The Impact of Environmental Governance in Chinese Coastal Areas on Public Welfare

Based on the panel data of China's 11 coastal provinces in 2007—2020, the public welfare was measured in this paper, where fixed effect model and mediating effect model were used to deeply explore the impact mechanism of environmental governance on public welfare and the mediating effect of green technological progress. The measurement result finds that the level of public welfare in China has continued to rise during the sample period, with higher levels observed in the eastern coastal economic zone. Environmental governance significantly promotes the improvement of public welfare levels. The promotion effect of environmental governance on public welfare exhibits regional heterogeneity, with the strongest effect observed in the southern coastal economic zone and less evident effects in the northern and eastern coastal economic zones. Green technological progress has a mediating effect on environmental governance to enhance public welfare.