Abstract
The large amount of industrial wastewater discharges has significantly limited the sustainable development of China’s resources and posed hazards to human health. In order to contain industrial wastewater discharges, the government has formulated a series of environmental control policies, but the effectiveness of these policies remains a controversial issue. With the rapid development of science and technology, how likely can China rely on technological progress to achieve a win-win outcome for both economic growth and environmental protection? This paper uses data from 105 cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt over the period 2005–2020 to investigate the effects of environmental regulation and heterogeneous technological progress on industrial wastewater discharges. The results show that environmental regulation and technology introduction effectively reduce industrial wastewater discharges, and independent innovation aggravates industrial wastewater pollution. The interaction analysis reveals that under the influence of environmental regulation, independent innovation will significantly alleviate industrial wastewater discharges in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. In addition, this study also reveals spatial and temporal heterogeneity in the effects of environmental regulations and different types of technological advances on industrial wastewater discharges.
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