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Can regional integration control transboundary water pollution? A test from the Yangtze River economic belt

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Abstract

Based on the quasi-natural experiment of the establishment of the Yangtze River economic belt, this paper uses a difference-in-difference-in-differences model (DDD) to test the impact of regional integration on transboundary pollution. The results show that regional integration can significantly reduce transboundary water pollution. Regional integration reduces chemical oxygen demand (COD) by 0.357, ammonia nitrogen content (NH3-N) by 0.155, and dissolved oxygen content (DO) by 0.088 in the downstream of the provincial boundary. And regional integration has a long-term inhibitory effect on transboundary pollution. The heterogeneity results show that the regional integration has a stronger inhibition effect on the transboundary pollution of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River economic belt and the tributaries. At the government level, regional integration can reduce transboundary pollution by strengthening the government’s environmental regulation and collaborative governance. At the industry level, it can inhibit transboundary pollution by promoting industrial structure optimization and green technology innovation. At the market level, regional integration can promote market competition to reduce transboundary pollution and expand market scale to intensify transboundary pollution. At the society level, regional integration can intensify transboundary pollution by promoting population agglomeration and effectively alleviate transboundary pollution by enhancing public environmental supervision.

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Notes

  1. The basic connotation of “vassal economy” mainly refers to some wrong ways of pursuing local interests while neglecting national and social interests.

  2. 12369 is the telephone number of the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China to accept environmental protection reports.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Economics and Trade, Hunan University, Changsha, China

    He Li & Juan Lu

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  1. He Li
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  2. Juan Lu
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Correspondence to Juan Lu.

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Li, H., Lu, J. Can regional integration control transboundary water pollution? A test from the Yangtze River economic belt. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 28288–28305 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-09205-1

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