| With the development of China’s social economy,the problem of environmental pollution is becoming more and more serious,especially the haze pollution problem is the most prominent,and the resulting environmental pollution brings incalculable health and other welfare losses to residents.At the same time,the problem of haze pollution is cross-regional,complex and dynamic,and the negative spillover effects of haze pollution on neighbouring areas are beyond the scope of local governments to manage and control.Therefore,how to promote haze pollution management through collaborative governmental management and avoid the evolution of air quality into a "tragedy of the commons" is an issue of concern to both academics and practitioners.Based on the perspective of collaborative environmental pollution management,this study uses a multidisciplinary intersection of economics,public policy and public management,as well as various research methods such as double difference,spatial economics,social network analysis and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis,to theoretically analyse and empirically test the haze reduction effects of collaborative environmental management between local governments and government departments.The main research elements of this paper are as follows.Firstly,collaborative governance presupposes the spatial correlation of governance objects.To this end,starting from a theoretical analysis of the incentive logic and influence mechanism of the "homogeneous effect" of haze pollution,this thesis examines the spatial correlation of haze pollution by constructing an economic matrix,a geographical matrix and an administrative adjacency matrix with the help of panel data from 2003 to 2017,in order to demonstrate the "homogeneous effect",regional heterogeneity and influence mechanism of haze pollution behaviour among regional governance agents.The spatial association of haze pollution is examined by constructing an economic matrix,a geographical matrix and an administrative adjacency matrix to demonstrate the ’cohort effect’,regional heterogeneity and the influence mechanism between regional governing bodies on haze pollution behaviour.In addition,the main factors influencing haze pollution are also examined.Secondly,based on spatial correlation analysis,the "cohort effect" of haze pollution requires policy intervention by the central government to avoid air quality becoming a "tragedy of the commons".Thus,based on the theory of collaborative governance among governments and the theory of institutional collective action,and with the help of panel data from 2003 to 2017,we use a double-difference approach to examine the impact of the promulgation of the 12 th Five-Year Plan on Air Pollution in Key Regions as an exogenous policy shock of central government intervention.We not only examine the impact,heterogeneity and spatial spillover effects of collaborative governance among governments on haze pollution reduction,but also examine the intermediate mechanisms of this effect from the perspective of local governments’ environmental pollution governance efficiency.Again,from the perspective of collaborative governance between government departments,this study extracts the network of collaborative relationships between departments within the provincial government from the implementation rules of the Air Pollution Action Plan issued by provincial departments as a policy text,and examines the impact on the performance of haze pollution control.Based on social network theory,we measure the density of the collaborative network between government departments,the centrality of the network,and combine the elements of network resources,network attention and external monitoring of the network,and examine how the combination of various elements can reach the "same goal" through "different ways" by means of qualitative comparative analysis of fuzzy sets.The study also examines how various combinations of elements can reach the goal of "homogeneity"through "different.Finally,based on the above empirical analysis,strategies and suggestions for improving the effectiveness of haze pollution control in China are proposed from the perspectives of the local government’s own responsibility for governance subjects,institutional arrangements for collaborative environmental governance under vertical intervention,and the management of the collaborative process,based on the environmental pollution control scenario in China.Based on the above elements of the empirical analysis,the main conclusions of this thesis are as follows:Firstly,there is a spatial correlation between regional haze pollution,a ’cohort effect’ of haze pollution behaviour among the governing bodies,a ’reference learning’due to economic development and a ’yardstick’ due to fiscal revenue ranking.Competition" is a possible influence mechanism.In terms of influencing factors,there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between an increase in regional GDP per capita and haze pollution,with an increase in the number of public transport and an improvement in the level of greenery in the region,as well as an increase in technological research and development contributing to a reduction in the level of haze pollution in the region.Conversely,an increase in population density and foreign investment,as well as an increase in the share of secondary industries,will increase haze pollution.Robustness tests support the findings of this paper.Secondly,the vertical intervention of collaborative environmental governance from the central government helps to reduce haze pollution,and this collaborative governance effect is more significant in eastern regions,small and medium-sized cities,and resource-based cities.The dynamic effect results confirm the sustainability of this collaborative governance effect.Further,the spatial spillover effect of collaborative environmental management in neighbouring cities was found to not only reduce haze pollution in the region,but also have a significant spatial spillover effect on haze pollution reduction in neighbouring regions,and this spatial spillover reduction effect is more significant in neighbouring cities in the province.From the perspective of the influence mechanism,collaborative governance among local governments effectively improves the efficiency of local governments’ environmental pollution management and thus generates haze pollution reduction effects,especially in areas with higher levels of social credit commitment and in the eastern region.Finally,the study of government haze abatement effectiveness from the perspective of collaborative governance networks between government departments found that,(1)individual condition variables do not contribute to high performance in haze governance,and that haze governance performance is shaped by the joint action of the elements.(2)The density of collaborative networks between government departments,network resources and external monitoring all contribute to high performance in haze pollution control,but when the density of collaborative networks is insufficient and the centrality of the network is high,the adequacy of collaborative network resources and strong external citizen monitoring can compensate for this deficiency.Based on the above findings,three antecedent configurations are outlined,namely the path of haze pollution governance performance driven by a combination of collaborative network density and government attention;the path of governance performance driven by a combination of collaborative network density,network resources,and external monitoring;and the path of complementary network resources and strong external citizen monitoring.Accordingly,this study proposes the following policy recommendations:(1)implement the environmental responsibilities of local government governance bodies and promote their transformation towards green innovation and high-quality industrial structures,thus moving towards high-quality development;(2)innovate the management system of haze pollution management and promote joint management between regions;(3)strengthen the vertical intervention of the central government and enhance the willingness of inter-governmental collaboration;(4)promote the linkages between collaborative networks(3)strengthen the central government’s vertical intervention and enhance the willingness of inter-governmental collaboration;(4)promote linkages between collaborative networks and enrich the resources of collaborative networks This study’s focus on the emission reduction effects of collaborative intergovernmental governance objectively portrays the current collaborative haze pollution governance scenario in China,reflecting how local governments as well as various departments have created a productive governance picture through mutual collaboration. |
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