Investigation on the Relationship Between the Environmental Pollution and Growth of the Industrial Economy in Liaoning Province, China

摘要

The rapid development of an industrial economy contributes to environmental pollution, which, in turn, restricts the sustainable development of the industrial economy. As a major industrial province, Liaoning Province has played an important role in the industrial construction of China and gradually increased the industrial pollution in the country. The objectives of this study are as follows: to analyse the relationship between the environmental pollution and the growth of the industrial economy in Liaoning Province, explore the long-term and short-term relationships between these two variables, and quantitatively estimate the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) for industrial pollution. In view of these objectives, the paper employs the panel data of different cities in Liaoning Province from 2000 to 2013; adopts five industrial pollution indicators, namely, industrial wastewater discharges, industrial SO_2 emissions, industrial soot emissions, industrial dust emissions, and industrial solid waste generation amount; simulates the EKC for industrial pollution; and conducts an empirical test on the relationship between the environmental pollution and the growth of the industrial economy in Liaoning Province. Results indicate the following: the five indicators demonstrate different relationships with GDP per capita; the overall level of the industrial environment constantly rises, whereas pollution is deteriorated with the continual increase in per capita industrial output; the rapid growth of the heavy industry and structural characteristics arising from this growth directly cause the difficulties in reducing the discharges of major pollutants in Liaoning Province. The paper have made significant contributions, including analysing the current situation of the industrial pollution in Liaoning Province, quantitatively estimating the relationship between the environmental pollution and the growth of the industrial economy in Liaoning Province, and proposing suggestions and measures to promote economic growth and alleviate industrial pollution.