环境管制影响下的佛山陶瓷产业区位变动机制

环境管制已成为影响污染产业区位变动的一项因素.目前国内外相关研究多采用统计数据的模型分析方法,但对环境管制发挥作用的方式和程度却存在很多争论.本研究以广东佛山市陶瓷产业为研究对象,运用半结构式访谈分析方法,采用区位变动中的推拉模型,探讨环境管制在(产业) 迁出地对佛山陶瓷产业区位变动的推动机理,以及在(产业) 迁入地对佛山陶瓷产业区位选择的拉动作用机制.结果发现,① 环境管制是影响污染产业区位变化的重要因素,并且在迁出地和迁入地之间形成一个相互联系的过程,迁出地环境管制将通过企业行为影响迁入地环境管制.② 探讨环境管制对企业区位变化的影响机制从政府和企业行为互动的角度具有很好的解释,而非仅考虑治污成本的影响.③ 在中国式地方分权的背景下环境管制成为地方政府调控本地产业发展的重要政策手段.但“污染避难所”假说是否成立仍然是一个难题.

Relocation Mechanisms of the Ceramics Industry Impacted by the Environmental Regulations in Foshan City

Recent studies show that environmental regulations play a crucial role in the decision making of firm location.The methods in these empirical studies,however,are mainly quantitative models based on statistical data,and the way the environmental regulations work in the location decision are debatable.In this article,we analyze the relocation decision of the ceramic industry in Foshan City against the context of intensive environmental regulations through semi-structured interviews.The’push-pull’model in the firm migration research is used to explore the way the environmental regulation works on to push firms from the old location and pulling them to the new sites.The conclusion is that the influences of the environmental regulation on the firm location decision cannot be ignored,and the effects of the environmental regulations depend on the social and economic conditions of the old and new sites.It is an interconnected process when the firms relocate from the old location to the new one that is heavily shaped by environmental regulations.The change of environmental regulation in the old place will not only affect the behaviors of the firms when relocated,but also the arrangement of environmental regulation in the new place. Besides the cost of pollution abatement,a possible interpretation of the effects of the environmental regulation upon the location decision is the behavior of the local governments and the firms.If the environmental regulation is lax,the pollution abatement cost is important for the firm to choose a new place,otherwise the sunk cost will be considered for risk prevention.It is confirmed that environmental regulation has become an important policy for local governments in China to promote the development of local industries under recent economic decentralization.Nevertheless,in this case study,the’Pollution Havens’hypothesis is not yet confirmed