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In the process of pursuing a Chinese path to modernization that advocates the promotion of harmony between humanity and nature, dealing with the synergy of multi-target environmental regulation policies is an important task towards the modernization of China's governance system and capacity. In this context, can synergistic environmental policies more effectively promote industrial transformation and upgrading when facing the two strategic tasks of building a beautiful China and achieving the goals of reaching peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality? Existing research has no answer to this question. This study used the policy of establishing ' acid rain and SO2 pollution control zones' and the low-carbon city pilot policy as a quasi-natural experiment of environmental policy synergy and combined the influences of the effective government and the efficient market within a unified analytical framework. Using the panel data of 282 prefecture level cities and above in China from 2003 to 2020, this study used the difference-in-differences model to examine the impact of the constraints of the dual environmental objectives, i.e., pollution control and carbon reduction, on the transformation and upgrading of regional industries. The results showed that: (J) Comparing with a single environmental regulation, the synergistic effects of the pollution control and carbon reduction policies were better at promoting regional industrial transformation and upgrading, and the conclusion consistently held through a series of robustness tests. © The mechanism analysis showed that under the dual environmental objectives, the effective government could stimulate regional industrial transformation and upgrading via the regulatory effect of fiscal expenditure. Simultaneously, the efficient market could motivate micro-enterprises to generate relocation and innovative compensatory effects to realize the transformation and upgrading of regional industries. Further research revealed distinct heterogeneity in the transformation and upgrading of regional industries under the dual environmental objectives. The zones with the two pilot policies had a more pronounced impact on the industrial transformation and upgrading of eastern regions, non-traditional industrial bases, regions with heightened environmental consciousness, and areas with superior environmental infrastructure. This study suggests that: ( Local governments should coordinate the overall situation and avoid the blind development of energy-intensive and highly polluting projects. © They should maximize the financial sector's role as a mainstay, attracting and directing more social capital towards green and low-carbon industries. © They should divide and implement national targets for reducing pollution and carbon emissions based on local conditions, and explore experiences and models that can be popularized and replicated. ® They should increase innovation incentives to encourage the synergy of low-carbon technology and low-pollution emission control technology. ® They should also deploy tailored policies that cater to specific regional conditions, foster the profound integration of regional resources, and maximize the potential advantages of each region's synergistic development in pollution control and carbon reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart cities are a product of the integration of the new urbanization process and information technology development in China, while inclusive green growth is an important strategic concept for economic development transformation. Whether the smart city pilot policy can promote inclusive green growth in China still needs to be tested. Based on panel data from 210 prefecture level and above cities from 2009 to 2020, this study used the multi-period difference-in-differences method to learn the impact of the smart city pilot policy on inclusive green growth in China, followed by a series of robustness tests. In addition, the sub-system path, location heterogeneity, and spatial spillover effects of policy effects were also examined. The results showed that: (J) The construction of smart cities would have a significant positive impact on inclusive green growth, and the policy effects would gradually increase over time. The construction of smart cities had a significant promoting effect on both economic growth and green growth, but the impact on inclusive growth was not significant. © There was significant regional heterogeneity in the impact of smart city construction on inclusive green growth. There was a significant positive impact in the eastern and western regions, a significant negative impact in the northeast region, and an insignificant impact in the central region. © The policy effects of smart city construction had significant spatial spillover characteristics. Smart city construction could significantly promote economic growth and green growth in adjacent non-pilot areas but could only significantly promote economic growth in adjacent pilot areas. Therefore, in the critical period of China's economic transformation and upgrading, in order to enhance the promotion of the pilot policy on inclusive green growth, on the one hand, the construction of smart cities should focus on promoting inclusive growth and formulating reasonable pilot goals according to local conditions based on the resource endowment of each region. On the other hand, it is necessary to promote the exchange of piloting experience and innovation resources among regions and arrange the investment level of innovation resources reasonably to avoid the occurrence of ' depression effect' and ' siphon effect.' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the strategic background of implementing the new development concept, there is an important question to be answered about whether the' responsibility to people' water pollution control policy can promote corporate green innovation while improving the environment. Based on the panel data of Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies from 2009 to 2019, this paper empirically tested the impact of the implementation of the river chief system on corporate green innovation using the multi-period DID method. This research concluded that the river chief system could significantly improve corporate green innovation. After a series of necessary tests, such as the parallel trend test and placebo test, the conclusion remained robust. The mechanism analysis showed that the policy effect of the river chief system was mainly realized through two channels, namely, internal incentive and external pressure, and that the effect of external pressure was stronger than that of internal incentive. Further research showed that the governance power of local river chiefs had a lax effect at the boundaries of prefecture-level cities, and the promotion incentives of officials also affected the policy effect to a certain extent. More importantly, under the policy background of the river chief system, local officials were more active in water pollution control and could also monitor enterprises far away from the rivers. In addition, the results of the heterogeneity analysis showed that: ① Compared with small enterprises, large enterprises received more attention from policymakers, and the river chief system had a stronger regulatory impact on large enterprises, whose green innovation level had a more significant improvement. ② Compared with private enterprises, state-owned enterprises responded more positively to the river chief system policy, and the green innovation output stimulated by the policy was higher. ③ Compared with other industries, enterprises in the water pollution industry were less affected by the river chief system policy. This paper found that these enterprises mainly dealt with environmental governance pressure by reducing production rather than focusing on green innovation. This study provides a policy basis for implementing the environmental regulation policy of' responsibility to people' and for realizing the dual goals of environmental protection and economic development. It also provides theoretical support and practical inspiration for the refined implementation of environmental regulation policies from multiple perspectives, such as internal incentives, external media supervision, and enterprise heterogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an essential factor of production in economic development, land is an important tool for local governments to boost economic growth. The goals of reaching peak carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality will push local governments to change the extensive mode of attracting high energy-consuming and high-pollution enterprises by transferring industrial land at low prices. The lowcarbon city pilot policy is important for China to achieve green and low-carbon economic transformation and sustainable development. This policy will inevitably influence the land transfer behavior of local governments in heavily polluting industries. Based on the panel data of 286 cities from 2007 to 2019, this paper took the low-carbon city pilot policy as a quasi-natural experiment and used the time-varying difference-in-differences method to empirically study the relationship between the pilot policy and the land transfer behavior of local governments. The results showed that: ① The implementation of the low-carbon city pilot policy significantly reduced the area and number of land transfers in heavily polluting industries. The above conclusions still held after a series of robustness tests. ② The impact of the low-carbon city pilot policy on land transfer in heavily polluting industries was affected by the intensity of environmental regulation of local governments and the tenure of officials. The stronger the intensity of environmental regulation in the pilot city became, the more the area and number of land transfers in heavily polluting industries were reduced. When the tenure of the secretary of the municipal CPC committee in the pilot city was less than or equal to 3 years, the area and number of land transfers in heavily polluting industries were significantly reduced. However, the age of the secretary of the municipal CPC committee had no significant impact on the land transfer in heavily polluting industries. ③ Heterogeneity analysis showed that non-resource-based cities, cities with high levels of economic development, and large cities displayed a higher reduction in the area and number of land transfers in heavily polluting industries. Based on these, this paper puts forward suggestions from three aspects: we should further promote the low-carbon city pilot policy, add environmental objectives to the assessment system of officials to increase the constraints of environmental objectives, and formulate and implement environmental policies in accordance with local conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an important measure for China􀆳s pollution control, the environmental protection tax gives each provincial government the right to independently determine and adjust the specific applicable tax amount of pollutants within the specified scope. Studying the emission reduction effects of environmental protection tax from the perspective of increasing the applicable tax amount of pollutants has important theoretical value for the next step of adjusting pollution control measures. Using the panel data from 248 prefecture-level cit⁃ ies from 2015 to 2020, this study took the increase in the applicable tax amount of environmental protection tax in some provinces in 2018 as an external policy impact, and used the difference-in-differences method to empirically analyze the emission reduction effects of the Environmental Protection Tax Law on increasing the applicable tax amount of pollutant discharge. The study also analyzed the heterogeneity of foreign investment scale, regional location, and applicable tax increase between cities. The results showed that: ① In⁃ creasing the applicable tax amount of pollutants could significantly reduce pollutant emissions, the regression results of the DID model showed that the applicable tax on SO2 significantly reduced industrial SO2 emissions by 16.8% for each increase in SO2. The above re⁃ sults passed the robustness test. ② Heterogeneity analysis showed that the emission reduction effects were obvious in the central re⁃ gion, but those in the eastern and western regions were not significant. The scale of foreign investment was positively correlated with the emission reduction effects, and cities with a higher level of foreign investment were more affected by the policy, which could reduce pol⁃ lutant emissions by about 0.2% relative to the average. The pollution effects of the lower level of foreign investment were lower and the emission reduction effect of the policy was not significant. ③ Further research showed that the emission reduction effects of the applica⁃ ble tax amount increase of SO2 between 25% and 100% higher than the standard were better than the emission reduction effects of a more than 100% increase. However, it was not the higher the better for the applicable tax amount increase; better emissions reduction effects could be achieved by being maintained within a reasonable range. Based on the above research conclusions, it is proposed to im⁃ plement a regional coordinated environmental regulation policy, that is, the central and local governments negotiate to adjust the local environmental protection tax pollutant collection standards and increase the applicable tax amount of pollutants within an appropriate range. Furthermore, the range of the applicable tax amount of pollutants should not exceed 100%, and the quality level of foreign invest⁃ ment should be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comprehensive investigation and analysis of the effects of policies on energy conservation and emission reduction or envi⁃ ronmental regulation have important reference value for the specific implementation of environmental regulation policies. Based on the provincial panel data of China from 2000 to 2019, the present study took the introduction of the Action Plan for Air Pollution Prevention and Control as a quasi-natural experiment and used the DID approach to conduct causal identification. Eight provinces or municipali⁃ ties in the three regions of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Pearl River Delta were selected as the treatment group and the other provinces as the control group. The regional differences in energy mismatch effects of environmental regulation poli⁃ cies were evaluated by comparing the sample areas in the treatment group and the control group. According to the empirical analysis, environmental regulation policies had a significant negative effect on energy mismatch, i.e., the greater the intensity of environmental regulation policies, the stricter the constraints on enterprises, and the higher the internalized cost of enterprises. The continuous im⁃ provement in energy marginal output of 'forced' enterprises made the energy mismatch index higher. Combined with typical facts, it was found that the current environmental regulation policies had a role in promoting the over-distribution of energy mismatch. Specifi⁃ cally, after 2013, when the energy mismatch index in many regions exceeded 1, they did not show a trend of approaching 1, but instead continued to rise at a fast speed. Further research showed that regional differences in environmental regulation policies led to regional differences in energy mismatch effects, which were realized through different levels of implementation intensity of local governments. That is, the stronger the implementation intensity of local governments in accordance with the central environmental regulation require⁃ ments, the higher the energy mismatch index. Finally, based on the research conclusions, this paper puts forward some suggestions for the improvement of environmental regulation policies in the next stage. First, the institutional arrangement of regional differences in en⁃ vironmental regulation policies is a 'double-edged sword'. Although it can make the regions have a target based on their local realities, it is not conducive to the construction of a large unified domestic market. Second, it is suggested that energy market reform be accelerat⁃ ed, that prices play a leading role, and that the role of the market in energy allocation be enhanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resource allocation efficiency is one of the most important themes of economic research, so research on environmental policy and resource allocation is an important aspect to evaluate the economic effects of environmental policies. This paper first briefly reviews the research context of the theory of resource reallocation and resource misallocation and then analyzes the conceptual implications and accounting methods of resource reallocation and resource misallocation. Secondly, this paper takes the theoretical assumptions and mechanisms of different models as the main line, systematically sorts out the relevant literature on the impact of environmental policies on resource reallocation and resource misallocation, summarizes and reviews relevant theoretical and empirical research, and puts forward the shortcomings of the research and future direction of expansion. Finally, this paper makes a brief comment on the research status of China’ s environmental policies and resource allocation and puts forward their research prospect. This paper finds that: ① From the perspective of resource reallocation, environmental policies affect the reallocation of resources across firms or within firms by changing the entry and exit conditions, inhibiting the degree of product market competition, and changing product mix. By distorting factor prices, these policies lead to the deviation of the equilibrium allocation of factors from the optimal allocation of firms, thereby causing resource misallocation. ② The conclusions on how the initial distortion affects the resource reallocation effect of environmental policies, or whether environmental policies can mitigate the resource misallocation caused by the initial distortion, differ de⁃ pending on the form of the initial distortion. ③ The existing literature on environmental policies and resource allocation is insufficient in terms of research perspectives, research methods, and research scenarios, and the research conclusions on the impact of environmental policies on resource allocation efficiency usually depend on the relevant assumptions and research scenarios of benchmark models. The theoretical analysis results and the degree of influence under different frameworks of benchmark models are different. This paper believes that, based on the Chinese scenario, theoretical breakthroughs in the measurement of the micro-mechanisms and effects of environmental policies affecting resource allocation, environmental policies and industrial transformation and upgrading, environmental policies and resource space mismatches, etc., may be a marginal contribution of China’ s research on development economics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The establishment of pilot zones for green finance reform and innovation (PZGFRI) is one of the important green finance policies in China and also an important means to achieve the goals of reaching peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality. To further study the improvement effects of the PZGFRI on air quality, this study selected near-ground ozone concentration as the research object and empirically analyzed the impact of the PZGFRI on urban near-ground ozone pollution using the panel data of 215 cities in China from 2014 to 2019 by using the differential method and the synthetic control method. It further explored the moderating effect of foreign direct investment and financial development level and carried out robustness test by using event study, the placebo test, substitution of explained variables, control of other environmental policies, and quarterly data. The conclusions were as follows: ① During the sample period, the PZGFRI significantly reduced near-ground ozone pollution. There was heterogeneity in the impact of the PZGFRI in different geographical regions on near-ground ozone pollution. ② In the samples from the national level and the eastern region, foreign direct investment itself did not directly cause a significant‘ Pollution Heaven’ effect, but the increase of foreign direct investment was not conducive to the control of ozone pollution in the PZGFRI and indirectly caused the‘ Pollution Heaven’ effect. However, in the central and western regions, the increase of foreign direct investment was conducive to promoting the control of ozone pollution in the PZGFRI, which indirectly brought about the‘ Pollution Halo’ effect. ③ In the samples from the national level and the eastern region, the financial development level had no significant impact on ozone pollution itself, but the PZGFRI had a better effect on controlling ozone pollution in cities with a higher financial development level, i.e., the improvement of financial development level had strengthened the control effect of the PZGFRI on ozone pollution. However, in the central and western regions, the improvement in the financial development level did not significantly enhance the ozone pollution control effect of the PZGFRI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China' s goal of achieving peak carbon emissions by 2030 is the fundamental foundation for its scheduled achievement of carbon neutrality by 2060. Taking 280 prefectural-level cities in China from 2006 to 2019 as the research object and the achievement of the carbon peak goal by 2030 as the rigid constraint, this study proposed the logic of 'symbiosis-co-governance-sharing' and focused on the characteristics of symbiosis on carbon emissions and air pollution. On the basis of the quantitative decomposition of the annual goal of reaching peak carbon emissions and the identification of the profit and loss deviation on both carbon emissions and air pollution, this study examined the co-governance synergistic effects of carbon and air pollution and the sharing paths. The results showed that: (1) The goal of reaching peak carbon emissions played a significant synergistic role in reducing pollution and carbon emissions, which could promote the development of cities from deviation to balance and optimization and promote the urban function of making ' bad to good, good to better, and better to best, (2) The synergistic effects of the carbon peak goal on reducing pollution and carbon emissions showed a significant heterogeneous selection effect. In China' s western cities, resource-based cities, environmental protection key cities, and first-mover cities, these effects played a more important role and had a stronger influence. (3) The sharing paths of the synergistic effects lay in the dual perspectives of 'internal' and 'external' source management-process control-end-of-pipe blocking and the dynamic matching of external environmental policy uncertainty. In the continuous promotion of the ' dual carbon' goals, close attention should be paid to carbon reduction and the optimization of the design of multiple sharing paths to enhance the synergistic effects of carbon and pollution reduction. In specific, we should: (1) strengthen source management, control total fossil energy consumption at the source, adjust industrial structure, and focus on energy saving and consumption reduction; (2) strictly control process management, investigate the pollution transfer phenomenon caused by differences in environmental regulation levels and the consequences of profit and loss deviation, and promote the construction of green transportation system through multi-wheel drive; (3) highlight end-of-pipe blocking, implement the whole process of governance, monitoring, and emission reduction, enhance green innovation and fully utilize carbon reduction and sink increase; (4) use dynamic adjustment to achieve internal and external matching and timely implement environmental policies according to local conditions so as to achieve adjustment and precise regulations on time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The environmental protection tax is an important tool for China to deal with environmental problems when the country' s environmental governance faces severe challenges. China' s current environmental protection tax system is largely an extension of the sewage charging system. There are some problems, such as the need to adjust the tax base, unreasonable tax rates, imperfect preferential policies, and the need to improve the efficiency of tax collection and management. Comprehensively evaluating the impact of environmental protection tax and optimizing the design of the environmental protection tax rate from the perspective of economic, environmental, and innovation synergy is of great value to improving China' s environmental governance system and realizing the transformation of the green economy. This study theoretically analyzed the impact of environmental protection tax on enterprise development; constructed a simulation model to analyze the impact of environmental protection tax; and numerically simulated the comprehensive impact of different environmental protection tax implementation intensity (IEPT) from 2006 to 2019 by using the mixed data of Chinese micro-enterprises and provincial panels and the scenario analysis method to predict the multi-dimensional impact of environmental protection tax in 2030. The results showed that: ① From 2006 to 2019, China' s environmental protection tax rate was at a low level, which was less than the optimal IEPT. The relationship between the optimal IEPT and the synergy index was 'inverted-U' shaped; that is, with the continuous rise of IEPT, the synergy index also showed the trend of rising first and then fluctuating and declining. ② Over time, the optimal IEPT showed an overall upward trend. ③ When the development level and demands of the economy, environment, and innovation became different, the optimal IEPT would also change. Finally, this study puts forward policy suggestions for China' s environmental protection tax reform: ① After fully investigating the operation status and innovation development status of regional inter-industry enterprises, we should consider further refining regional and industrial heterogeneous pricing strategies within the scope of regional environmental carrying capacity. ② A dynamic adjustment mechanism for the tax rate of environmental protection tax should be established to gradually increase the tax rate and give full play to the policy effect of environmental protection tax. ③ The environmental protection tax should be used to establish a special fund for innovation support, to avoid bringing higher environmental costs to innovative enterprises due to the increase in the environmental protection tax rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reasonable risk-taking is an important prerequisite for corporate green transformation. How environmental regulation policies affect corporate risk-taking is an issue worthy of discussion under the background of the development of economic and social green transformation. Based on a theoretical analysis of the effects of environmental regulations, this study used the data of China’ s A-share listed companies from 2004 to 2019 to empirically test the impact of environmental regulation policies on corporate risk-taking. The study found that: ① The strengthening of environmental regulations would significantly increase the level of corporate risk-taking. ② The mechanism test found that both the ‘dynamic effect’ of environmental regulations promoting technological progress and market competition efficiency and the ‘pressure effect’ aggravating enterprises’ production costs and the degree of enterprises’ shadow banking activities would lead to a rise in the level of corporate risk-taking. ③ The regional innovation environment and the cost transfer ability of enterprises significantly affected the policy effect of environmental regulations on improving corporate risk-taking. ④ Further re⁃ search showed that environmental regulations promoted corporate risk-taking, reduced the environmental performance of enterprises, and improved the default risk of enterprises, indicating that the negative effect brought by ‘pressure effect’ occupied a dominant position. This study has not only enriched the research on the effects of environmental regulation policies, but also expanded the research horizons of factors affecting corporate risk-taking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the impact of environmental regulation, an important measure promoting the construction of ecological civiliza⁃ tion, on green total factor productivity has increasingly become a hot spot. This article attemptd to consider the spatial effect in order to study the nonlinear spatio-temporal impact of investment-oriented environmental regulations dominated by government pollution control on green total factor productivity. Firstly, from the perspective of intra-regional and inter-regional interaction, it revealed the theoretical mechanism of investment-oriented environmental regulations affecting green total factor productivity and examined the characteristic facts of its nonlinear influence relationship. Secondly, based on the goal of green and low-carbon transformation, the non-radial SBM di⁃ rectional distance function method, including outputs such as carbon emissions and PM2.5, was used to measure the provincial-level green total factor productivity from 2001 to 2019 and to decompose the contributions of pure efficiency, technological progress, and scale efficiency. Thirdly, this article selected spatial econometric models based on the Queen adjacency weight matrix and the geograph⁃ ical distance weight matrix to analyze the nonlinear spatio-temporal impact of investment-oriented environmental regulations on green total factor productivity. The multi-threshold model was further used to test the regional impact mechanism of investment environmentaloriented regulation on green total factor productivity. The research results showed that: ① Compared to 2001-2011, the national green total factor productivity growth increased significantly from 2012 to 2019, and the regional gap in green total factor productivity had a narrowing overall trend. ② When considering spatial effects, there was an inverted U-shaped relationship between investment-oriented environmental regulations and green total factor productivity. This degree of influence had temporal and spatial heterogeneity, that is, the degree of inverted U-shaped influence was more prominent during 2001-2011 and in the central and western regions. It showed that the degree of inverted U-shaped influence was related to the effect of technological progress. ③ From the perspective of spatial spillover effects, green total factor productivity had significant spatial correlation characteristics, and investment-oriented environmen⁃ tal regulations at the national level had a significant positive spatial spillover effects on green total factor productivity. The spatial spill⁃ over effects of different periods and regions were heterogeneous. ④ When the energy consumption per unit GDP met a certain threshold condition, the improvement of investment-oriented environmental regulation could have a positive effect on green total factor productivi⁃ ty. Finally, countermeasures and suggestions are put forward from the aspects of comprehensive environmental regulation tools, con⁃ struction of regionally coordinated and efficient environmental regulation policies, exploration of cross-regional ecological compensation mechanisms, strengthening green technology transformation, and adjusting industrial structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scarcity of resources in the environment determines the inevitable conflict between economic growth and environmental protection, and the environment as a public good determines that environmental protection and ecological management should be included in the scope of government regulation. Taking the panel data of 30 Chinese provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions) as the sample, this study first constructed the index system of high-quality economic development with the five major development concepts of 'innovation, coordination, openness, greenness, and sharing' as the guide. Based on the shortcomings of the existing measurement methods in equalizing the weight distribution of indicators, we proposed the combination of the coefficient of variation method with the entropy weight method to measure the comprehensive index of high-quality economic development. Secondly, the random forest algorithm was used to filter the variables based on the importance of model variables. Finally, we empirically investigated the heterogeneity in the impact of environmental regulatory policy synergies on high-quality economic development using penalized panel quantile regressions that fully accounted for the characteristics of data outliers. The results showed that there was significant heterogeneity in the impact of environmental regulation policy synergies on high-quality economic development. Specifically, the result showed that: 1 The combination of Policy 2 and Policy 3 had the best synergy effect in regions with lower levels of high-quality economic development (0.1 quantile), and the synergistic effect of the three policy combinations was optimal in regions with more developed levels of high-quality economic development. 2 Policy synergies had a positive impact on high-quality economic development, with a 'U'-shaped change, i.e. as the degree of policy synergies increased, the level of high-quality economic development tended to fall first and then rise. 3 The output elasticity value of policy synergies did not cross the 'inflection point' in regions with less developed levels of high-quality economic development. This result somewhat inhibited high-quality economic development, supporting the 'cost of compliance' argument. However, the output elasticity values of the better developed regions crossed the 'inflection point'. The findings supported the 'innovation compensation theory'. Therefore, to reduce inter regional differences, cooperation between governments at all levels and relevant departments should be strengthened to continuously promote policy synergies and improve the efficiency of policy combinations, which will not only benefit the ecological environment, but also improve factor productivity and energy efficiency, thus promoting quality inter-regional economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As urban agglomerations have become the main spatial organization form in China, it is of great significance to carry out environmental cooperative governance based on urban agglomerations. Research on the interaction of environmental regulation enforcement among cities can provide a new explanation for the competition and cooperation in terms of pollution control in urban agglomerations. This article selected three types of environmental regulation policy tools: market-incentive, command-and-control, and their combinations, and analyzed the interaction pattern of environmental regulations based on the theoretical mechanism derivation and the two zone spatial Durbin model by using the panel data of 103 cities in China. Then, the SLX model was used to explore the impact of the interaction of environmental regulations on the cooperative governance of pollution in five urban agglomerations. The results showed that the market-incentive environmental regulation was not fully implemented, which meant that some cities adopted a 'race to the bottom' strategy in response of the competition with their neighbors. After combining market-incentive environmental regulation with command and-control environmental regulation, the pattern of environmental regulation interaction between cities changed from ' race to the bottom' to 'race to the top'. This interactive characteristic was particularly significant in the Yangtze River Delta and the Chengdu Chongqing urban agglomerations. However, the 'racing to the top' characteristic of these two urban agglomerations had different effects on the intercity environmental cooperation: there was a synergy effect caused by strong spillover effect of environmental regulation implementation in the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration rather than in the Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural environmental issues are receiving more and more attention from all walks of life, and rural environmental governance is vital to rural rejuvenation. Based on the consideration of heterogeneity and the theory of institutional economics to build a decisionmaking framework for farmers' environmental behaviors under the pressure of environmental policy regulation, this paper analyzed the logical mechanism of environmental policy and farmers' environmental behaviors from the perspective of games. And the micro-survey data of farmers in Hubei, Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces were used to empirically test the relationship between environmental policies and farmers' environmental behaviors. The research results showed that environmental policies could promote rural households to participate in rural environmental governance, but the positive impact of environmental policies would only gradually emerge when the household income reached a certain level, and there was an inverted U-shaped relationship between the intensity of environmental policies and farmers' environmental behaviors. Relatively speaking, the restrictive effect of environmental administrative policies on farmers 'environmental behaviors was stronger than the incentive effect of environmental economic policies on farmers 'environmental behaviors. For farmers in areas with higher levels of economic development - it was better to use environmental administrative policies to restrain farmers 'environmental behaviors than to use economic policies to encourage farmers. For different types of farmers, environmental policies played a better role more able in encouraging large-scale households to participate in rural environmental governance. Small-scale farmers would significantly weaken the impact of environmental policies on farmers' environmental behaviors. In addition, environmental administrative policies and environmental economic policies played a mutually regulating role, i, e., environmental economic policies could help strengthen the restraining effect of environmental administrative policies - and the implementation of environmental administrative policies was also conducive to strengthening the incentive effect of environmental economic policies. Based on this, it is necessary to relax the environmental administrative control on small-scale farmers and lowincome farmers. It is also necessary to strengthen the restrictive effect of environmental administrative policies on large-scale households and high-income groups. Related supporting measures should be further improved to make up for the shortcomings of a single policy - and a virtuous circle should be formed for the mutual promotion of administrative and economic policies in order to improve the effectiveness of rural environmental governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reuse of recycled water is of great significance for increasing the supply of water resources and alleviating the pollution of the water environment. However, the public's rejection of recycled water has negative influences on the promotion of recycled water reuse. In order to solve this problem, this study took the behavior guiding policy of recycled water reuse as the research object. The related self-construction index, which measures the interaction between individuals and groups, was selected as the design basis of different individual interaction rules. On this basis, the agent-based model (ABM) was constructed to simulate the effect of different policies. Firstly, a questionnaire survey was carried out in the arid area of Northwest China, and the artificial neural network model of individual decision-making was trained on the basis of the first-hand data obtained. By embedding the neural network model into the ABM model, the individuals' decision-making in the simulation process was realized. The results showed that: (1) The demonstration guiding policy had a good effect on all kinds of recycled water reuse behaviors. (2) At the same time, the effect of environmental motivation stimulating policy and knowledge popularization policy could be enhanced or weakened with the increase of human contact degree of recycled water reuse behavior. The environmental motivation stimulating policy had a substantial impact on the recycled water reuses with a high contact degree. (3) The knowledge popularization policy had a good effect on the reuse behavior of recycled water with low human contact, but it even harmed the reuse behavior of recycled water with high contact. According to the research conclusion, the following policy recommendations are put forward: When a promotion policy of recycled water reuse is made, attention should be paid to distinguishing different types of recycled water reuse behavior and appropriate guiding policies should be chosen. As the demonstration guiding policy has an excellent guiding effect on all types of recycled water reuse behaviors, it is necessary to strengthen the construction of the demonstration project of recycled water reuse. For the category of recycled water reuse with high human contact, attention should be paid to the publicity of its environmental protection attribute to stimulate the publi's motivation for environmental protection. As for the category of recycled water with a low human contact degree, attention should be paid to the dispelling of the public's misgivings by strengthening the popularization of relevant knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The policy implementation gap in the field of environment has attracted much attention. An analysis of the existing literature has found that the gap was a result from some unreasonable institutional arrangements. However, local governments' environmental policy implementation behaviors are not completely consistent with the research. Given the unchanged nature of the existing institutions that restrict the local governments' implementation enthusiasm, their implementation behaviors are not continuously depressed, but fluctuate from time to time. In other words, the implementation gap of environmental policies does not always exist. Based on the signaling theory, this paper explored the causes of the 'time-varying gap', trying to supplement the existing literature, and sought possible ways to reduce or eliminate the gap. This paper studied the statistics of environmental signals transmitted by the Chinese central government through documents (394 copies) and various media outlets from 2000 to 2015 and coded 26 items from the dimensions of credibility/reliability, powerfulness and transparency according to the signaling theory, and constructed the balanced panel data of central environmental signals and 31 provincial governments' environmental regulation behaviors in China's mainland from 2000 to 2015. The results of the regression analysis showed that the central government's environmental signal was the source of local governments' environmental regulation behaviors; the credibility, powerfulness and transparency of the documents could significantly affect the environmental regulation behaviors of the local governments. Therefore, in order to reduce the environmental policy implementation gap, the central government signals, especially the document signals, should be used more effectively in practice. It is of great importance to strengthen the credibility, intensity and clarity of the documents, with a focus on the issuance of documents with small quantity but high quality, and a focus on the use of the clarity attribute, so as to better mobilize the enthusiasm of local governments in environmental governance. This paper not only supplements the literature on the theme of environmental policy implementation gap, but also overcomes the limitations of the existing environmental governance literature which pays too much attention to the insufficient implementation of environmental policies in China, thus extending the research vision to the theme of maintaining policy compliance, and providing a low-cost method for the effective stimulation of the local governments' environmental governance behaviors under the current institutional arrangements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]