Research On The Impact Of Strategic Interaction Of Environmental Policies On Regional Ecological Efficiency

At present,the increasingly serious environmental pollution not only brings huge economic loss to our country,but also restricts the sustainable development of economy.In order to reverse this situation,the central government has added environmental protection indicators into the performance appraisal system of local government officials and constructed a green performance appraisal system.Under the green performance appraisal system,how to coordinate the relationship between economic development and ecological environmental protection,that is,to maintain sustainable economic growth with minimum resource consumption and environmental pollution,has become a new goal of local government competition.As a comprehensive index,ecological efficiency reflects the degree of coordinated development among regional economy,environment and resources,and can effectively measure the level of regional economic development and the status of ecological environment.This paper evaluates the regional ecological efficiency by using the DEA-SBM model of unexpected output based on the provincial panel data from 2007 to 2015.The results show that the overall ecological efficiency of the whole country shows a downward trend in the sample period,and there are large spatial differences.Under the green performance appraisal system,the promotion of local government officials is affected by the regional ecological environment.In order to cater to the evaluation preferences of the central government and win in the relative performance appraisal,local governments will consider the behavior of the same level government when formulating environmental policies,which also means that the environmental policies of local governments are no longer isolated,but there is strategic interaction.Therefore,based on the perspective of local government spatial strategy interaction,this paper measures local government environmental policy by environmental protection expenditure,constructs a Spatial Panel Durbin Model,and on this basis,discusses the environmental strategy interaction between local governments and its impact on ecological efficiency.China has a vast territory,and different regions not only have different resource reserves and environmental policies,but also have different economic levels and market-oriented degrees.In order to verify whether the existence of regional heterogeneity will make the interaction of environmental strategies of local governments and its impact on regional ecological efficiency different,this paper conducts a grouping test from two perspectives of location conditions and market-oriented degree.The results show that increasing government expenditure on environmental protection in local and surrounding areas is beneficial to the improvement of ecological efficiency;there is strategic interaction among local government expenditure on environmental protection,and it is shown as "yardstick competition";there is a significant negative spatial spillover effect on ecological efficiency;and government expenditure on environmental protection in central and western regions and low market-oriented areas is shown as "yardstick competition" strategy.The eastern region is characterized by "bottom-to-bottom competition" strategy,while the spatial strategy interaction of environmental protection expenditure of local governments in high-market engineering areas is not significant.Based on sufficient theoretical and positive analysis,this paper argues that the central government and local government should clarify their powers and responsibilities,perform their respective duties,and coordinate to promote the construction of ecological civilization.The central government can start from the following aspects: first,give full play to the role of "baton",guide local governments to form a benign interaction of environmental policies,strengthen the "yardstick competition" of environmental protection expenditure,increase the weight of environmental protection in the performance appraisal system,and promote the greening of the appraisal system;Secondly,clarify the responsibilities and powers of environmental governance,and promote the cooperation of local governments in environmental governance.Thirdly,we should improve the supervision mechanism of environmental policy implementation.First of all,we should improve the relevant legal system of environmental governance,improve the environmental law enforcement procedures,and effectively regulate and restrain local government law enforcement behavior.Then,we should clarify the powers and responsibilities of local governments and environmental protection departments,ensure the independence of local environmental protection departments,and avoid the interference of local governments.Finally,we should strengthen administrative accountability and establish a mechanism of environmental responsibility review.Fourthly,we should improve the financial transfer payment system of ecological compensation and internalize environmental costs.Local governments can start from the following two aspects: first,they should implement differentiated environmental protection policies according to local conditions and coordinate the development of regional ecological environment and economy.Secondly,continuously increase the proportion of environmental protection expenditure in local fiscal expenditure and GDP,and establish a stable growth mechanism for environmental protection expenditure.