Impact of environmental absorption capacity on PM_(2.5) concentration in China

Air pollution,especially fine particulate matter(PM_(2.5))pollution,has a great negative impact on human production and normal life.It is a hot issue of global concern,and it is also a huge test for China’s high-quality socioeconomic development.Environmental absorption capacity(EAC)is the guarantee of the structure and function of a healthy atmospheric environmental system.It plays an important role in the automatic accommodation,absorption,and digestion of air pollutants produced by humans in the process of industrialization and civilization.Understanding the absorption capacity of environmental elements on PM_(2.5),and exploring the impact of EAC on PM_(2.5) concentration are of great significance to the development of new ideas for air pollution control.This paper constructed an index system to calculate the EAC index from two dimensions(natural resource endowment and impact of human activities),analyzed and discussed the impact of EAC on PM_(2.5) concentration and its heterogeneity effect through panel regression model,generalized panel quantile regression based on MCMC optimization and scenario analysis,by using the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2004 to 2017.The results suggested that:(i)The overall level of national EAC was low,and the regional differences were large.EAC was influenced by natural resource endowment and human activities,while natural endowment was the main factor affecting EAC,and human activities were the main factor causing the fluctuation and the regional difference of EAC.(ii)As the result of full sample regression demonstrated,the enhancement of EAC had a significant negative influence on the reduction of PM_(2.5) concentration.In areas with high PM_(2.5) concentration,the effect of EAC was more obvious,but the effect did not necessarily increase with the increase of PM_(2.5) concentration.Also,in extreme cases,the effect did not pass the significance test.(iii)According to the results of heterogeneity effect analysis,the effect of EAC on PM_(2.5) concentration was significantly negative in sustainable scenario and emergency scenario,while the effect was not significant in Soylent Green scenario.The conclusion provides important implications for the prevention and control of air pollution and the improvement of atmospheric environmental quality.

Environmental regulation,hidden economy,and China's outward foreign direct investment

The need to balance economic growth and its environmental impact continues to be a serious issue in China.As environmental regulation in China increases in importance,it is critical to understand how it impacts economic growth drivers such as outward foreign direct investment(OFDI)to formulate effective policies.One consideration should be the hidden economy,which can weaken the effects of environmental regulation on OFDI.This study investigates the scale of the hidden economy in 30 provinces and province-level municipalities in China in the period 2004 to 2015.The study uses the multiple indicators and multiple causes(MIMIC)model and the systematic generalized method of moments(GMM)test to analyze the impact of environmental regulation and the hidden economy on China's OFDI.The results show that stronger environmental regulation promotes OFDI.However,the hidden economy inhibits China's OFDI,as the positive effects of environmental regulation that drive OFDI are distorted.From a regional perspective,stronger environmental regulation promotes OFDI as well,while the hidden economy inhibits it.The interaction between environmental regulation and the hidden economy also inhibits it significantly.

Multi-scale coupling analysis of urbanization and ecosystem services supply-demand budget in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, China

Rapid economic development and human activities have severely affected ecosystem function.Analysis of the spatial distribution of areas of rapid urbanization is the basis for optimizing urban-ecological spatial design.This paper evaluated the spatial distribution of urbanization in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei(BTH)region,and then quantified the ecosystem services(ES)budget in the region based on an ES supply and demand matrix.The results showed that(1)urbanization patterns in the BTH region were relatively stable from 2000 to 2015,with clear patterns of low levels of urbanization in the northwest and high levels in the southeast;(2)areas with positive ES budget values were found throughout the region,except in built-up areas,with high ES supply areas concentrated in the northwest,and high ES demand areas in the southeast;(3)at both the county and prefecture-city levels,urbanization had negative,positive,and negative correlations with ES supply,demand,and budget,respectively;(4)the coupling coordination degree(CCD)increased,with high CCD values in the southeast.Based on these results,policy recommendations include strengthening rational land-use planning and ecosystem management,promoting the coordinated development of the economy and ecological function,and coordinating the provision of production-life-ecological functions.