Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Going Green or Going Away: Environmental Regulation, Economic Geography and Firms’ Strategies in China’s Pollution-Intensive Industries

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Book cover Geographical Dynamics and Firm Spatial Strategy in China

Part of the book series: Springer Geography ((SPRINGERGEOGR))

  • 752 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter seeks to focus on China pollution-intensive industries and document some of the ways in which different levels of government and different kinds of firms are attempting to deal with new challenges emerged in the 2000s and the dilemma they pose.

Zhu, S., C. He and Y. Liu. 2014. “Going Green or Going Away: Environmental Regulation, Economic Geography and Firms’ Strategies in China’s Pollution-intensive Industries.” Geoforum, 55: 53–65 (full article reused with some minor modifications).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    General Office of the State Council, May 25, 2007, ‘Report on the First Nationwide Pollution Source Survey.’ Retrieved on Feb 23, 2014 from: http://www.gov.cn/zwgk/2007-05/25/content_626141.htm.

  2. 2.

    Environmental Protection in China, May 9, 2013, ‘Restructuring and Adjustment of Pollution-intensive Industries in Shangyu, Zhejiang.’ Retrieved on Sep 16, 2013 from: http://www.epuncn.com/news/chengshi/74985.htm.

  3. 3.

    CHP is to simultaneously generate two types of energy—heat and electricity—from one fuel source. By capturing and using the waste heat, CHP offers tremendous efficiency and thus both cost savings and environmental benefits.

  4. 4.

    Shaoxing Textile City is one of the largest textile and apparel markets in China.

References

  • Altman, M. 2001. When Green Isn’t Mean: Economic Theory and the Heuristics of the Impact of Environmental Regulations on Competitiveness and Opportunity Cost. Ecological Economics 36 (1): 31–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amin, A., and N. Thrift (eds.). 1994. Globalization, Institutions, and Regional Development in Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Antonelli, C. 2003. The Economics of Innovation, New Technologies, and Structural Change. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bair, J., and E. Dussel Peters. 2006. Global Commodity Chains and Endogenous Growth: Export Dynamism and Development in Mexico and Honduras. World Development 34 (2): 203–221.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnes, T., and M. Gertler. 1999. The New Industrial Geography: Regions. Regulation and Institutions, London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ben Kheder, S., and N. Zugravu. 2012. Environmental Regulation and French Firms Location Abroad: An Economic Geography Model in an International Comparative Study. Ecological Economics 77: 48–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chan, C.K., and X. Yao. 2008. Air Pollution in Mega Cities in China. Atmospheric Environment 42 (1): 1–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Copeland, B.R., and M.S. Taylor. 2004. Trade, Growth, and the Environment. Journal of Economic Literature 42 (1): 7–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costantini, V., and F. Crespi. 2008. Environmental Regulation and the Export Dynamics of Energy Technologies. Ecological Economics 66 (2–3): 447–460.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dam, L., and B. Scholtens. 2008. Environmental Regulation and Mnes Location: Does Csr Matter? Ecological Economics 67 (1): 55–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dasgupta, S., D. Wheeler, and M. Huq. 1997. Bending the Rules: Discretionary Pollution Control in China, vol. 1761. New York: World Bank.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Dean, J.M., M.E. Lovely, and H. Wang. 2009. Are Foreign Investors Attracted to Weak Environmental Regulations? Evaluating the Evidence from China. Journal of Development Economics 90 (1): 1–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dussel Peters, E. 2008. Gccs and Development: A Conceptual and Empirical Review. Competition and Change 12 (1): 11–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Francesch-Huidobro, M., C.W.H. Lo, and S.Y. Tang. 2012. The Local Environmental Regulatory Regime in China: Changes in Pro-Environment Orientation, Institutional Capacity, and External Political Support in Guangzhou. Environment and Planning A 44 (10): 2493–2511.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Granovetter, M. 1985. Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness. American Journal of Sociology 91 (3): 481–510.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamamoto, M. 2006. Environmental Regulation and the Productivity of Japanese Manufacturing Industries. Resource and Energy Economics 28 (4): 299–312.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He, C., and J. Wang. 2012. Regional and Sectoral Differences in the Spatial Restructuring of Chinese Manufacturing Industries During the Post-Wto Period. GeoJournal 77 (3): 361–381.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He, C., Y.H.D. Wei, and X. Xie. 2008. Globalization. Institutional Change, and Industrial Location: Economic Transition and Industrial Concentration in China, Regional Studies 42 (7): 923–945.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hicks, J.R. 1932. The Theory of Wages. London: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoover, E.M., and R. Vernon. 1959. Anatomy of a Metropolis: The Changing Distribution of People and Jobs within New York Metropolitan Region. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hu, A.G., and G.H. Jefferson. 2008. Science and Technology in China. In China’s Great Economic Transformation, ed. L. Brandt, and T. Rawski. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jahiel, A.R. 1997. The Contradictory Impact of Reform on Environmental Protection in China. The China Quarterly 149: 81–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jahiel, A.R. 1998. The Organization of Environmental Protection in China. The China Quarterly 156: 757–787.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jeppesen, T., J.A. List, and H. Folmer. 2002. Environmental Regulations and New Plant Location Decisions: Evidence from a Meta-Analysis. Journal of Regional Science 42 (1): 19–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jo, Y. and C.-Y. Lee. 2012. Technological Capability, Agglomeration Economies and Firm Location Choice. Regional Studies, 1–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keller, W. 2004. Internnational Technology Diffusion. Journal of Economic Literature 42 (3): 752–782.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar, S. and S. Managi. 2009. Win–Win Opportunities and Environmental Regulation: Test of the Porter Hypothesis. In The Economics of Sustainable Development: The Case of India, ed. S. Managi and S. Kumar, vol. 32, 157–66. New York: Springer US.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leiter, A.M., A. Parolini, and H. Winner. 2011. Environmental Regulation and Investment: Evidence from European Industry Data. Ecological Economics 70 (4): 759–770.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li & Fung Research Centre. 2008. China’s Industry Relocation and Upgrading Trends: Implications for Sourcing Business, vol. 56. Hong Kong: Li & Fung Research Centre.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lieberthal, K., and D. Lampton. 1992. Bureaucracy, Politics, and Decision Making in Post-Mao China. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lin, G.C.S., C.C. Wang, Y. Zhou, Y. Sun, and Y.H.D. Wei. 2011. Placing Technological Innovation in Globalising China: Production Linkage, Knowledge Exchange and Innovative Performance of the Ict Industry in a Developing Economy. Urban Studies 48 (14): 2999–3018.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lo, C.W.-H., and S.-Y. Tang. 2006. Institutional Reform, Economic Changes, and Local Environmental Management in China: The Case of Guangdong Province. Environmental Politics 15 (2): 190–210.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, A. (1920 [1890]) Principles of Economics, 8th Edition. London: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mulatu, A., R. Gerlagh, D. Rigby, and A. Wossink. 2010. Environmental Regulation and Industry Location in Europe. Environmental and Resource Economics 45 (4): 459–479.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murty, M.N., and S. Kumar. 2003. Win-Win Opportunities and Environmental Regulation: Testing of Porter Hypothesis for Indian Manufacturing Industries. Journal of Environmental Management 67 (2): 139–144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Myles Shaver, J., and F. Flyer. 2000. Agglomeration Economies, Firm Heterogeneity, and Foreign Direct Investment in the United States. Strategic Management Journal 21 (12): 1175–1193.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piore, M., and C. Sabel. 1984. The Second Industrial Divide. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Porter, M.E. 1990. The Competitive Advantage of Nations. New York: Free Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Porter, M.E., and C. van der Linde. 1995. Toward a New Conception of the Environment-Competitiveness Relationship. Journal of Economic Perspectives 9 (4): 97–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saxenian, A. 1994. Regional Advantage: Culture and Competition in Silicon Valley and Route 128. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schumpeter, J.A. 1947. The Creative Response in Economic History. The Journal of Economic History 7 (02): 149–159.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scott, A. 1988. Metropolis: From the Division of Labor to Urban Form. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shangyu Government. 2013. Economic Development in Shangyu. Shangyu: Shangyu Government.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spatareanu, M. 2007. Searching for Pollution Havens: The Impact of Environmental Regulations on Foreign Direct Investment. The Journal of Environment and Development 16 (2): 161–182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Storper, M. 1997. The Regional World: Territorial Development in a Global Economy. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sutherland, D. 2003. China’s Large Enterprises and the Challenge of Late Industrialism. London: Routledge Curzon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tang, S.-Y., C.W.-H. Lo, and G.E. Fryxell. 2010. Governance Reform. External Support, and Environmental Regulation Enforcement in Rural China: The Case of Guangdong Province, Journal of Environmental Management 91 (10): 2008–2018.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, M.S. 2004. Unbundling the Pollution Haven Hypothesis, Advances in Economic Analysis and Policy 4(2): (Article 8).

    Google Scholar 

  • Teece, D.J. 2007. Explicating Dynamic Capabilities: The Nature and Microfoundations of (Sustainable) Enterprise Performance. Strategic Management Journal 28 (13): 1319–1350.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Testa, F., F. Iraldo, and M. Frey. 2011. The Effect of Environmental Regulation on Firms’ Competitive Performance: The Case of the Building & Construction Sector in Some Eu Regions. Journal of Environmental Management 92 (9): 2136–2144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tole, L. and G. Koop. 2010. Do Environmental Regulations Affect the Location Decisions of Multinational Gold Mining Firms? Journal of Economic Geography.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Rooij, B., and C.W.-H. Lo. 2010. Fragile Convergence: Understanding Variation in the Enforcement of China’s Industrial Pollution Law. Law and Policy 32 (1): 14–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, J. 2010. Beyond Industrial Clusters: Theorectical Research on China’s Industrial Clusters. Beijing: Science Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, C.C., and G.C.S. Lin. 2013. Dynamics of Innovation in a Globalizing China: Regional Environment, Inter-Firm Relations and Firm Attributes. Journal of Economic Geography 13 (3): 397–418.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, H., and D. Wheeler. 1996. Pricing Industrial Pollution in China: An Econometric Analysis of the Levy System, vol. 1644. New York: World Bank.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, H., and D. Wheeler. 2000. Endogenous Enforcement and Effectiveness of China’s Pollution Levy System, vol. 2336. New York: World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, H., and D. Wheeler. 2005. Financial Incentives and Endogenous Enforcement in China’s Pollution Levy System. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 49 (1): 174–196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, C., G.C.S. Lin, and G. Li. 2010. Industrial Clustering and Technological Innovation in China: New Evidence from the Ict Industry in Shenzhen. Environment and Planning A 42 (8): 1987–2010.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wei, Y.H.D. 2000. Regional Development in China: States, Globalization, and Inequality. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wei, Y.H.D. 2001. Decentralization, Marketization, and Globalization: The Triple Processes Underlying Regional Development in China. Asian Geographer 20 (1–2): 7–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wei, Y.H.D., W. Li, and C. Wang. 2007. Restructuring Industrial Districts. Scaling up Regional Development: A Study of the Wenzhou Model, China, Economic Geography 83 (4): 421–444.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wen, M. 2004. Relocation and Agglomeration of Chinese Industry. Journal of Development Economics 73 (1): 329–347.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wheeler, D. 1999. Racing to the Bottom? Foreign Investment and Air Pollution in Developing Countries, vol. 2524. New York: World Bank.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Yang, C. 2012. Restructuring the Export-Oriented Industrialization in the Pearl River Delta, China: Institutional Evolution and Emerging Tension. Applied Geography 32 (1): 143–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yuan, Z. 2010. Industrial Clusters in Shangyu. District Economy 8: 38–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhan, X., C.W.-H. Lo and S.-Y. Tang. 2013. Contextual Changes and Environmental Policy Implementation: A Longitudinal Study of Street-Level Bureaucrats in Guangzhou, China, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, J., and X. Fu. 2008. Fdi and Environmental Regulations in China. Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy 13 (3): 332–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou, N., M.D. Levine, and L. Price. 2010. Overview of Current Energy-Efficiency Policies in China. Energy Policy 38 (11): 6439–6452.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu, S., and J. Pickles. 2014. Bring in. Go up, Go West, Go Out: Upgrading, Regionalisation and Delocalisation in China’s Apparel Production Networks, Journal of Contemporary Asia 44 (1): 36–63.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China

    Shengjun Zhu & Canfei He

  2. Department of Geography, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

    John Pickles

Authors
  1. Shengjun Zhu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. John Pickles
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Canfei He
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shengjun Zhu .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Zhu, S., Pickles, J., He, C. (2017). Going Green or Going Away: Environmental Regulation, Economic Geography and Firms’ Strategies in China’s Pollution-Intensive Industries. In: Geographical Dynamics and Firm Spatial Strategy in China. Springer Geography. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-53601-8_8

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation