Accountability audit of natural resource, government environmental regulation and pollution abatement: an empirical study based on difference-in-differences model

For many years, the lack of environmental supervision by local governments has been a challenge for China's environmental governance. In the process of promoting green development, the system of accountability audit of natural resource (AANR for short), which has a supervisory role, is an innovative policy attempt with Chinese characteristics, and pollution emissions are a key factor in assessing the effectiveness of the policy. Based on 2012–2017 panel data from 30 provincial regions, this research empirically investigates the effectiveness of AANR in treating pollution and improving air quality using the difference-in-difference model using the AANR pilot project launched in 2015. The results show that AANR can significantly reduce industrial wastewater and sulfur dioxide emissions and improve air quality in the long term. Meanwhile, AANR can improve the environmental regulating behaviour of local governments, which serves in part as an intermediate. This study recommends enhancing the necessary evaluation standards, promoting the standardisation and institutionalisation of AANR, and implementing big data audit techniques to further boost the promotion effect of AANR on pollution reduction. This research innovatively incorporates accountability audit of natural resource, government environmental regulation and pollution abatement into the same research system, providing theoretical and practical references for achieving green development and building a high-quality modern economic system.