A decomposition model to analyze effect of SO2 emission density of China

A decomposition model was applied to study the resource-saving and environment-friendly effects of air pollutant emissions (taking industrial SO2 emission as an example) in China. From the results, it is found that 38.93% and 61.07% are contributed to environment-friendly and resource-saving effects, respectively, by the dramatic decrease in industrial SO2 emission density (nearly 70% from 2001 to 2010). This indicates that China has achieved important progress during the 11th FYP (five-year plan) compared with the 10th FYP. A simultaneous equations model was also employed to analyze the influencing factors by using data from 30 provinces in China. The results imply that the influence of environmental regulation on environment-friendly effect is not obvious during the 10th FYP but obvious during the 11th FYP. Thus, the government should continue promoting the environment-friendly effect by further enhancing environmental regulation and strengthening the role of environmental management.