Environmental Regulation,Local Protection And Geographical Pattern Of Pollution-intensive Industries

With the rapid expansion of industry and urbanization,environmental problems are becoming more and more concerned by the government and the public.In response to the pressure of environmental pollution,environmental regulation has gradually strengthened,and has become an important factor in the adjustment of industrial geographical pattern.The response of polluting enterprises and industries to environmental regulation has become a hot topic in various disciplines.However,the conflict between economic growth and environmental pollution is an unavoidable worldwide problem in the process of industrialization.Due to local interests such as fiscal and taxation motives and economic growth,Local protection interfere with the enforcement of environmental regulations,and also affect the geographical pattern of pollution industries.Therefore,it is necessary to integrate environmental regulation and local protection into a unified theoretical and model analysis framework in order to better understand the changes in the geographical pattern of pollution-intensive industries.This research focuses on the topic of "What is the relationship between environmental regulation,local protection and the geographical pattern of pollution-intensive industries",The research is based on the theory of environmental regulation,local protection and location theory,study the impact of these two factors on pollution-intensive industries from macro and micro perspectives,which meets the needs of coordinated development of economic growth and environmental protection under the Construction of Ecological Civilization.The research has practical significance.Based on the existing research and related theories,this study systematically elaborates the theoretical basis and mechanism of the role of environmental regulation and local protection on the distribution of pollution-intensive industries and industrial dynamics,and constructs a comprehensive theoretical analysis framework on the basis of considering the heterogeneity of regions,industries and enterprises.At the same time,in order to better understand the role of environmental regulation and local protection,this study elaborates the evolution trajectory of environmental regulation and local protection,reveals its characteristics,problems and evolution direction,and analyzes its impact.According to the analysis framework,this article takes 285 cities in China as the main research areas for empirical analysis,and divides the geographic pattern of pollution-intensive industries into macro-level industrial distribution changes and micro-level industrial dynamic adjustment.Industrial dynamics include enterprise entry,exit,Corporate profit margin,enterprise innovation,industrial agglomeration and industrial structure.This article includes the following research contents: the spatial-temporal pattern and interaction mechanism of environmental regulation and local protection,the spatial-temporal pattern characteristics of pollution-intensive industries,the impact of environmental regulation and local protection on industrial distribution,and the impact of environmental regulation and local protection on industrial dynamics.The main conclusions of this paper are as follows:(1)There are significant differences in the distribution of environmental regulation and local protection,and there are negative spatial correlation features.both have regional "imitative behavior" and interaction constraint.At the level of cities,the distribution of environmental regulation is high in the east and low in the west,and the high value is constantly shifting to the inland;while the high value of local protection is transferred from the north to the central and western regions,and the low value is transferred from the south to the east.Both of them are spatial agglomeration features,in which the degree of environmental regulation agglomeration tends to be discrete.there are obvious spatial differences in the agglomeration of local protection.There is a negative spatial correlation between environmental regulation and local protection.Around the interaction and competition between them,environmental regulation and local protection have interactive constraint in the whole sample estimation,and there are regional "imitative behavior".We found that environmental regulation is not a one-way "race-to-bottom ",but a cumulative upward trend in interest competition,regional game and environmental deterioration.However,the spatial spillover effect of environmental regulation in adjacent areas is weak.In the phased estimation,the "imitation restriction" pattern and "competition upward" pattern of environmental regulation has been strengthened.In the sub-regional estimation,from east to west,the role of environmental regulation on local protection presents “imitation and constraints”,“independence and constraints” and “independent and invalidity”;the role of local protection in environmental regulation is “independent and invalidity”,“independent and constraints” and “imitation and promotion”.(2)The proportion of pollution-intensive industries fluctuating decline,and and the distribution showed a trend of shifting from east to the central and western regions.In terms of time changes,the total amount of pollution-intensive industries has steadily increased,pollution-intensive industries fluctuating decline,and the internal composition structure has been relatively stable.It has experienced three stages of slow growth,rapid expansion and structural transition.The spatial distribution of pollution industries changed from dispersal to concentration and then to decentralization.In terms of spatial distribution,at the provincial level,Beijing,Guangdong,Jiangsu,and Zhejiang are the main capacity-transfer sites,and the central and western regions have developed into a major country carrying on the pollution-intensive industries.At the city level,the overall layout of pollution-intensive industries is high in the east and north,low in the west and south.The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei,Shandong Peninsula,Yangtze River Delta and Jiangsu have become the main distribution areas.Yangtze River Delta and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration are the main capacity-transfer area,the key development zones has become the main growth area of production capacity.The adjustment direction of various industries is quite different between regions,urban agglomerations and cities.(3)There are regional,industrial and spatial heterogeneity in the impact of environmental regulation and local protection on the distribution of pollution-intensive industries.Environmental regulation has an inverted U-shaped relation with the scale of pollution-intensive industries.Environmental regulation has become an important factor in the spatial pattern change of pollution-intensive industries.Especially for high-polluting industries.The Pollution Haven Hypothesis has been confirmed.At the provincial level,the role of environmental regulation is prominent in the eastern and Western regions,while there is an inverted U-shaped relationship in the three major regions of the city.The restraining effect of environmental regulation on the scale of pollution-intensive industries increase with the increase of environmental regulation intensity,and the relationship between environmental regulation and the scale of pollution-intensive industries presents an inverted N-shaped with the improvement of economic development level.Local protection promotes the expansion of pollution-intensive industries,especially for high-state-owned industries,which does not conform to the assumption that high-profit industries tend to be distributed in high-local protection areas.Local protection games with adjacent areas will weaken industrial returns.At the provincial level,the role of local protection is significant in the central and Western regions,while at the municipal level,from west to east,the higher the local protection index,the greater the increase of the scale of pollution-intensive industries.With the increase of local protection index,the scale of local protection and pollution-intensive industries presents a V type,while with the improvement of economic development level,local protection will inhibits the growth of pollution-intensive industries after promotes.The interaction of environmental regulation and local protection on pollution-intensive industries shows great differences after considering the scale,regional and industrial heterogeneity.The interaction of environmental regulation and local protection is obvious in the eastern and central of the provincial level,while at the municipal levels,the central and western regions can better reflect the interaction.Local protection inhibits the impact of environmental regulation on high pollution-intensive industries.The impact of environmental regulation and local protection on industrial dynamics is affected by regional,industrial and enterprise heterogeneity.(1)The high-value areas of enterprises enter are showing a trend of move westward.Environmental regulation enhances entry barriers for high-polluting enterprises,but has a weak impact on state-owned enterprises,foreign capital and large enterprises.The motive of local protection for profit is to reduce the threshold for entry in the western region and raised the barriers to entry in the eastern and central regions.The motive of local protection for state-owned enterprises have lowered the threshold for enterprises to enter.Large enterprises are more likely to enter areas with high local protection motivation,state-owned enterprises are more likely to enter areas with high local protection for profit motivation,while areas with high proportion of state-owned enterprises in the eastern and central regions restrict the entry of state-owned enterprises.Environmental regulation enhances barriers to entry for enterprises in areas with high local protection for profit motivation in the East and west,while The motive of local protection for state-owned enterprises inhibits the role of environmental regulation.(2)The high value of exit rate of polluted enterprises and internal exit structure gradually moved westward,and the scale of enterprise exit in the eastern region has increased.Except for the older enterprises,environmental regulation is not the key factor for the exit of polluting enterprises.The motive of local protective for profit decreases the exit probability of polluting enterprises in eastern and western regions,while the motive of local protection for state-owned enterprises increases the number of enterprises exit.The exit barriers of state-owned and foreign enterprises are higher in areas with high degree of local protection.Environmental regulation promotes the exit of polluting enterprises in areas with high motive of local protection for profit,while the motivate of local protection for state-owned enterprises inhibits the role of environmental regulation.(3)The spatial pattern of enterprise profit margin shows that the eastern part is generally better and the central and western parts are developing rapidly.The strong "Porter hypothesis" has not been verified,and "compliance cost" can be used to explain the relationship between environmental regulation and corporate profit margin.The motivate of local protection for profit is conducive to improving the corporate profit margin,while in addition to state-owned enterprises,foreign enterprises and large enterprises,the motivation of protection of state-owned enterprises is not conducive to improving the profit margin.The motive of local protection for profit has changed the cost effect of environmental regulation,However,the motivate of local protection for state-owned enterprises and environmental regulation have superimposed negative effects.In terms of regional heterogeneity,environmental regulation in the central region has a strong cost effect,which reduces the profits in high-profit regions.The profits of state-owned enterprises can be guaranteed when faced with strict environmental regulation in the western region.(4)The product innovation of pollution-intensive industries mainly concentrates on the Bohai Rim and Yangtze River Delta,and gradually expands to the central and Chengdu-Chongqing regions.The existence of the weak "Porter hypothesis" has not been confirmed.Environmental regulation is conducive to promoting the innovation of state-owned enterprises and foreign-funded enterprises,but has a "squeezing effect" on large enterprises.The motive of local protection for profit can promote the level of regional innovation,in which foreign capital and private enterprises are the main innovators.The motive of local protection state-owned enterprises hinders the growth of innovation,and is not conducive to the innovation compensation effect of environmental regulation.(5)The specialized agglomeration pattern of different pollution-intensive industries has different characteristics,but the overall change is relatively stable.In the whole country and the middle part,environmental regulation promotes industrial agglomeration,while in Eastern and Western part,environmental regulation promotes industrial agglomeration.Environmental regulation is conducive to industrial agglomeration in areas dominated by private enterprises,while in areas dominated by state-owned enterprises and large enterprises,environmental regulation is not conducive to industrial agglomeration.The motivate of local protection for profit promotes industrial decentralization.Besides the eastern part,the motivate of local protection for state-owned enterprise promotes industrial agglomeration.Environmental regulation generally reduces the level of industrial agglomeration in high-profit regions.(6)The pattern of “contamination” of industrial structure is high in the west and low in the east,and the industrial structure tends to be “clean”.Environmental regulation is conducive to promoting the transformation of regional industrial structure to "clean",especially for industries with large internal scale economies,but not for industries with large proportion of private enterprises.In addition to the industries with large internal scale economies,the motive of local protection for profit will promote the transformation of industries to "clean",while the motive of local protection for state-owned enterprises is not conducive to the transformation.Environmental regulation is conducive to restraining industrial growth in areas with high proportion of profits,but the role of environmental regulation is vulnerable to intervened by the motive of local protection state-owned enterprises to protect.According to the relevant research conclusions,this paper puts forward the following policy recommendations:(1)Strengthen the construction of environmental governance and management system,and improve the efficiency of environmental regulation.(2)Promoting market-oriented and state-owned system reform and reducing unhealthy intervention.(3)Coordinating the relationship between economic development and environmental protection,and promote regional Yardstick competition.(4)Comprehensive and rational planning,and do a good job of industrial relocation and undertaking work.(5)Making differentiation measures in accordance with local conditions.(6)Enhancing the innovation ability of enterprises.(7)Developing green industry,and promote the transformation of industrial structure to “clean”.Innovations: In theory,environmental regulation and local protection are simultaneously included in the analysis framework,meanwhile,We analyze the mechanism of environmental regulation and local protection on the geographical pattern of polluting industries.Construct the measurement methods of environmental regulation and local protection at the level of prefecture,examine the interaction and competition between them.From the macro,micro and heterogeneous perspectives,this paper explores the impact of environmental regulation and local protection on pollution-intensive industries,which enriches relevant research.