Study on the effect and driving factors of decoupling between economic growth and environmental pollution in the Yangtze River Economic Belt
HUANG Huan1,2， YANG Mei1,3， WANG Jue1
1.Business School， Chengdu University of Technology， Chengdu 610059， China；2.Yangtze River Economic Belt Research Institute， Renmin University of China， Yibin， Sichuan 644000， China；3.Minshan Price Certification Center， Ya'an， Sichuan 625100， China
Abstract：China's economic development is gradually transforming from the pursuit of quantity and extensive expansion mode to the pursuit of quality and environmental benefits. The essence of achieving economic growth while reducing environmental pollution is to achieve absolute decoupling between the above two. Using panel data of 11 provinces and municipalities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2006 to 2017， in this paper， the decoupling effect of economic growth and environmental pollution are analyzed through Tapio decoupling elasticity index firstly， followed by its spatial and temporal differentiation studied. Secondly， using Stata 15.1 and GMM estimation method， the impact and direction of economic agglomeration， population agglomeration， environmental regulation and other driving factors on decoupling， and further explores environmental regulation are investigated. Furtherly， the effect of action path of the system on the decoupling state is explored. The results show as follows. 1) From the perspective of time differentiation， the 11 provinces and municipalities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt exhibt the periodic characteristics of absolute decoupling-expansion negative decoupling-absolute decoupling as a whole from 2006 to 2017. Most provinces and municipalities have the highest degree of decoupling in 2017. 2) From the perspective of spatial differentiation， the average of decoupling index is in absolute decoupling state， including Hunan， Sichuan， Zhejiang and Chongqing. The average level of all provinces and cities in the last two years is in absolute decoupling state， indicating a good trend of absolute decoupling. 3) On the driving factors of decoupling， economic agglomeration and decoupling are “inverted U” curve； population agglomeration and decoupling are “U” curve； environmental regulation is able to significantly promote the development of decoupling. Appropriate environmental regulation will promote decoupling through industrial restructuring and technological innovation， and the impact of industrial restructuring on decoupling is far greater than that of technology. In addition， the “inverted U” curve relationship exists significantly between the decoupling index and GDP per capita. Based on the conclusions of the study， the corresponding countermeasures and suggestions are put forward： properly improving the level of economic agglomeration， maintaining the appropriate degree of population agglomeration， formulating appropriate environmental regulation policies， actively promoting industrial green transformation and technological innovation， and implementing the concept of ecological civilization.
黄 寰,杨 梅,王 珏. 长江经济带经济增长与环境污染脱钩的效应及驱动因素研究[J]. 华中师范大学学报(自然科学版), 2019, 53(5): 643-657.
HUANG Huan,YANG Mei,WANG Jue. Study on the effect and driving factors of decoupling between economic growth and environmental pollution in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. journal1, 2019, 53(5): 643-657.
2019, Vol. 53 
