Study On Impact Of Environmental Regulations On Industrial Agglomeration

Since the reform and opening policy,China has made great progress in economic growth and industrial development.However,the extensive pattern of economic growth has led to serious environmental pollution,which even poses a threat to public health.In recent years,China's government has paid much attention to environmental quality,and environmental regulations have become a hot topic in academic research.Based on theoretical analysis and an expansion of the Footloose Entrepreneur Model,this paper analyzes the impact of environmental regulations on industrial agglomeration by employing a panel threshold model and panel data from 30 provinces during 2004–2016.The empirical results show :(1)environmental regulations have a negative impact on pollution-intensive agglomeration;environmental regulations have a positive impact on high-tech agglomeration and manufacturing industrial agglomeration when environmental regulation stringency is at a low level,but this impact will change when environmental regulation stringency is at a high level.(2)command-and-control has a negative impact on manufacturing industrial agglomeration in general,while market-based regulation and voluntary regulation have a positive influence on manufacturing industrial agglomeration.(3)when the economic development level is at a low or medium level,environmental regulations do harm to manufacturing industrial agglomeration;when the level of economic development is at a high level,environmental regulation has a weak negative impact on manufacturing industrial agglomeration,and the impact coefficient is not significant.(4)when the proportion of the secondary industry is low,environmental regulations have a negative impact on manufacturing industrial agglomeration;when the proportion of the secondary industry is at a medium or high level,environmental regulations have a positive impact on manufacturing industrial agglomeration.Based on the above empirical results,this paper puts forward the following suggestions :(1)set environmental regulation stringency reasonably.(2)apply various environmental regulations reasonably.(3)implement policies to support technological innovation.