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Abstract
Environmental regulations affects the environmental quality of not only local areas
but also surrounding regions. It remains unknown whether the effect of environmental
regulations on the surrounding regions is free riding or pollution shelter. Based
on the data from 2006 to 2018, the spatial correlation of PM2.5 in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei
(BTH), Yangtze River Delta (YRD) and Pearl River Delta (PRD) urban agglomerations
in China was examined in this study. In addition, the spatial spillover effects of
environmental regulation on PM2.5 concentrations were explored while the socio-economic
driving factors of the heterogeneity of pollution spillover were identified via SDM
based STIRPAT framework. Results showed that the characteristics of PM2.5 concentrations
spatial correlations varies from one urban agglomeration to another. This study revealed
that the air pollution is affected by not only local environmental regulations, but
also regulations implemented in surrounding cities. The PM2.5 concentration of BTH,
YRD and PRD increased by 0.76, 0.147 and 0.109 for each unit increase in environmental
regulation of surrounding cities, respectively. In fact, cities with loose regulation
become the pollution shelters. The spatial spillover effects offset the improvement
effects of local environmental regulations on the air quality. Furthermore, the comparison
amongst three urban agglomerations showed that the spatial spillover effects of PM2.5
concentration in BTH and YRD are higher than that of PRD. This is attributed to differences
in industrial structure, population density, economic development, FDI and geographical
location. Therefore, the spatial spillover effects should be taken into consideration
and joint regulation should be strengthened to address air pollution issues in urban
aggregations.