Abstract
This paper explores the effects of environmental regulation (ER) and rural residents’ health investment (RRHI) on agricultural eco-efficiency (AEE) to provide a reference for the Chinese Government and other developing countries for implementing environmental regulation policies and to provide new paths to further improve green development in agriculture. Using the panel data of 31 Chinese provinces from 2009–2018, the Super-SBM model was used to measure AEE. The role of ER on AEE was analyzed based on panel two-way fixed effects with endogeneity treatment and a robustness test, and this mediating effect analysis was conducted to analyze the role of RRHI in ER and AEE, examining the extent of the effect of ER on AEE in three regions of China—eastern, central and western—using a heterogeneity analysis. The results of the study show that: (1) from a national perspective, ER has a significant positive impact on AEE, showing that ER is effective at this stage; (2) when RRHI is used as a mediating variable, the rising ER’s intensity can promote AEE by increasing RRHI; and (3) the results of the heterogeneity analysis show that ER has the greatest impact on AEE in the economically developed eastern region; the western region with a weaker level of economic development is in second place. However, ER has a negative impact on AEE in the central region with a medium level of economic development. Thus, the impact of ER on AEE will show great differences depending on the stage of economic development.
Highlights
Accepted: 4 March 2022Since its reform and opening-up policies, China’s industrialization has accelerated significantly, and its socioeconomic development has reached a new level, but the problem of environmental pollution has become increasingly serious, which severely affects agricultural production [1]
To examine the impact of environmental regulation (ER) on agricultural eco-efficiency (AEE), the following benchmark regression model is constructed in this paper: AEEit = β 0 + β 1 LnERit + β 2 ControlXit + σi + υt + ε i where i denotes the Chinese provinces, t denotes the year, AEEit indicates agriculture ecoefficiency, LnERit denotes the logarithm of environment regulation, ControlXit represents a series of control variables affecting AEE, σi denotes the individual fixed effect, υt denotes the time fixed effect, and εi is the random error term. β0 is the intercept term, and β1 is the coefficient of the effect of ER on AEE
This paper empirically analyzes the effect of ER on AEE, and the mediating effect of rural residents’ health investment (RRHI) in ER and AEE using the panel data of 31 provinces in China from 2009 to 2018
Summary
Since its reform and opening-up policies, China’s industrialization has accelerated significantly, and its socioeconomic development has reached a new level, but the problem of environmental pollution has become increasingly serious, which severely affects agricultural production [1]. This paper intends to measure the level of AEE in each province of China by using rural residential health investment as a mediating variable to observe the mechanisms of action between ER, RRHI and AEE, but it is difficult to obtain real-time data on each farmer’s agricultural production factor inputs by using a micro-survey on a national scale. An in-depth analysis of the mechanisms and effects among ER, RRHI and AEE is of great significance for improving rural residents’ health and promoting agricultural production. Exploring the impact of ER on AEE under different levels of economic development, and whether AEE can be improved by promoting RRHI, is important for the Chinese Government to tailor its policies to local conditions, as well as for rural residents’ livelihood and agricultural sustainable development in various regions of China. According to its economic development, China is categorized and analyzed according to its economic development status to find out whether ERs have different effects on AEE in different stages of economic development, which will provide some theoretical basis for the degree of ER implemented to promote AEE in countries or regions in the process of economic development
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