| 摘要: |
| 地区间的市场分割不利于降低环境污染物排放，消除市场壁垒、加快推进区域市场一体化是提高环境治理绩效的重要路径之一。以长江经济带101个城市2015—2020年的数据为研究样本，运用价格法测算样本城市与区域内其他城市的市场一体化程度，采用空气质量指数（AQI）衡量样本城市的空气质量，分析发现：区域市场一体化有利于减少城市的空气污染物排放，从而改善空气质量；区域市场一体化可以通过扩大市场规模、优化产业结构、促进技术进步等路径来改善城市空气质量；环境规制强度提高和环境治理压力加大不仅可以改善城市空气质量，而且能够强化区域市场一体化对城市空气质量的改善作用；区域市场一体化的城市空气质量改善效应以及环境规制强度和环境治理压力的调节效应，在下游地区比上游和中游地区更强。因此，应健全区域协作机制，破除地区间市场壁垒，加快构建全国统一大市场，并建立完善绿色政绩考核体系，提高环境规制强度，充分发挥市场一体化与环境治理的协同作用。 |
| 关键词: 市场一体化 空气质量 长江经济带 环境规制 绿色发展 环境治理 |
| DOI： |
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| Does Regional Market Integration Improve Urban Air Quality: Evidence from the Yangtze River Economic Belt |
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ZHANG Ze-yi, LUO Xue-hua, DU Jia-ting1,2
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1. School of Economics and Management, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing 401331, China;2. School of Urban and Regional Science, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai 200433, China
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| Abstract: |
| The ecological environment quality in the Yangtze River Economic Belt has been generally improved, but regional and local air pollution remain prominent. Market segmentation is the deep institutional cause of pollution. Eliminating market barriers and accelerating regional integration are important ways to achieve green development. However, the existing literature on the relationship between the domestic market system and environmental quality is still insufficient. This paper argues that regional market integration is conducive to improving air quality. It analyzes the influence mechanism of market integration on air quality from scale effect, structural transformation effect, and technological progress effect. This paper also considers that environmental regulation and environmental performance appraisal can strengthen the effect of market integration on urban air quality. Taking 101 prefecture-level and above cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt as a sample, this paper applies the price method to characterize the market integration of sample cities and uses the panel data model and intermediary effect model to empirically test the impact of the market integration on air quality and its mechanism, as well as the regulatory role of government policy. The results show that the improvement of market integration significantly improves air quality along the Yangtze River Economic Belt, which is still supported by the robustness test, and the extent of the impact is regionally differentiated. Market integration has a stronger impact on urban air quality in the downstream than in the upstream and midstream. Market integration improves urban air quality by strengthening the scale effect, accelerating industrial structure upgrading, and promoting technological progress. Environmental regulation and environmental performance appraisal, combined with market integration, can play a positive regulatory role in improving air quality. Strict environmental regulation and environmental performance appraisal have a relatively large regulatory effect on downstream areas. Compared with existing literature, this paper mainly expands and deepens this study from the following aspects. First, the institutional causes and their mechanisms affecting air quality are analyzed in depth from the perspective of domestic market integration. Second, cities at or above the prefecture level in the Yangtze River Economic Belt are taken as samples to provide empirical evidence for market integration to improve air quality. Third, the policy combination effects of environmental regulation, environmental performance assessment and market integration are empirically examined based on the government policy level. To a certain extent, the research in this paper clarifies the internal mechanism of regional market integration affecting air quality, which will provide a scientific basis for effective evaluation of the market system and mechanism construction, and also provide theoretical support for better practicing new development concepts, constructing new development patterns, and advancing high-quality development. The findings of this paper have important policy implications for further promoting market integration reform and realizing green development. We should continue to promote the construction of a unified and open regional market, improve the regional cooperation mechanism, accelerate the establishment of a unified factor market, implement a unified market access system, and form market integration across a wide range of regions in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, while strictly implementing environmental regulation policy and establishing the green performance appraisal system. |
| Key words: market integration air quality Yangtze River Economic Belt environmental regulation green development environmental governance |
