The impact of environmental regulations on the green development of the mariculture industry: empirical analysis based on provincial panel data in coastal areas of China.

Abstract

With the continuous increase in global mariculture production and aquaculture areas, the environmental pollution caused by the mariculture industry is becoming increasingly serious. Faced with environmental issues, countries worldwide have formulated environmental regulations to scientifically intervene in marine environmental pollution issues and promote the green development of the mariculture industry. However, we must determine if strict environmental regulations can effectively promote the green development of the mariculture industry. This article uses the inter-provincial panel data of China's coastal areas from 2003 to 2019 as a sample. We use the entropy-technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution method to measure the intensity of environmental regulation in China's coastal areas and the level of green development of the mariculture industry. On this basis, an economic geography nested matrix was selected to construct a spatial panel econometric model to empirically explore the impact of environmental regulations on the green development of the mariculture industry. This approach also allows us to examine the heterogeneity of the impact of different types of environmental regulations on the green development of the mariculture industry. The research results indicate that environmental regulations have a "U-shaped" impact on the green development of the local mariculture industry, while they have an inverted "U-shaped" impact on the green development of the nearby mariculture industry. Furthermore, heterogeneity exists in the impact of different types of environmental regulations on the green development of the mariculture industry. Based on the research results, this article proposes policy recommendations from the perspectives of flexibly adjusting the intensity of environmental regulations, accelerating the development of voluntary-based environmental regulations, and regulating competition among local governments, which can provide decision-making references for the government to adjust environmental regulation policies and improve the level of green development in the mariculture industry.