Evaluation and Comparison of Air Pollution Governance Performance: An Empirical Study Based on Jiangxi Province

Abstract

This paper takes the air pollution governance performance as the research object, establishes the evaluation index system of air pollution governance performance using the pressure-state-response (PSR) model, and uses the data of 11 prefecture-level cities in Jiangxi Province from 2014–2017 to carry out empirical tests. The results show that, in terms of indicator weights, the state and pressure categories have higher weights than the response category, further highlighting the importance of reducing pollution emissions rather than post-pollution treatment. Regarding regional comparisons, only a few regions show a good balance between “stress-state-response”, while most regions show a “loss of balance”. In terms of annual changes, the performance of most regions in several categories rose and showed a wave-like upward trend, reflecting the intermittent improvement characteristics of air pollution governance performance in most regions of Jiangxi. Finally, combined with the evaluation results, this paper proposes policy suggestions, such as improving the performance evaluation index system of air pollution governance, promoting the comprehensive governance of air pollution, focusing on regions with weaker air pollution governance, and strengthening the regional collaborative governance of air pollution.