Economic Effects of Ecological Compensation Policy in Shiyang River Basin: Empirical Research Based on DID and RDD Models

Abstract

In order to achieve the sustainable development of ecological resources and social economy in the Shiyang River Basin, a series of Ecological Compensation policies have been implemented in the basin. This study takes these policies as an opportunity to design an experiment. The nine counties (districts) affected by these policies are used as the experimental samples, and the period from 2000 to 2019 is the experimental period. The difference-in-differences method is used to study the effect of the series of Ecological Compensation policies in the Shiyang River Basin on the economic development of the basin. Furthermore, the regression discontinuity design was used to estimate the time and mechanism of this effect. The research found that the early start of phase I of the Key Governance Planning Project in 2006 played a significant and continuous promotive role in the economic development of the river basin; the Water Resources Allocation and Regulation Plan significantly promoted the development of tertiary industry in 2005–2007; the Key Governance Planning significantly promoted the development of primary industry in 2007–2010. The results suggest that to optimize the industrial structure to the maximum extent in the future and promote the sustainable development of ecological resources and social economy in the Shiyang River Basin, economic changes, such as water-saving green agriculture and eco-tourism, should be developed.

A comprehensive study on non-governmental actors in shaping grassland ecological compensation within legal frameworks

“…Similarly, in the context of government land violations, studies analyze the theoretical basis for illegal actions by local governments and governance approaches based on different needs, behavioral motivations, and governance instruments. Additionally, in grassroots social governance 4 , 27 , 29 , research explores the collaboration of multiple actors through co-construction, co-management, and resource sharing. In the realm of carbon–neutral governance, studies 15 , 16 , 28 , 30 , 31 address the power-rights imbalance between the government, enterprises, and the public, and propose a “trinity” governance approach encompassing government-led governance, enterprise responsibility, and active public participation.…”

“…The diversified forms of ecological compensation include water rights trading, emissions trading and eco-industry 5 , 6 , reflecting both the market mechanism and the role of government and social organizations. The practice and theoretical research of China’s diversified ecological compensation pursue the combination of government, market and social forces, but in practice, market mechanisms and social organisations are still not sufficiently involved, which is also the direction of development 22 , 29 , 42 . In general, theoretical research on diversified ecological compensation in China is relatively rich, but practice is relatively backward, and needs to be explored in depth in terms of institutions, implementation paths and cases 30 , 31 .…”

Quantitative analysis of desertification driving mechanisms in the Shiyang River Basin: Examining interactive effects of key factors through the Geographic Detector Model

“…These measures include biological indicators such as vegetation greening trend patterns and physical indicators such as top-layer soil properties, landscape change, etc. [44][45][46][47][48][49][50].…”

Spatial and Temporal Evolution and Prediction of the Coordination Level of “Production-Living-Ecological” Function Coupling in the Yellow River Basin, China

“…Another important aspect is climatic factors, where climate change brings changes in precipitation, which in turn affects the water cycle [ 29 ], thus changing the flow path time, peak flow, flow volume, and sand production [ 30 , 31 ]. Shang Haiyang [ 32 ] used ecological compensation policy as an opportunity to assess the impact of ecological compensation policy on economic development in the basin. Feng Lichao [ 33 ] analyzed the development trend and characteristics of these three subsystems in the Yellow River Basin based on a comprehensive evaluation system of the ecological environment subsystem, urbanization subsystem, and high-quality economic subsystem and found that during the study period, the comprehensive level of the Yellow River Basin showed a significant upward trend; urbanization and high-quality economic growth story is higher than the ecological environment level.…”