Evaluation of the Implementation Effect of the Ecological Compensation Policy in the Poyang Lake River Basin Based on Difference-in-Difference Method

Abstract

Watershed environments play an important supporting role in sustainable high-quality economic development in China, but they have been deteriorating. In order to solve environmental problems in the Poyang Lake River Basin brought about by economic development, the Jiangxi Provincial Government promulgated relevant river basin protection policies in 2015. However, after several years of this policy, the specific effects of its implementation are a matter of general concern to the government and academic circles. After years of policy implementation, the implementation effect of the watershed ecological compensation policy needs to be evaluated. Based on 4248 observations from the Jiangxi and Hunan Provinces, we adopt the difference-in-difference method to analyze the impact of the ecological compensation policy on the Poyang Lake River Basin. The empirical results show that the ecological compensation policy has a significant effect on water-quality improvement. Water quality in the upstream area is better than that in the downstream area; areas with small administrative areas have a smaller population, which in turn leads to better water quality in the river basin; and the higher the per capita GDP, the worse the water quality. Our results highlight the need for the following policy improvements: ecological priority, customizing measures to local conditions, tracing the main body, and strengthening supervision.

Dynamics of TP Load in the Largest Freshwater Lake of China in the Past Decade

“…In addition, TP concentrations, in general, showed that The Middle Lake (0.083 mg/L) > The North Lake (0.069 mg/L) > The South Lake area (0.053 mg/L), a finding similar to the findings of Liu and Jiang [41]. Overall, the higher TP concentrations in Poyang Lake were concentrated in the northwestern and central parts of the lake [42]. This trend may be due to a combination of factors, including the larger area and slower flow velocity in the central part of the lake, which is influenced by upstream water and sand, leading to sediment deposition and the gradual release of phosphorus from the sediment to the overlying water column [43,44] On the other hand, considering the relatively dense agricultural and industrial areas around the central and northern lakes, agricultural surface pollution may lead to agricultural nutrients (including phosphorus) entering the water bodies [34,45].…”

Quantitative Evaluation of China’s Ecological Protection Compensation Policy Based on PMC Index Model

“…In China, in the theoretical research of ecological compensation, scholars mainly focus on the concept of ecological compensation [ 34 ], policies and regulations [ 35 , 36 ], foreign experience [ 37 , 38 ], compensation type and standard [ 39 , 40 ], mechanism construction [ 7 , 41 ], etc., and show an interdisciplinary characteristic involving economic, management, legal and environmental fields, etc. In the case of policies and regulations, scholars have developed quantitative estimates of the environmental and economic benefits of ecological protection compensation policies [ 15 ], focusing on the actual impacts of ecological protection compensation policies [ 42 , 43 , 44 ].…”

Effectiveness of Heilongjiang Nanwenghe Nature Reserve in Improving Habitat Quality in and around the Reserve

“…For example, econometric models could be used to estimate a single treatment effect and explore how the treatment varies over time and space (Shah & Baylis, 2015;Feng et al, 2021;Negret et al, 2020). The Difference-in-Differences (DID) model is an important way to estimate the effects of policies (Stuart et al, 2014;Lu et al, 2021). For example, Shah & Baylis (2015) applied DID model to assess the effectiveness of seven Indonesian forest PAs; Kim & Anand (2021) used DID model to evaluate the effectiveness of PAs in the pan-tropics; and Feng et al (2021) used DID model to assess the effectiveness of 2,975 PAs worldwide.…”