IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i21p14492-d963378.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effect of Heterogeneous Environmental Regulations on Carbon Emission Efficiency of the Grain Production Industry: Evidence from China’s Inter-Provincial Panel Data

Author

Listed:
  • Bin Fan

    (School of Economics and Management, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China)

  • Mingyang Li

    (School of Economics and Management, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China)

Abstract

Examining the impact of heterogeneous environmental regulations on the carbon emission efficiency of the grain production industry will help to provide a theoretical basis and decision-making reference for achieving the goal of carbon peaking and sustainable agricultural development. Based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China, the DEA-SBM method was used to measure the grain production industry’s carbon emission efficiency from 2011 to 2019. Separating environmental regulations into formal environmental regulations and informal environmental regulations in two parts, then the two-way fixed effect model, threshold effect model, and intermediary effect model are used to test the influence of heterogeneous environmental regulations on the grain production industry’s carbon emission efficiency. The results show that: (1) the grain production industry’s carbon emission efficiency continues to improve but still has space for improvement. (2) the relationship between formal environmental regulations and the grain production industry’s carbon emission efficiency exhibits a “U-shaped” curve; informal environmental regulations have a significantly positive effect on improving the grain production industry’s carbon emission efficiency. The conclusion is still valid after the robustness test. (3) A threshold mechanism test found that there is a single threshold effect between the formal environmental regulations and the grain production industry’s carbon emission efficiency, but it does not cross the “U” inflection point. (4) there is a “U” shaped non-linear mediating effect in the influence of formal environmental regulations on the grain production industry’s carbon emission efficiency; informal environmental regulations also have an intermediary transmission path of production agglomeration of the grain production industry. This study supplies a new perspective for promoting the grain production industry’s carbon emission efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Bin Fan & Mingyang Li, 2022. "The Effect of Heterogeneous Environmental Regulations on Carbon Emission Efficiency of the Grain Production Industry: Evidence from China’s Inter-Provincial Panel Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-27, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:21:p:14492-:d:963378
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/21/14492/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/21/14492/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. François Cochard & Marc Willinger & Anastasios Xepapadeas, 2005. "Efficiency of Nonpoint Source Pollution Instruments: An Experimental Study," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 30(4), pages 393-422, April.
    2. Ariana P. Torres & Nicholas A. Lancaster & Luiz H. B. Vilas Boas, 2020. "Categorizing Organic Grain Buyers in the Midwestern United States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-16, June.
    3. Shadbegian, Ronald J. & Gray, Wayne B., 2005. "Pollution abatement expenditures and plant-level productivity: A production function approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(2-3), pages 196-208, August.
    4. Yuling Wu & Pei Zhang & Jia Li & Jiao Hou, 2022. "Spatial Distribution Evolution and Optimization Path of Eco-Efficiency of Cultivated Land Use: A Case Study of Hubei Province, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-18, September.
    5. Kun Xie & Mingjun Ding & Jianrong Zhang & Liwen Chen, 2021. "Trends towards Coordination between Grain Production and Economic Development in China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-17, October.
    6. Shichun Du & Jing Liu & Zetian Fu, 2021. "The Impact of Village Rules and Formal Environmental Regulations on Farmers’ Cleaner Production Behavior: New Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-20, July.
    7. Mastewal Yami & Piet Asten, 2018. "Relevance of informal institutions for achieving sustainable crop intensification in Uganda," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 10(1), pages 141-150, February.
    8. Xian Zhao & Yiting Dong & Xinshu Gong, 2022. "The Digital Economy and Carbon Productivity: Evidence at China’s City Level," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-20, August.
    9. Yan Li & Yi Shi, 2022. "Dynamic Game Analysis of Enterprise Green Technology Innovation Ecosystem under Double Environmental Regulation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-33, September.
    10. Qiang Li & Xiaohang Wu & Yi Zhang & Yafei Wang, 2020. "The Effect of Agricultural Environmental Total Factor Productivity on Urban-Rural Income Gap: Integrated View from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-18, April.
    11. Ge Gao & Ke Wang & Chi Zhang & Yi-Ming Wei, 2019. "Synergistic effects of environmental regulations on carbon productivity growth in China’s major industrial sectors," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 95(1), pages 55-72, January.
    12. Xinlei Yang & Xiucheng Dong & Qingzhe Jiang & Guixian Liu, 2019. "Factors Influencing Public Concern about Environmental Protection: An Analysis from China," Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society, Hindawi, vol. 2019, pages 1-10, April.
    13. Bei Xiong & Ruimei Wang, 2020. "Effect of Environmental Regulation on Industrial Solid Waste Pollution in China: From the Perspective of Formal Environmental Regulation and Informal Environmental Regulation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-17, October.
    14. Kathuria, Vinish, 2007. "Informal regulation of pollution in a developing country: Evidence from India," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2-3), pages 403-417, August.
    15. Yin, Jianhua & Zheng, Mingzheng & Chen, Jian, 2015. "The effects of environmental regulation and technical progress on CO2 Kuznets curve: An evidence from China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 97-108.
    16. Kun Zhou & Xingqiang Zheng & Yan Long & Jin Wu & Jianqiang Li, 2022. "Environmental Regulation, Rural Residents’ Health Investment, and Agricultural Eco-Efficiency: An Empirical Analysis Based on 31 Chinese Provinces," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-16, March.
    17. Chen Cao & Xueyun Chen, 2021. "Can Industrial Integration Improve the Sustainability of Grain Security?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-17, December.
    18. Hualin Xie & Yanwei Zhang & Yongrok Choi, 2018. "Measuring the Cultivated Land Use Efficiency of the Main Grain-Producing Areas in China under the Constraints of Carbon Emissions and Agricultural Nonpoint Source Pollution," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-32, June.
    19. Lai, Aolin & Wang, Qunwei & Cui, Lianbiao, 2022. "Can market segmentation lead to green paradox? Evidence from China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PC).
    20. Pargal, Sheoli & Hettige, Hemamala & Singh, Manjula & Wheeler, David, 1997. "Formal and informal regulation of industrial pollution : comparative evidence from Indonesia and the United States," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1797, The World Bank.
    21. Haokun Wang & Hong Chen & Tuyen Thi Tran & Shuai Qin, 2022. "An Analysis of the Spatiotemporal Characteristics and Diversity of Grain Production Resource Utilization Efficiency under the Constraint of Carbon Emissions: Evidence from Major Grain-Producing Areas ," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-25, June.
    22. Yong Zhu & Congjia Huo, 2022. "The Impact of Agricultural Production Efficiency on Agricultural Carbon Emissions in China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-22, June.
    23. Pargal, Sheoli & Wheeler, David, 1996. "Informal Regulation of Industrial Pollution in Developing Countries: Evidence from Indonesia," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(6), pages 1314-1327, December.
    24. Liao, Xianchun & Shi, Xunpeng (Roc), 2018. "Public appeal, environmental regulation and green investment: Evidence from China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 554-562.
    25. Pargal, Sheoli, et al, 1997. "Formal and Informal Regulation of Industrial Pollution: Comparative Evidence from Indonesia and the United States," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 11(3), pages 433-450, September.
    26. Marco Springmann & Michael Clark & Daniel Mason-D’Croz & Keith Wiebe & Benjamin Leon Bodirsky & Luis Lassaletta & Wim Vries & Sonja J. Vermeulen & Mario Herrero & Kimberly M. Carlson & Malin Jonell & , 2018. "Options for keeping the food system within environmental limits," Nature, Nature, vol. 562(7728), pages 519-525, October.
    27. Tone, Kaoru, 2001. "A slacks-based measure of efficiency in data envelopment analysis," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 130(3), pages 498-509, May.
    28. Saha, Shrawantee & Mohr, Robert D., 2013. "Media attention and the Toxics Release Inventory," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 284-291.
    29. Jatish Chandra Biswas & Md. Mozammel Haque & Md. Belal Hossain & Md. Maniruzzaman & Taslima Zahan & Md. Mizanur Rahman & Ranjit Sen & Sheikh Ishtiaque & Apurbo K. Chaki & Imrul Mossadek Ahmed & Shahri, 2022. "Seasonal Variations in Grain Yield, Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Carbon Sequestration for Maize Cultivation in Bangladesh," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-15, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chenyang Liu & Xinyao Wang & Ziming Bai & Hongye Wang & Cuixia Li, 2023. "Does Digital Technology Application Promote Carbon Emission Efficiency in Dairy Farms? Evidence from China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-23, April.
    2. Yongtong Hu & Jiaqi Xu & Tao Liu, 2025. "The Impact of Digitalization on Carbon Emission Efficiency: An Intrinsic Gaussian Process Regression Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(14), pages 1-25, July.
    3. Shuang Liu & Huimin Liu & Jie Shang, 2025. "Research on the Impact of the National Agricultural Green Development Pilot Zone Policy on Agricultural Carbon Emission Efficiency—A Quasi-Natural Experiment in 41 Cities in the Yangtze River Delta, C," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-23, August.
    4. Feifei Ye & Rongyan You & Haitian Lu & Sirui Han & Long-Hao Yang, 2023. "The Classification Impact of Different Types of Environmental Regulation on Chinese Provincial Carbon Emission Efficiency," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-24, August.
    5. Hanxin Wang & Weiqian Liu & Yi Liang, 2023. "Measurement of CO 2 Emissions Efficiency and Analysis of Influencing Factors of the Logistics Industry in Nine Coastal Provinces of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-21, October.
    6. Yihui Chen & Minjie Li, 2024. "How does the digital transformation of agriculture affect carbon emissions? Evidence from China’s provincial panel data," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-17, December.

    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. Zhao, Congyu & Dong, Kangyin & Wang, Kun & Dong, Xiucheng, 2022. "How does energy trilemma eradication reduce carbon emissions? The role of dual environmental regulation for China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    2. Timo Goeschl & Ole Jürgens, 2012. "Environmental quality and welfare effects of improving the reporting capability of citizen monitoring schemes," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 264-286, December.
    3. Bei Xiong & Ruimei Wang, 2020. "Effect of Environmental Regulation on Industrial Solid Waste Pollution in China: From the Perspective of Formal Environmental Regulation and Informal Environmental Regulation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-17, October.
    4. Yang, Zhijiu & Zhang, Feiyun & Zeng, Zhichun & Xu, Haijun & Li, Mengxu, 2025. "How does environmental disclosure impede regional carbon emissions? Insights from extensive and intensive margins," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    5. Xie, Rong-hui & Yuan, Yi-jun & Huang, Jing-jing, 2017. "Different Types of Environmental Regulations and Heterogeneous Influence on “Green” Productivity: Evidence from China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 104-112.
    6. Jia Xu & Jiuchang Wei & Haipeng (Allan) Chen, 2019. "Strategic responses of stigmatized Chinese manufacturing firms to formal and informal environmental regulative pressures through enhanced corporate social responsibility effort," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(6), pages 1235-1260, November.
    7. Jianshi Wang & Yu Cheng & Chengxin Wang, 2022. "Environmental Regulation, Scientific and Technological Innovation, and Industrial Structure Upgrading in the Yellow River Basin, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-17, December.
    8. Zheng, Qiaoqiao & Wan, Liang & Wang, Shanyong & Chen, Zexian & Li, Jun & Wu, Jie & Song, Malin, 2023. "Will informal environmental regulation induce residents to form a green lifestyle? Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    9. Chuantang Ren & Tao Wang & Yue Wang & Yizhen Zhang & Luwei Wang, 2023. "The Heterogeneous Effects of Formal and Informal Environmental Regulation on Green Technology Innovation—An Empirical Study of 284 Cities in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-17, January.
    10. Gangadharan, Lata, 2006. "Environmental compliance by firms in the manufacturing sector in Mexico," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(4), pages 477-486, October.
    11. Wang, Hua & Wheeler, David, 2005. "Financial incentives and endogenous enforcement in China's pollution levy system," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 174-196, January.
    12. Luo Muchen & Rosita Hamdan & Rossazana Ab-Rahim, 2022. "Data-Driven Evaluation and Optimization of Agricultural Environmental Efficiency with Carbon Emission Constraints," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-22, September.
    13. Heyes, Anthony & Kapur, Sandeep, 2012. "Community pressure for green behavior," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(3), pages 427-441.
    14. Tan, Yan & Uprasen, Utai, 2022. "The effect of foreign direct investment on renewable energy consumption subject to the moderating effect of environmental regulation: Evidence from the BRICS countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 201(P2), pages 135-149.
    15. Zhao, Li & Zhang, Ling & Sun, Jianxin & He, Pengfei, 2022. "Can public participation constraints promote green technological innovation of Chinese enterprises? The moderating role of government environmental regulatory enforcement," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    16. Vinish Kathuria, 2004. "INFORMAL REGULATION OF POLLUTION IN A DEVELOPING COUNTRY ; Empirical Evidence from Gujarat, India A," Working Papers 2004-02, Madras School of Economics,Chennai,India.
    17. Hettige, Hemamala & Mani, Muthukumara & Wheeler, David, 2000. "Industrial pollution in economic development: the environmental Kuznets curve revisited," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 445-476, August.
    18. Kathuria, Vinish, 2007. "Informal regulation of pollution in a developing country: Evidence from India," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2-3), pages 403-417, August.
    19. Weicheng Xu & Hanxia Li, 2024. "Can Digital Finance Enable China’s Industrial Carbon Unlocking under Environmental Regulatory Constraints? Joint Tests of Regression Analysis and Qualitative Comparative Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-37, May.
    20. Quan Guo & Jun Hong & Jing Rong & Haiyan Ma & Mengnan Lv & Mengyang Wu, 2022. "Impact of Environmental Regulations on High-Quality Development of Energy: From the Perspective of Provincial Differences," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-16, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:21:p:14492-:d:963378. 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.