Abstract
In this study, the SE-SBM model considering undesirable outputs was used to measure the water utilization efficiency of the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2006 to 2016, and the panel threshold model was used to estimate the impact of environmental regulation and foreign direct investment (FDI) agglomeration on water utilization efficiency. The results show that the water utilization efficiency presents a “U”-shaped trend as a whole, declines incrementally along the eastern, central, and western regions of the economic belt, and that the water utilization efficiency of the economic belt first converges and then diverges. In the estimation of the double threshold panel model, when the per capita GDP is lower than 2.635 or greater than 12.058 thousand dollars, the environmental regulation shows a significant positive effect. Otherwise, the environmental regulation barely shows a significant negative effect. FDI has not had a great impact on water resources utilization efficiency, and neither the “pollution aura” nor “pollution shelter” are significant. When the per capita GDP is lower than 2.184 or greater than 12.058 thousand dollars, FDI can significantly improve the water utilization efficiency through environmental regulation. Besides, the positive effects of technological innovation and foreign trade dependence are significant, and so are the negative effects of industrialization. Differentiated environmental regulation policies should be formulated; industrial upgrade should be promoted; innovation of water-saving and emission reduction should be strengthened in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.
Highlights
The Yangtze River Economic Belt is one of the most populous and economically active regions inChina and serves as an engine to promote China’s economic development
Labor, and capital should be unified into factor inputs, and economic benefits (GDP) and undesirable output should be taken as outputs (Ma et al 2012; Zhao et al 2017) [36,37]
The variation coefficient is adopted to evaluate the regional difference of water utilization efficiency
Summary
The Yangtze River Economic Belt is one of the most populous and economically active regions in. China and serves as an engine to promote China’s economic development. Considering its long-term and high-intensity economic development, it faces serious water resource problems. The problem of quality-oriented water scarcity is serious. At the end of 2015, the proportion of sections in the Yangtze River basin that reached or exceeded Class III was only 73.4%. It serves as a “water pollution refuge” for some developed countries or regions due to the irrational use of foreign capital and the transfer of industrial undertakings. The release of excess negative energy and pollution transformed the economic belt a “pollution belt” [1]. The public nature of the aquatic environment and the localization of management led local governments to act unilaterally and to participate in a so-called “race to the bottom,” making the water crisis a public
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