Research on the impact of heterogeneous environmental regulation on water resources welfare performance in the Yangtze River Economic Belt

Based on the panel data of 11 provinces and municipalities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2007 to 2022, this paper constructs an evaluation system for water resources welfare performance from the two dimensions of human development and water resource utilization, and uses the ordinary panel model, threshold regression model, and spatial Durbin model to empirically test the impact and differences of heterogeneous environmental regulation on water resources welfare performance in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. The research findings are as follows: from 2007 to 2022,the average value of water resources welfare performance in the 11 provinces and municipalities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt showed an overall increasing trend, and there were significant differences in water resources welfare performance levels among various provinces and municipalities. Both the command-and-control environmental regulations and the public participation environmental regulations have a dual-threshold effect, and they have a significant promoting effect on water resources welfare performance at the medium level of regulatory intensity. The market-incentive environmental regulations have a single-threshold effect on water resources welfare performance, and when the threshold value is exceeded, there is a significant positive correlation between them. Environmental regulation has a significant spatial spillover effect on water resources welfare performance, and different types of environmental regulations have a heterogeneous impact on water resources welfare performance. Accordingly, countermeasures and suggestions for improving water resources welfare performance in the Yangtze River Economic Belt are put forward from aspects such as constructing a multi-level environmental regulation implementation system, reasonably regulating the intensity of environmental regulations, and promoting the comprehensive development of regional collaborative governance and water resource management.