The Impact of Industrial Structure and Economic Development on Environmental Quality: Evidence from Rural China
Utilizing dynamic panel data from 29 Chinese regions (2012–2022) and a system GMM approach, this study investigates the nexus between industrial structure, economic development, and rural environmental quality. The findings indicate a U-shaped relationship for agriculture and real GDP per capita (supporting the EKC hypothesis), but an inverted U-shaped relationship for the secondary and tertiary industries. Additionally, a faster regional economic growth rate is significantly associated with better environmental quality, implying that economic growth has facilitated rural environmental improvement.
Authors
- H. F. Shen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8222-2234)
- Yuchen Ding (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6866-8395)
- Shushu Li
Institutions
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Institutes of Science and Development (CN)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Sustainability
- Published
- 2025-12-22
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/su18010112
- Primary Topic
- Energy, Environment, Economic Growth
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00