The impact of environmental regulations on green economic efficiency – evidence from beijing-tianjin-hebei urban agglomeration

Abstract

Environmental regulation is an important factor affecting the green economic efficiency. The purpose of this study is to find out the relationship between environmental regulation and green economic efficiency in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration. A framework was constructed in the first to illustrate the necessity of green economic efficiency and explore the mechanism of environmental regulation. Then, we measured the intensity of environmental regulation and green economic efficiency of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration through super efficiency SBM model and empirically examined the impact of environmental regulation on green economic efficiency by adopting the panel regression model. The results show that the level of environmental regulation and green economic efficiency in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei have been constantly improved in 2008-2017. The relationship between environmental regulation and green economic efficiency shows an inverted “U-shaped” curve. So far, the intensity of environmental regulation of all cities in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei are on the left side of the curve, demonstrating that the enhancement of environmental regulation will promote regional green economic efficiency. Government support has a positive impact on regional green economic efficiency, while regional fixed asset investment has a negative impact. At last, we put forward some suggestions on how to improve environmental regulation and green economic efficiency in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration.