Abstract
Resource-based cities in China face the dual pressure of environmental pollution and unemployment. Therefore, it is necessary to measure the effect of environmental regulation on employment. In this study, we first analyzed the theoretical mechanism of employment effects of environmental regulation. Second, we constructed a nonlinear panel threshold regression model with industrial structure rationalization and optimization as the threshold variables and used data from 115 resource-based prefecture-level cities to empirically examine the impact of environmental regulation on employment. The results demonstrate that 1) There is a significant threshold effect between environmental regulation and employment in resource-based cities, with the rationalization and optimization of the industrial structure gradually crossing the threshold from a low threshold to a high threshold, and the impact of environmental regulation on employment has gradually changed from an inhibitory effect to a promotion effect; 2) This conclusion still holds after the robustness test and the division of life cycles of different types of resource-based cities; 3) The coal resource cities as a representative of this kind of resource-based cities with serious environmental pollution, strengthening environmental regulation, have an obvious role in promoting employment. This study enriches the research content of environmental regulation on employment and provides useful references for rational improvement of unemployment in China.
Highlights
Resource-based cities in China are widely considered to be found for the sustainable development of resources and the national economy
When the rationalization of the industrial structure is taken as the threshold variable, there are two thresholds, both of which are highly statistically significant
When the optimization of the industrial structure is taken as the threshold variable, there is a single threshold, which is statistically significant at the 10% level
Summary
Resource-based cities in China are widely considered to be found for the sustainable development of resources and the national economy. With the rapid economic development, the ecological environment was severely damaged, leading to the deterioration of environmental quality within natural and built environments This is evident in China’s resource-based cities; with the continuous consumption of natural resources, these cities have declined rapidly, and the labor force engaged in mining activities have lost their jobs. We constructed a nonlinear panel threshold regression model with industrial structure rationalization and optimization as the threshold variables and used data from 115 resource-based prefecture-level cities to empirically examine the impact of environmental regulation on employment. The results show that there is a significant threshold effect between environmental regulation and employment in resource-based cities; with the rationalization and optimization of the industrial structure gradually crossing the threshold from a low threshold to a high threshold, the impact of environmental regulation on employment has gradually changed from an inhibitory effect to a promotion effect.
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