regulation affect carbon emissions in China? New evidence from a dynamic threshold panel model," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    3. Liu, Duan & Yu, Nizhou & Wan, Hong, 2022. "Does water rights trading affect corporate investment? The role of resource allocation and risk mitigation channels," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    4. Zhang, Ming-ang & Lu, Shuling & Zhang, Sihan & Bai, Yanfeng, 2023. "The unintended consequence of minimum wage hikes: Evidence based on firms' pollution emission," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    5. Li, Mengxu & Liu, Jianghua & Chen, Yang & Yang, Zhijiu, 2023. "Can sustainable development strategy reduce income inequality in resource-based regions? A natural resource dependence perspective," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    6. Jiamin Liu & Xiaoyu Ma & Bin Zhao & Qi Cui & Sisi Zhang & Jiaoning Zhang, 2023. "Mandatory Environmental Regulation, Enterprise Labor Demand and Green Innovation Transformation: A Quasi-Experiment from China’s New Environmental Protection Law," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-31, July.
    7. Barrows, Geoffrey & Ollivier, Hélène, 2021. "Foreign demand, developing country exports, and CO2 emissions: Firm-level evidence from India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    8. Li, Zhen & Wu, Baijun & Wang, Danyang & Tang, Maogang, 2022. "Government mandatory energy-biased technological progress and enterprises' environmental performance: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment of cleaner production standards in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    9. Geoffrey Barrows & Helene Ollivier, 2016. "Emission intensity and firm dynamics: reallocation, product mix, and technology in India," GRI Working Papers 245, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
    10. Abdelaziz Boukhelkhal, 2022. "Energy use, economic growth and CO2 emissions in Africa: does the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis exist? New evidence from heterogeneous panel under cross-sectional dependence," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(11), pages 13083-13110, November.
    11. Yuxin Meng & Lu Liu & Jianlong Wang & Qiying Ran & Xiaodong Yang & Jianliang Shen, 2021. "Assessing the Impact of the National Sustainable Development Planning of Resource-Based Cities Policy on Pollution Emission Intensity: Evidence from 270 Prefecture-Level Cities in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-20, June.
    12. Haikuo Zhang & Chaobo Zhou, 2023. "Construction of the Pilot Free Trade Zone and Chinese Green Total Factor Energy Efficiency," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-13, June.
    13. Yu-Ke, Chen & Hassan, Muhammad Shahid & Kalim, Rukhsana & Mahmood, Haider & Arshed, Noman & Salman, Muhammad, 2022. "Testing asymmetric influence of clean and unclean energy for targeting environmental quality in environmentally poor economies," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 765-775.
    14. Avazbek Sadikov & Nargiza Kasimova & Arletta Isaeva & Anastas Khachaturov & Raufhon Salahodjaev, 2020. "Pollution, Energy and Growth: Evidence from Post-Communist Countries," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 10(6), pages 656-661.
    15. Geoffrey Barrows & Helene Ollivier, 2018. "Foreign Demand and Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Empirical Evidence with Implications for Leakage," Working Papers 2018.16, FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
    16. Liu, Mengdi & Zhang, Bing & Liao, Xianchun, 2022. "Can trade liberalization promote green production? Evidence from China's manufacturing enterprises," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    17. Shuai Chen & Chen Ji & Songqing Jin, 2022. "Costs of an environmental regulation in livestock farming: Evidence from pig production in rural China," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(2), pages 541-563, June.
    18. Du, Kerui & Cheng, Yuanyuan & Yao, Xin, 2021. "Environmental regulation, green technology innovation, and industrial structure upgrading: The road to the green transformation of Chinese cities," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    19. Qian, Xuesong & Ding, Hai & Ding, Zifang, 2023. "Governmental inspection and firm environmental protection expenditure: Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    20. Caihua Zhou & Xinmin Zhang, 2020. "Measuring the Efficiency of Fiscal Policies for Environmental Pollution Control and the Spatial Effect of Fiscal Decentralization in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-19, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:3:p:1709-:d:1038955. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.