ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Environmental Economics and Management
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2025.1633601
The Nonlinear Impact of Rural Three-Industry Integration on Agricultural Non-point Source Pollution: Its Spatial Effects and the Moderating Effect of Environmental Regulations
Provisionally accepted
- Hainan University, Haikou, China
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A comprehensive examination of the impact of rural three-industry integration on agricultural non-point source pollution is essential for promoting sustainable agricultural development. This study employs panel data from 30 provinces in China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and Tibet) for the period 2011–2022. It adopts a two-way fixed effects model, a moderating effects model, and a spatial Durbin model to investigate the impact of rural three-industry integration on agricultural non-point source pollution, as well as its spatial spillover effects and the moderating role of environmental regulation. The results indicate that: (1) The effect of rural three-industry integration on agricultural non-point source pollution follows an inverted U-shaped pattern, with a turning point at an integration level of 0.29. As of 2022, most regions remain on the left side of the curve, suggesting a tendency for rural three-industry integration to exacerbate agricultural non-point source pollution. (2) All three types of environmental regulations weaken the effect of rural three-industry integration on agricultural non-point source pollution, but their moderating effects differ. Market-based and public-voluntary regulations shift the turning point of the curve to the left, bringing forward the stage at which integration begins to reduce pollution, whereas command-and-control regulations shift the turning point to the right, extending the stage in which integration intensifies pollution. (3) Rural three-industry integration has a significant spatial spillover effect on agricultural non-point source pollution. This study demonstrates the nonlinear characteristics and spatial effects of rural three-industry integration on agricultural non-point source pollution. It further clarifies the distinct roles of different types of environmental regulation in this relationship. The findings provide valuable guidance for policy formulation, promote the development of rural three-industry integration, and enhance its potential to reduce agricultural non-point source pollution.
Keywords: rural three-industry integration, Agricultural non-point source pollution, spatial effect, Command-and-control environmental regulation, Market-based environmental regulation, public-voluntary environmental regulation
Received: 22 May 2025; Accepted: 05 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 He and Nong. 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: Guoping He, Hainan University, Haikou, China
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