Abstract
Eco-compensation policy (ECP) is an important measure to secure ecosystem functions and services and to meet China's ecological civilization aspiration. In China, ECP has been implemented in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB), given its strategic position. However, the implementation effects of ECP on different cities remain unclear. In this study, we collected panel data of 237 prefecture-level cities from 2010 to 2020, and evaluate ECP’s effects on environmental quality of YREB using the methods of propensity-score matching and difference-in-differences. The results showed that: (1) ECP in the YREB significantly improved the environmental quality of all cities. Specifically, ECP significantly improved water quality and air quality at the level of 1 and 10%, respectively. The policy effect was significantly greater on water quality than air quality. (2) ECP’s effects on environmental quality of the YREB varied with city size, generally with the strongest effects in smaller cities, followed by larger ones, and the weakest in mega-cities. (3) ECP’s effects on environmental quality were differentiated by city location in the YREB, with significant effects on air and water quality in the eastern cities, significant effects solely on water quality in the central cities, and no significant effect noted in cities within the western region. Finally, our results highlight the government would implement the different ECP based on the city size and location in the YREB.
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Acknowledgements
This study was supported by the Jiangxi Young Marxist Theory Research Innovation Project (22QM103) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32060263).
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Haijuan Yan collected data, analyzed result and wrote the main manuscript text. Xiaofei Hu searched literature, prepared all tables and wrote manuscript. Jinliang Chen collected data, prepared Figs. 1–3 and wrote manuscript. All authors contributed to study design and reviewed the manuscript.
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Appendix A Raw data of some cities (Chongqing and Shanghai) in the YREB from 2010 to 2020
Appendix A Raw data of some cities (Chongqing and Shanghai) in the YREB from 2010 to 2020
City | Year | sde (t) | wd (104 t) | gdp (108 yuan) | ati (108 yuan) | edu (persons) | fdi (104 dollar) | urp (%) | ste (104 yuan) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chongqing | 2020 | 46,992.00 | 21,491.00 | 25,003.00 | 13,207.30 | 915,556 | 210,100.00 | 69.50 | 792,329 |
Chongqing | 2019 | 115,089.00 | 29,760.00 | 23,605.77 | 13,207.30 | 834,864 | 236,529.00 | 68.20 | 685,887 |
Chongqing | 2018 | 132,012.00 | 28,387.00 | 20,363.19 | 11,368.00 | 762,811 | 325,030.00 | 66.53 | 593,077 |
Chongqing | 2017 | 139,900.00 | 21,301.00 | 19,424.73 | 10,335.00 | 746,859 | 226,042.00 | 65.00 | 516,208 |
Chongqing | 2016 | 174,000.00 | 27,837.00 | 17,740.59 | 9021.00 | 732,475 | 279,037.00 | 63.34 | 456,689 |
Chongqing | 2015 | 426,800.00 | 35,524.00 | 15,717.27 | 7765.00 | 767,114 | 377,200.00 | 61.53 | 381,647 |
Chongqing | 2014 | 474,800.00 | 34,968.00 | 14,262.60 | 6858.00 | 740,534 | 423,348.00 | 59.80 | 386,529 |
Chongqing | 2013 | 494,400.00 | 33,450.00 | 12,783.26 | 6098.00 | 707,610 | 414,353.00 | 58.40 | 298,409 |
Chongqing | 2012 | 509,800.00 | 30,611.00 | 11,595.37 | 5407.56 | 670,174 | 352,418.00 | 56.70 | 250,383 |
Chongqing | 2011 | 531,300.00 | 33,954.00 | 10,161.17 | 4795.77 | 613,026 | 582,600.00 | 54.50 | 178,968 |
Chongqing | 2010 | 572,700.00 | 45,180.00 | 7925.58 | 3791.66 | 565,868 | 304,264.00 | 53.00 | 155,544 |
Shanghai | 2020 | 5200.00 | 31,619.00 | 38,701.00 | 28,307.50 | 540,693 | 2,023,300.00 | 89.31 | 3,895,424 |
Shanghai | 2019 | 7646.00 | 34,138.00 | 38,155.32 | 28,307.50 | 526,585 | 1,904,791.00 | 88.10 | 4,263,655 |
Shanghai | 2018 | 9100.00 | 29,100.00 | 32,679.87 | 22,842.96 | 517,796 | 1,730,009.00 | 88.10 | 3,898,971 |
Shanghai | 2017 | 12,651.00 | 31,600.00 | 30,632.99 | 21,191.50 | 514,917 | 1,700,800.00 | 87.70 | 3,417,109 |
Shanghai | 2016 | 67,376.00 | 36,600.00 | 28,178.65 | 19,362.34 | 514,683 | 1,851,400.00 | 87.90 | 2,718,505 |
Shanghai | 2015 | 104,900.00 | 46,900.00 | 25,123.45 | 17,274.62 | 511,623 | 1,845,900.00 | 87.60 | 2,622,913 |
Shanghai | 2014 | 155,360.00 | 43,900.00 | 23,567.70 | 15,271.89 | 506,644 | 1,816,600.00 | 89.60 | 2,576,603 |
Shanghai | 2013 | 172,867.00 | 45,400.00 | 21,818.15 | 13,445.07 | 504,771 | 1,678,000.00 | 89.60 | 2,454,279 |
Shanghai | 2012 | 193,405.00 | 47,700.00 | 20,101.33 | 12,060.76 | 506,596 | 1,518,500.00 | 89.30 | 2,184,975 |
Shanghai | 2011 | 210,092.00 | 44,600.00 | 19,195.69 | 11,111.06 | 511,283 | 1,260,100.00 | 89.30 | 2,020,326 |
Shanghai | 2010 | 221,476.00 | 36,700.00 | 17,165.98 | 9942.25 | 515,661 | 1,112,143.00 | 89.30 | 2,153,111 |
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Yan, H., Hu, X. & Chen, J. Effect of eco-compensation policy on the environmental quality varies with city size and location in China’s Yangtze river economic belt. Environ Dev Sustain (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-024-04900-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-024-04900-2