Assessing the environmental effects of the supporting policies for mineral resource-exhausted cities in China

Slowing down the exhaustion of energy and mineral resources in resource-depleted cities and the development of pillar industries and energy restructuring in these cities have become the cores for achieving the sustainable use of natural resources and the long-term development of the environment. Therefore, this paper focuses on the environmental impacts of the supporting policies for mineral resource-exhausted cities by using a multi-period difference-in-differences model with the adoption of the panel data of Chinese 285 cities scanning from 2003 to 2018. The results showed that the supporting policies had stimulated environmental pollution in Chinese municipalities in the form of increased emissions of environmental pollutants. Specifically, the supporting policies for mineral resource-exhausted cities have a more pronounced impact on the aggravation of environmental pollution in areas with high resource endowments. The effect of heterogeneity among cities in different geographical regions is partially established. Further analysis of the influencing mechanism suggests that higher electricity inputs increase local construction costs and put pressure on environmental pollution. At the same time, China's industrial transformation from the extensive model to the intensive model still has a long way to go, which could break up the traditional dependence fundamentally. This study not only has theoretical values for the academia, but also has important practical implications for promoting the sustainable management of similar developing countries on the sustainable use of resources, and balancing the conflict between economic growth and natural resource conservation, especially in the post COVID-19 era.