流域横向生态补偿机制与绿色发展效率OACHSSCD

China's economy has transitioned from a stage of rapid growth to one of high-quality development,with promoting green economic development being a key aspect of achieving high-quality development.As an important component of the ecological civilization system,the horizontal ecological compensation mechanism in river basins holds great significance for improving green development efficiency.Currently,while the environmental benefits of the horizontal ecological compensation mechanism in river basins have been widely recognized by scholars,considerable disagreement exists regarding the evaluation of their economic benefits.Whether recipient cities under horizontal ecological compensation mechanism in river basins can compensate for the economic costs of environmental governance by improving green development efficiency and developing a green economy while conducting environmental governance,thereby achieving economic development while protecting the ecological environment,is key to evaluating whether the horizontal ecological compensation mechanism in river basins is replicable and whether recipient cities can achieve long-term sustainable development.However,literature comprehensively examining the policy effects of multiple inter-provincial horizontal ecological compensation mechanism in river basins from the perspective of green development efficiency remains relatively scarce. This paper takes the prefecture-level cities in nine recipient provinces under China's inter-provincial horizontal ecological compensation mechanism in river basins from 2006 to 2021 as research subjects.Based on measuring urban green development efficiency using the SBM-GML index,we employ a staggered difference-in-differences model to test the impact of the horizontal ecological compensation mechanism in river basins on the green development efficiency of recipient cities.The study found that horizontal ecological compensation mechanisms in river basins significantly improve the green development efficiency of recipient cities.Transmission mechanism tests reveal that horizontal ecological compensation mechanisms in river basins enhance the green development efficiency of recipient cities through green innovation effects and industrial structure effects.Heterogeneity analysis demonstrates that the mechanism's effect is more pronounced in cities located within national-level urban agglomerations and resource-based cities.Further research finds that three types of supplementary funds,namely,central fiscal subsidies within the agreement,international organization loans based on the agreement,and green finance external to the agreement,all amplify the policy effect of horizontal ecological compensation mechanisms in river basins. Compared with existing research,this paper expands in the following three aspects:First,it approaches the study of ecological compensation's impact effects from the perspective of green development efficiency,examining the internal mechanisms through which horizontal ecological compensation in river basins promotes green development efficiency in recipient cities from both theoretical and empirical dimensions,thereby supplementing existing research.Second,by applying for information disclosure from provincial people's governments,this paper compiles all inter-provincial horizontal ecological compensation mechanisms signed in China by the end of 2019 and comprehensively examines the policy effects of inter-provincial horizontal ecological compensation mechanisms in river basins,thus yielding more generalizable and replicable conclusions and recommendations.Third,building upon exploring the impact of the horizontal ecological compensation mechanisms in river basins on green development efficiency in recipient cities,this paper further employs a triple difference model to clarify the moderating effects of three types of supplementary funds on the mechanism's effectiveness:internal supplementary funds(central fiscal subsidies),agreement-based supplementary funds(international organizations loans),and external supplementary funds(green finance). The research conclusions of this paper provide an empirical foundation and policy recommendations for establishing and improving market-oriented and diversified inter-provincial horizontal ecological compensation mechanisms in river basins to promote regional green development transformation.During the critical period when China's economy transitions from rapid growth to high-quality development,inter-provincial horizontal ecological compensation mechanisms should be further improved and fully utilized to continuously promote regional green development.