Investigating the Relationship between Economic Growth, Institutional Environment and Sulphur Dioxide Emissions

Abstract

In order to promote ecological sustainability, the issue of sulphur dioxide emissions is of increasing interest to researchers. Majority of the current research, however, focuses on the relationship between sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions, foreign direct investment (FDI), and trade, as well as the effects of trade on SO2 emissions, thus rarely takes it into account that the greater impact of the institutional environment and economic growth on SO2 emissions. Using the 2008–2017 provincial panel data, this paper uses a fixed effects model to empirically test the institutional environment and economic growth of sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions. The results show that GDP growth and SO2 emissions had an inverted “U”-shaped relationship. The institutional environment and the higher level of government intervention in the region led to SO2 emissions decreasing significantly, and the institutional environment and the level of government intervention on economic growth and SO2 emissions form a negative regulatory role. In this paper, environmental governance research, specified by the regional environmental governance, and government environmental performance audit policy provide empirical evidence, thus promoting sustainable ecological and environmental development.