The impact of heterogeneous environmental regulations on carbon neutrality in China: New evidence based on the spatial measurement model

Abstract

Identifying the differentiated effects of different environmental regulations is the basis for promoting China's zero carbon emissions and carbon neutrality. We used Chinese provincial panel data from 2003 to 2017 to empirically test the impact of different environmental regulations on carbon neutrality through spatial measurement models. The highlights of the study are as follows: (1) Environmental regulations exert significant impact on carbon emissions, but different types of environmental regulations exert significantly different effect on carbon emissions. Public participation environmental regulation has a control effect on regional carbon emissions, while command-based and market-based environmental regulations had no significant effect on regional carbon neutrality. (2) The heterogeneity of the impact of different types of environmental regulations on carbon emissions can also be identified from the regional impacts heterogeneity and lags impact heterogeneity. (3) The combined mandatory and market-based environmental regulations and the combined mandatory and public-participatory environmental regulations significantly inhibited regional carbon neutrality.

Exploring the Impact of Heterogeneous Environmental Regulations on Green Innovation Efficiency: Evidence from China’s Yangtze River Economic Belt

“…However, whether this effect is "facilitating" or "inhibiting" is uncertain, which also relates to the theory of government intervention in the market. Referring to Liu et al [39,40], we divide environmental regulation into government-led formal environmental regulation and public-led informal environmental regulation, which is related to institutional theory in institutional economics. The mechanism by which different types of ER affect GIE varies, reflecting differences in market structure and competition theory.…”

“…According to Grossman and Krueger [62], the economic development level (Pgdp) is calculated by the per capita GDP of each city. Foreign direct investment can accelerate a city's economic development and have an impact on environmental issues and technology [40]. The degree of openness (Fdi) is calculated through the amount of foreign capital utilized in the current year.…”