Journal of Development Economics · 2025 · Binlei Gong、Haoyang Li、Liguo Lin、Hanxiang Ling、Wei Sun
Abstract
This paper exploits China’s Water Quality Control Assessment Plan as a natural experiment to examine the impact of environmental regulation on fertilizer use and food security. Leveraging variation in enforcement incentives across counties determined by their locations relative to water quality monitoring stations, we document a 5.9 % fertilizer application reduction in upstream counties, driven by reduction in public financial support for agriculture. Salience of information highlighting agriculture as a major pollution source reinforces enforcement incentives in curbing fertilizer use. Agricultural output remained stable, reflecting both prior overuse of fertilizer and slight productivity gains likely associated with improved water quality.