Challenging the Pollution Haven Effect: Insights From the Yangtze River Delta's Regional Integration

IF 2.2 3区经济学 Q1 DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

Growth and Change Pub Date : 2026-05-28 DOI:10.1111/grow.70139

Yanming Sun, Simiao Shen, Caili Yang, Yihua Yu

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Abstract

This study critically revisits the Pollution Haven Hypothesis (PHH), which suggests that stringent environmental regulations drive polluting industries to relocate to areas with laxer standards. Focusing on the context of China's national strategy for Yangtze River Delta (YRD) regional integration, we employ a difference-in-differences-in-differences (DDD) estimation approach alongside multi-level panel data from 2003 to 2013 that exploits spatial and temporal variations in YRD expansion. We investigate whether regional integration facilitates the relocation of pollution-intensive industries (PII) to less-developed areas within the YRD. The analysis reveals that the integration boundary of YRD actually inhibits the transfer of polluting industries to peripheral cities in the region, though the trend of polluting industries shifting toward regional boundaries has strengthened. Thus the integration contributes to reducing the risk of becoming pollution havens for peripheral cities. These findings challenge the conventional PHH framework, indicating that regional integration can mitigate the PHH effects and limit the internal dispersion of pollution. Our results offer new insights into the influence of regional integration on the geographic distribution of polluting industries, highlighting the potential of coordinated regional governance to achieve both economic and environmental objectives.

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挑战污染避风港效应：来自长三角区域一体化的启示

这项研究批判性地重新审视了污染避风港假说（PHH），该假说认为严格的环境法规促使污染企业迁移到标准较宽松的地区。本文以中国长三角区域一体化国家战略为背景，利用2003 - 2013年的多层次面板数据，采用“差中差中差”（DDD）估算方法，分析长三角区域扩张的时空变化。我们研究区域一体化是否促进了污染密集型产业向长三角内欠发达地区的转移。分析表明，长三角一体化边界实际上抑制了污染产业向区域周边城市的转移，但污染产业向区域边界转移的趋势有所加强。因此，这种整合有助于降低周边城市成为污染避风港的风险。这些发现挑战了传统的PHH框架，表明区域一体化可以减轻PHH效应并限制污染的内部扩散。我们的研究结果为区域一体化对污染行业地理分布的影响提供了新的见解，强调了协调区域治理实现经济和环境目标的潜力。

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来源期刊

Growth and Change Multiple-

CiteScore

6.40

自引率

3.10%

发文量

期刊介绍： Growth and Change is a broadly based forum for scholarly research on all aspects of urban and regional development and policy-making. Interdisciplinary in scope, the journal publishes both empirical and theoretical contributions from economics, geography, public finance, urban and regional planning, agricultural economics, public policy, and related fields. These include full-length research articles, Perspectives (contemporary assessments and views on significant issues in urban and regional development) as well as critical book reviews.