Ziyuan Kexue (Jun 2023)
The effectiveness of “bottom-up” environmental policies: A comparative analysis of heterogeneity of the River Chief System Policy in the Yangtze River Economic Belt
Abstract
[Objective] Reviewing and evaluating the “bottom-up” environmental governance policies that had emerged in the new era over the past decade helps establish a modern ecological civilization governance system. [Methods] This paper focused on the River Chief System, which was spontaneously implemented by local governments before being fully promoted by the central government, and underwent a “bottom-up” policy evolution from 2007 to 2018. It examined the timing, implementation intensity, and policy tools employed under the RCP across various cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt during this period, using a combination of weekly and annual data from the national automatic monitoring of water pollution. The system generalized method of moments was also applied. [Results] The results showed that: (1) Although the content and intensity of the RCP in the sample cities differed, the administrative control-oriented RCP, such as shut downs, ewards, and punishments, was the most popular policy tool, and every type of the RCP had strong target-oriented characteristics, which accounted for the effectiveness of the RCP. For each additional specific measure of the RCP, COD and NH3 in river water were reduced by 0.149 mg/L and 0.085 mg/L, respectively. (2) Different types of the RCP had different effects on water pollution reduction. The administrative control-oriented RCP was effective in reducing both COD and NH3, while the market-oriented RCP was only effective for NH3 reduction and the public surveilliance-oriented RCP was only effective for COD reduction. The possible reason might lie in that the targeted pollutants varied across different types of RCP. (3) The level of regional economic development could also influence the effect of the RCP, but the influence was different for various types of RCP. Higher economic development level strengthened the effect of administrative control-oriented RCP, but had no significant impact on the market-oriented RCP and the public participation-oriented RCP. [Conclusion] The “bottom-up” policy model gave the government more choices and also causes differences in policy content. Therefore, when evaluating the effectiveness of “bottom-up” environmental governance policies, it was necessary to consider the differences in implementation time, intensity, and policy tools. This comprehensive approach facilitated a deeper understanding of the underlying mechanisms of environmental policies, enables a precise depiction of their impacts, and offered viable recommendations for local governments characterized by disparate levels of economic development and diverse ecological contexts, allowing for the adaptable adoption of distinct policy tools.
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