Pollution Transfer in the Decentralization of Non-capital Functions: Based on the Perspective of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region

Abstract

Due to factors such as differences in environmental regulation standards and internal structural contradictions in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, some highly polluting industries may form a pollution transfer effect during regional transfer, resulting in environmental pollution in the receiving areas and slowing down economic development. This paper uses the difference-in-differences method for empirical testing. By dividing the sample period according to the policy implementation year (2017), it compares the degree of pollutants before and after the policy implementation to analyze the institutional effect, effectively reflecting the impact of institutional intervention on the environment of the receiving areas. Control variables such as GDP of municipal districts, the number of industrial enterprises above a designated size, and population density are introduced. The regression results confirm that the policy of decentralizing non-capital functions has had a pollution transfer effect on the receiving areas. This paper proposes solutions to overcome pollution transfer from four aspects, providing an empirical basis for promoting the green development of industries and regional coordinated development.