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This paper presents an empirical analysis of regional disparities from 2000 to 2012 based on a time series of data involving 74 cities within three mega-urban regions along Yangtze River in China. Differing from previous researches on inter-provincial and coastal/interior data, this paper provides a new perspective of mega-urban regions and their cities in China. By Coefficient of Variation and Analysis of Variance the selection of three mega-urban regions along Yangtze River reveals how the mega-urban regional disparities evolve among the east, middle and west up to date in China. In terms of general trend the mega-urban regional inequalities have been decreasing ever since the year around 2005. By traditional regression modeling this paper relates the mega-urban regional inequality and the alleviation to the urbanization and its focus on mega-urban regional development. The regression shows that the evolution of intra mega-urban regions disparities is negatively influenced by the urbanization with meaningful statistical significance from 2000 to 2012. The multilevel regression is further applied based on the nested hierarchical data structure. The results indicate a complicated relationship of the urban population density of the city level, the urbanization ratio of the mega-urban region level and the urban disparities in 2012. Finally limitations and further research advice are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In the late 1990s, China’s Yangtze and Yellow River Basins suffered devastating natural disasters widely attributed to the degradation of soil and water resources. The Government of China responded with a number of major environmental programs, the most expensive and influential of which, the Grain for Green (GfG) Program, was implemented widely from 1999. Under the GfG Program—also known as the Sloping Land Conversion or Conversion of Cropland to Forest Program—the central government compensates farmers to convert cropland on steep slopes or otherwise ecologically sensitive areas to forest or grassland. Its long-term success depends on households’ ability to make sustainable changes to their household income streams and income diversification strategies. In this paper, we use a difference-in-difference estimation approach to examine the role of migration as a household-level response to the GfG Program, testing the extent to which individuals migrate following a reduction in land available for farming. Importantly, we exploit 15 years of data on migration decisions and establish that participating and non-participating households were on parallel migration paths before the program, thus refuting a key threat to causality in a difference-in-difference model. We find that participating families do, in fact, choose migration as an income diversification strategy more frequently than non-participants. The program effects varied over time but peaked post-Great Recession in 2011 when migration rates in GfG households exceeded those of non-GfG households by 5.9% points (p = 0.003) or about 26%. Our findings should encourage policymakers that families are making long-term adjustments to their livelihood strategies to avoid poverty in anticipation of the eventual withdrawal of government supports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the making of local climate governance in the Chinese setting where central-local inter-governmental relations continue to play critical part in almost every policy domain. Through analysing the climate responses of the three provincial-level governments at the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), the paper argues that the process of “experimentation under hierarchy” is relevant to understanding the evolving of the subnational climate regime in the YRD region. We find the preponderance of the central authorities in initiating national climate strategies and galvanising responses at the local level. Meanwhile, provincial governments have been able to leverage climate plans and actions to achieve their own gains. These findings suggest that any optimism about subnational climate activism in a Chinese setting has to be mixed with caution. In fact, the shadow of hierarchical authority structure lingers and plays important part in the initiation of subnational response and spurring climate responses and innovations from below. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water footprint of production can be used to identify pressure on national or regional water resources generated by production activities. Water stress is defined as the ratio of water use (the difference between a regional water footprint of production and a green water footprint) to renewable water resources available in a country or region. Water stress can be used to identify pressure on national or regional water resources generated by production activities. This paper estimates the water footprint of production and the water stress in China during the years 1985-2009. The result shows that China's water footprint of production increased from 781.58 × 109 m3 in 1985 to 1109.76 × 109 m3 in 2009. Mega-cities and regions with less agriculture production due to local climatic conditions (Tibet and Qinghai) had lower water footprint of production, while the provinces (Henan, Shandong) with higher agriculture production had higher footprint. Provinces with severe water stress increased from 6 in 1985 to 9 in 2009. High to severe water stress exists mainly in mega-cities and agricultural areas located in the downstream areas of the Yellow River and the Yangtze River in North and Central China. The outlook for water resources pressure in China is not optimistic, with areas of stress expanding from northern to southern of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Applying a parameterized directional distance function approach, this paper estimates the regional eco-efficiency and pollutants' marginal abatement costs in China based on provincial panel data covering the years 2003–2012. We find that China could potentially save capital, labor, land, energy and water by 18.07%, 11.47%, 11.20%, 12.28% and 11.19%, and reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), household refuse and waste water by 11.75%, 11.02% and 11.46%, respectively, on condition that all provinces produced fully efficiently, The south and east coastal areas were the most eco-efficient, while the middle Yangtze River and southwest areas performed relatively poor. For the whole country, the average shadow prices of CO 2 , household refuse and waste water were 717.27 Yuan/tonne, 42,936.98 Yuan/tonne and 306.65 Yuan/tonne, respectively. The shadow price of CO 2 revealed significant regional disparities and that of household refuse showed a rapid increase throughout the study period. Our estimates suggest that policymakers should take measures to avoid ineffective capital investment and improve economic output efficiency in inland provinces, especially in the middle Yangtze River, northwest and southwest areas, and facilitate technological cooperation between developed and undeveloped areas. The regional heterogeneity and flexible price mechanism of various pollutants should be taken into consideration when making the reduction allocations among different areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Knowledge & Management of Aquatic Ecosystems is the property of EDP Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)