Industrial Ecology, Environmental Regulation And Firm Behavior

The theory of industrial ecology that rose in the late 1980s has provided a new analytical framework for mankind to solve the conflicts between economic growth and environmental pollution. This new framework can design and implement strategies to reduce the negative impact on the environment of the products and processes related to industrial system and to achieve the "win-win" situation between economic development and environmental protection. The Industrial Ecology theory at the operational level is considered to be a viable tool for achieving sustainable development and can get mankind closer to the ultimate goal of achieving sustainable development. The research on industrial ecology theory is future-oriented, which has attracted attention from economists, ecologists and system scientists all over the world, thus promoting the development of the theory. It is of crucial significance for the theory's popularity and implementation to find a proper way to put the theory of industrial ecology into practice.As the main micro-economic operator, firms are the producers of most products and the producers of most pollutants as well. The behavior of firm is very important for the transformation of the whole mode of economic development. This paper discusses the relations and the internal mechanism between industrial ecology, environmental regulation and firm behavior. It focuses on the impact of industry ecology on the existing environmental regulation and the relations between firm industrial ecology behavior and environmental regulation. The paper also discusses the drivers and obstacles of firm industrial ecology behavior. Based on the previous discussion and from the viewpoint of the government, the paper studies and proposes some optimal policy recommendations on environmental regulation that can encourage firms to practice the industrial ecology theory in our country.The innovation of this paper lies in the application of the industry ecology to the study of environmental regulation and firm From industrial ecology's perspective, the paper discusses the impact of industrial ecology on environmental regulation and firm behavior, and changes of their mutual relations.