Abstract
Based on annual data over the period 2003 to 2017 covering 31 provinces in China, the environmental pollution index and environmental regulation index are constructed. Moran’s I, the widely used spatial autocorrelation index, is used to analyze the spatial distribution of environmental pollution, which provides a fairly high stability of the positive spatial correlation of environmental pollution. Then, the 0-1 matrix, distance weighting matrix, and economic distance mixed matrix are carried out to weigh space separately. To analyze the impact of fiscal decentralization on environmental pollution, the spatial Durbin model is employed. In the meanwhile, fiscal decentralization is measured from the perspective of both fiscal expenditure decentralization and fiscal revenue decentralization. The results show that the impact of fiscal decentralization on environmental pollution is positive and appears the phenomenon of “race to bottom.” To improve environmental quality, appropriate environmental regulation target, implementing green GDP accounting, and adjusting economic structure should be adopted.
Highlights
China’s economy has completed the transformation from surging growth to high-quality development, demanding requirements are put forward on resource allocation and environmental protection [1]
You et al [7] used the Chinese industrial companies’ data to test the moderating effects of fiscal decentralization, and the results show that fiscal decentralization negatively moderates the effect of environmental regulation on firm eco-innovation
Fiscal decentralization potentially impacts the actions of local governments; in the meantime, environmental regulations directly influence the state of local environmental pollution. erefore, it is of great significance to probe into the way that government regulation influences environmental pollution under fiscal decentralization
Summary
China’s economy has completed the transformation from surging growth to high-quality development, demanding requirements are put forward on resource allocation and environmental protection [1]. Wang and Lei [10] studied the effect of fiscal decentralization on different industrial pollutant discharges and held the opinion that Chinese-style fiscal decentralization exacerbates environmental pollution. Fiscal decentralization potentially impacts the actions of local governments; in the meantime, environmental regulations directly influence the state of local environmental pollution. Shown below are the contributions of the paper Both fiscal expenditure decentralization and revenue decentralization are simultaneously included in the scope of analysis and their influences on environmental pollution are compared. E economic distance nesting matrix reflects that the more advanced the economy of a region, the more intensified the spatial impact and radiation of the region on the backward areas surrounding it (3) e economic distance nesting matrix W Wd · diag((Y1/Y), (Y2/Y), . . . , (Yn/Y)), where Wd represents the geographic distance weight matrix, Yi represents the average GDP of area i during the inspection period, and Y represents the average GDP of all regions during the inspection period. e economic distance nesting matrix reflects that the more advanced the economy of a region, the more intensified the spatial impact and radiation of the region on the backward areas surrounding it
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