Research on the impact of environmental decentralisation and environmental regulations on agricultural pollution

Based on the ‘panel data’ of 30 Chinese provinces from 2006 to 2018, this paper employs the ‘dynamic panel model’ to investigate the relationship between environmental decentralisation (ED), environmental regulation (ER), and agricultural pollution. The results show that ED and environmental supervision decentralisation (ESD) and environmental monitoring decentralisation (EMD) have significant positive effects on agricultural pollution, while environmental administrative decentralisation (EAD) has negative impact on agricultural pollution; the ‘green paradox’ effect which caused by ED in the central and western regions is significant, while that in the eastern region is not significant; the impact of ER on agricultural pollution presents threshold characteristics with the change of ED. Therefore, differentiated ED policies should be formulated; EAD should be appropriately expanded; ESD and EMD should be gradually reduced, and ED in the central and western regions should be reduced. The measures can provide reference for different countries in the world. Copyright © 2023 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.