The Impact of Collaborative Governance on Cross-Regional Air Pollution Management: Evidence from China

Air pollution is a global environmental issue with significant cross-regional characteristics, requiring multi-regional collaboration and coordination for sustainable management outcomes. This study begins by defining the concept of cross-regional air pollution collaborative governance performance and constructing a multi-level analytical framework to comprehensively evaluate the relationship between governance inputs and outputs across regions. By employing the Super Efficiency SBM-ML Index and Tobit model, the study measures and compares the collaborative governance performance in the Yangtze River Delta and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei regions from 2016 to 2022. The results indicate that the Yangtze River Delta significantly outperforms the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, with particularly strong collaboration observed between Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai, while collaboration between Tianjin and Hebei remains relatively weak. The study further reveals that economic development levels and regional coordination capabilities have a significant positive impact on enhancing cross-regional governance performance. The superior performance of the Yangtze River Delta is closely linked to its advanced regional economy and early collaborative governance practices, while the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region faces challenges stemming from economic and technological imbalances among its cities. This study provides actionable recommendations for policymakers, including optimizing resource allocation, strengthening inter-regional policy collaboration, and promoting innovation in governance models to improve the overall efficiency of air pollution management and achieve sustainable air quality improvement.