Effects Of Livestock Environmental Regulation On Water Pollution And Border Pollution

Water pollution has become a major concern in China,causing great welfare losses to the Chinese people,especially those living in border areas.China’s water pollution already causes economic losses and incalculable health damage,while border residents bear an even heavier environmental burden.As the world’s largest producer of livestock,livestock production is the main cause of China’s water pollution.In response to the social and environmental losses caused by livestock production,China has implemented the world’s largest and strictest set of livestock environmental regulations（LERs）to tackle water pollution caused by livestock production.LERs in China follow one basic principle,known as“the whole county as a unit to implement”,which means that the county government cannot implement more and stricter LERs in the border area.This means that LERs cannot be implemented strategically and may therefore reduce water pollution and border pollution.However,there are few studies on the effects of LERs on water pollution control and border pollution control.Using the Difference-in-Differences model（DID）,the Difference-in-Difference-in-Differences Model（DDD）and manually collected LERs data from 106counties in China during the period from 2006 to 2017,we evaluate the effects of LERs on water pollution and border pollution in China.Specifically,the average and dynamic effects of LERs on water pollution were estimated by using the DID model,and the robustness test and heterogeneity analysis were carried out by using various methods.Secondly,the DDD model was used to estimate the effects of LERs on border pollution,and robustness test and heterogeneity analysis were carried out.The research conclusions of this paper are as follows.First,LERs reduced chemical oxygen demand（COD）by 0.815 mg/L（or 17.82%）.The COD of livestock and poultry decreased by 1.386 mg/L（or 30.30%）with the increase of environmental regulation intensity by 1%.However,the effect of LERs on COD is short-lived.Several robustness tests further support this finding.Heterogeneity analysis showed that LERs had a greater impact on water pollution in upstream regions,economically developed regions and regions with higher initial pollution levels.Second,LERs are indeed effective in reducing border pollution,which reduces COD and NH₃-N in border areas by 26.06%and 41.34%more than in internal areas respectively.Several robustness tests further support this finding.Further heterogeneity analysis showed that LERs in upstream and economically underdeveloped regions had a greater impact on border pollution than those in downstream and economically developed regions.Based on the above conclusions,this paper proposes the following policy recommendations.Firstly,more attention should be paid to the actual long-term effects of LERs to prevent local governments from adopting expedient measures.To reduce the water pollution of the river basin,the long-term effect of LERs on COD needs to be more concerned.The reason for the long-term poor effect of LERs on COD may be the government’s band-it remedy pollution control strategy.Therefore,scientific feedback mechanism needs to be established after LERs issuance to prevent local governments from adopting expedient measures.Secondly,more emphasis should be focused on developing differentiated,staged livestock pollution control plans to improve the LERs effects.According to the results of heterogeneity analysis,LERs should adopt differentiated governance,that is,for counties located in the downstream and the underdeveloped areas and with low initial pollution levels,the government should implement stricter LERs so as to obtain the maximum marginal effect of pollution control.Thirdly,the success of LERs in border pollution reduction in China can provide a benchmark for policy discussions on designing scientific environmental regulations to fight border pollution in other developing countries.Our analysis’s key lesson is that the externality of border pollution can be internalized through coordinated decision-making between local governments.Therefore,China should take some measures to improve cooperation among local governments.