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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Marine Affairs and Policy
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1497895
Dual Advancement of Marine Economic Growth and Environmental Governance: An Empirical Analysis of China's Marine Economic Development Pilot Zones
Provisionally accepted- Henan University, Kaifeng, Henan Province, China
The research empirically examines the dual advancement of marine economic growth and environmental governance by the establishment of Marine Economic Development Pilot Zone (MEDPZ) using a Time-varying difference-in-differences (DID) model based on panel data from China's coastal provinces. It has been determined that the establishment of MEDPZ substantially enhances marine economic growth and environmental governance in the pilot provinces by 1.222 percentage points and 0.748 percentage points, respectively. Additionally, the establishment of MEDPZ had a spatially heterogeneous impact on various marine economic circles. The northern marine economic circle benefited the most in economic growth and environmental governance, while the southern marine economic circle experienced a substantial increase in economic growth but a minor increase in environmental governance. Conversely, the eastern marine economic circle was not substantially affected. The establishment of MEDPZ enhanced the competitiveness of the marine economy in the pilot provinces and mitigated the negative environmental impacts by promoting scientific and technological advancement and strengthening government regulation, according to the mechanism analysis. This study offers policymakers a scientific foundation for suggesting the creation and execution of marine economic development strategies that consider regional differences, the enhancement of financial backing for marine science and technology R&D, and the implementation of more stringent regulations for marine environmental preservation.
Keywords: Marine Economic Development Pilot Zones1, Time-Varying Difference-in-Differences Model2, Marine Economic Growth3, Marine Environmental Governance4, Spatial Heterogeneity5
Received: 18 Sep 2024; Accepted: 12 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li and Song. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Zhiyong Song, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475001, Henan Province, China
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