城镇化能够提高环境绩效吗?

Can Urbanization Improve Environmental Performance?

城镇化的影响是多方面的,在过往的实证研究结论中,城镇化对环境绩效的影响存在一定的争议。为了探究城镇化的真实影响,发现已有研究结论存在差异的根源,为绿色、健康的城镇化道路提供理论支持和政策依据,深入探究了城镇化对环境绩效的影响机制并总结归纳了两大影响路径:第一,城镇化通过降低能源强度对环境绩效产生正向影响;第二,城镇化通过促进绿色创新对环境绩效产生正向影响。进一步地,将二氧化硫排放量(SO2)、化学需氧量(COD)、固体废弃物排放量视作非期望产出利用SBM模型计算了环境绩效,利用中国省级面板数据,通过中介效应模型对这两种理论机制进行了实证检验,并验证了以上两种理论机制的存在。

In the past empirical research,there are certain controversy over the impact of urbanization on environmental performance.In order to explore the root causes of this controversy and to provide theoretical support and policy basis for green and healthy urbanization path,this paper deeply explores the impact mechanism of urbanization on environmental performance and summarizes two major impact paths.First,urbanization has a positive impact on environmental performance by reducing energy intensity.Second,urbanization has a positive impact on environmental performance by promoting green innovation.Taking as undesired outputs the sulfur dioxide emissions(SO2),chemical oxygen demand(COD),and solid waste emissions,the paper then further calculates environmental performance using the SBM model.China’s provincial penal data is then adopted along with the mediation effect model in an empirical test of these two theoretical mechanisms,which confirms their existence.In view of these empirical results and China’s reality,in order to improve China’s environmental performance,this paper believes that the green performance improvement strategy should be implemented according to local conditions,and it should be insisted that the urbanization of both people and land be implemented at the same time.