Ziyuan Kexue (Jun 2023)
Accountability audit of natural resources and regional environmental quality: Based on the perspective of natural resources endowment
Abstract
[Objective] Accountability audit of natural resource is an institutional arrangement to strengthen China’s ecological civilization construction. Analyzing the mechanism and empirical evidence of accountability audit of natural resource on environmental quality from China’s political economic and social background is of great significance. [Methods] This study used the difference-in-differences model and took 303 cities at the prefecture level and above in China from 2015 to 2020 as the research object to investigate the policy effect of accountability audit of natural resource during the national promotion period. Based on the heterogeneity of natural resources endowment, resource-based cities were taken as the treatment group, and non-resource-based cities were regarded as the control group. [Results] (1) The study found that with the normalization of the accountability audit of natural resource system, the environmental quality of resource-based cities has been significantly improved in comparison to non-resource-based cities, embodying reduction in industrial pollution discharge. (2) The results of mechanism tests demonstrate that the pressure of resource succession and environmental performance can boost the improved level of environmental quality in resource-based cities. Local officials who have been promoted to a higher position after leaving office showed a better environmental performance during their term of office. This result supports the theoretical proposition of this policy to advance pollution control by completing the performance assessment and the accountability mechanism. (3) The path test result indicates that an increase in environmental protection investment is a possible way to step up the upgrading of the environmental quality in resource-based cities. [Conclusion] Accountability audit of natural resource is in accord with China’s actual condition, which has long-term and universal effectiveness. It is necessary to strengthen the application of audit results, improve the construction of supporting systems, and promote the full coverage of environmental responsibility audits.
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