Effect and Mechanism of Environmental Decentralization on Pollution Emission from Pig Farming—Evidence from China

Abstract

Pollutants produced by pig breeding are among the important pollutions. It is necessary to explore the factors influencing the emission intensity of pollutants from pig breeding and find ways to decrease them. Using the provincial panel data of China from 2001 to 2017, this paper analyzed the mechanism impact of environmental decentralization on pollution emission from pig farming. The results showed that environmental decentralization could significantly reduce the emission intensity of pollutants from pig farming. Decentralization of environmental monitoring had a certain effect on reducing such emission intensity, while decentralization of environmental administration has not played this role. In addition, the scale of pig farming can effectively strengthen the effect of environmental decentralization on pollution reduction in pig farming. From the perspective of regional heterogeneity, environmental decentralization can reduce such emission intensity in restricted development areas, potential growth areas, and moderate development areas. Also, decentralization of environmental monitoring can also, obviously, reduce pollutant emissions in potential growth areas. The research results have reference value for determining the reasonable level of environmental decentralization between regions and improving environmental regulation policies.