Environmental regulation policies, local government enforcement and pollution-intensive industry transfer in China

Abstract

Pollution-intensive industries are the focus of regulatory targets in environmental regulation policies, which are the basis for the enforcement of environmental regulation by governments at all levels. Based on the “pollution haven” hypothesis, we select Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and the surrounding regions (Henan, Shandong, Shanxi) as the objective areas. By constructing spatial panel measurement models, we study the impact of environmental regulation policies on the transfer of the overall industry and five pollution-intensive industries, and explore the possible roles of the local government environmental regulation enforcement. The results show that environmental regulation policies have not caused an obvious phenomenon of industrial transfer out of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and the surrounding regions, and the intervention of local government environmental regulation enforcement will not change this situation. Environmental regulation policies have different impacts on the transfer of different pollution-intensive industries. The interaction effect of the enforcement of local government environmental regulation will lead to industrial transfer in the ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing industry and the petroleum processing, coking and nuclear fuel processing industry. The transfer of pollution-intensive industries in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and the surrounding regions is more affected by economic development, infrastructure construction, R&D investment and other factors.