Effect of environmental regulation policy synergy on carbon emissions in China under consideration of the mediating role of industrial structure

A comprehensive understanding of the effect of environmental regulation policy synergy on carbon emissions is essential for the design and decision-making of the other policy combinations. In this paper, the panel data from 30 provinces in China during 2000-2019 are used as samples to investigate the heterogeneity of different policy combinations and compare the differences using a Bayesian non-parametric generalized additive quantile method. The research results imply that the environmental regulation policy synergy has a significant hetero-geneous effect on carbon emissions on different levels. Specifically, the effect of environmental regulation policy synergy on carbon emissions has an inverted U-shape trend at the low quintiles, i.e., before the turning point, it shows a green paradox effect, and after the turning point, it shows an emission reduction effect. However, the effect of environmental regulation policy synergy on carbon emissions shows a significant N-shape trend at the high quintiles, i.e., before the second turning point, it shows an emission reduction effect, and after the second turning point, it shows a green paradox effect. Moreover, the effect of environmental regulation policy com-binations on carbon emissions reduction has been found to vary significantly across regions.

Automated summary

This paper examines the heterogeneous effects of environmental regulation policy synergy on carbon emissions using panel data from 30 provinces in China from 2000 to 2019. The study finds that the impact of environmental regulation policy synergy on carbon emissions varies across different levels and quintiles, showing an inverted U-shape trend at the low quintiles and an N-shape trend at the high quintiles. Furthermore, the study reveals significant regional variations in the effect of environmental regulation policy combinations on carbon emissions reduction.