The impact of heterogeneous environmental regulations on China's textile industry CO2 emissions

Environmental regulation is an important tool to reduce CO2 emissions. To investigate the relationship between heterogeneous environmental regulations and CO2 emissions of China's textile industry (CTI), this paper uses the threshold model and panel model to study the impacts of command-based, market-based and public-based environmental regulations (CER, MER and PER) on the total carbon emissions and carbon emission intensity of CTI from 2004 to 2019. Then it further explores their regional heterogeneity. The results show that: at the national level, CER has a forced emission reduction effect and a green paradox effect on CTI’s total carbon emissions and carbon emission intensity, respectively. And MER shows a forced emission reduction effect on carbon emission intensity. But the coefficients of PER are not significant. At the regional level, the result verifies a U-shaped relationship between CER and CO2 emissions in the eastern textile industry. And CER shows a forced emission reduction effect in the central and western regions. The impact of MER on the carbon emission intensity of the eastern textile industry is N-shaped, which means MER can lower carbon emission intensity only within a certain range. And its impacts on the central and western regions are also the forced emission reduction effect. There is an inverted U-shaped relationship between PER and the total carbon emission in the eastern textile industry. While PER has always had a green paradox effect on carbon emission intensity in the eastern region. Other coefficients are not significant. Finally, this paper puts forward the policy suggestions to mitigate the CO2 emissions of CTI.