Institution authority and the protection efficacy of nature reserves: Evidence from China

Effective management of protection areas (PAs) has long been a world-wide difficulty, especially for developing countries. National nature reserves, as the highest level of officially certified PAs in China, have been widely established for the purpose of strengthening ecological protection. In this study, we use the establishment of 471 national nature reserves (NNRs) as a quasi-natural experiment to evaluate their performance on anti-human disturbance based on the multi-period difference-in-difference model. We find that: (1) there is a significant threshold in the effects of upgrading administrative level for PAs: the establishment of national nature reserves has led to a significant decrease in nighttime light intensity, while other administrative level upgradation has little influence.; (2) effectiveness of PAs differs across geographic areas and management situations. Our findings suggest that (1) providing sufficient authority for PAs in to operate independently from grassroot governments is of great necessity; (2) clarifying government responsibilities, increasing resources investment, and strengthening supervision are key to improve effectiveness of PAs; (3) allowing regulations to vary in stringency over space may provide greater environmental benefits. These empirical findings provide evidence that establishing national PAs is critical for addressing conservation gaps and enhancing conservation effectiveness.