Environmental Regulation and Low-Carbon Economic Development:A Perspective of Industrial Structure Improvement
The improvement of industrial structure is a crucial means for China to achieve green development through carbon reduction and emission reduction.Based on the logical framework of environmental regulation-in-dustrial structure improvement-low-carbon economy(LCE)transformation,this paper further investigates the trans-mission mechanism and heterogeneity of environmental regulation on LCE development in industrial structure im-provement by incorporating the intermediary effect model and panel threshold model.This study reveals the follow-ing findings:(1)Environmental regulation plays the dual role of the entry barrier mechanism and technological inno-vation mechanism in the improvement of industrial structure,exhibiting a"U"-shaped relationship;(2)the impact of industrial structure improvement on LCE development depends on the combined effects of the economies of scale,technology,and energy structure;(3)in the process of environmental regulation influencing LCE development,there exist intermediary effects and regulatory effects of industrial structure improvement;and(4)Simulation analysis of the time path of LCE transformation demonstrates that,on the basis of achieving collaborative regulation of environ-mental pollution regions,industrial structure adjustment and improvement helps alleviate the cost of low-carbon transformation,and strict carbon emission constraint effect can significantly reduce carbon emissions.This paper ex-pands the theoretical framework of LCE from the perspective of industrial structure improvement,providing valuable strategies for achieving LCE transformation.