反思环境库兹涅茨曲线假说

Re-Thinking Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis in China

当前严重的环境问题已经威胁到公众健康与社会经济的可持续发展。经典的环境库兹涅茨曲线假说认为环境问题会随着经济的发展经历先恶化再改善的过程。然而本文认为政府对环境问题的重视能够显著提高其环境保护意愿和行动进而对拐点产生影响。基于地级市面板数据,我们发现环境视察会显著提高地方政府环境保护支出的数量及比重。因此,本文发现不光促使我们反思经典环境库兹涅茨曲线假说在我国的适用情况,也可为我国环境治理及生态文明建设中的顶层设计思路提供理论注脚。

Serious environmental problems have threatened public health and sustainable socio-economic development.The Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis(EKCH)holds that environmental problems will go through a process of deterioration and then improvement as the economy develops.This article,however,shows that the government’s emphasis on environmental issues can significantly increase its willingness and actions to protect the environment and thus affect the inflection point of EKCH.Based on a panel data covering 282 prefectural-level municipalities from 2003 to 2007 in China,we find that inspections by the upper level government significantly increase the amount and proportion of local government expenditures on environmental protection.The findings of this article not only prompt us to rethink about the application of EKCH in China,but also provides theoretical insights for the top-level design in China’s environmental governance.