A Study of Factors Affecting Local Environmental Performance

• Main Authors: Pi-Lien Yang, 楊碧蓮
• Other Authors: Cheng-Li Huang
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2011
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/92486067984924662760

碩士 === 淡江大學 === 會計學系碩士在職專班 === 99 === Taiwan is a tiny island with increasingly serious effects of environmental pollution in a high-density human society. The awareness of environmental protection becomes one of the most important national issues. The purpose of the study was to explore the factors that affect the environmental performance of different counties and cities in Taiwan, using air pollution (ambient concentrations of total suspended particulates) of 22 counties and cities in Taiwan from 2001 to 2008 as the negative index and using green conditions (total area of parks, green lands, children’s playgrounds, sports venues, and squares per ten thousand people) as the positive index in environmental performance metrics. The paper discussed the effects of the local government with aspects in structure, economics, system, and politics of environmental management on the aforementioned environmental performance. The main discoveries of the study were divided into air pollution and green conditions described in the follows: One. Air Pollution: (1) Population density, environmental budgets, and environmental performance showed significant negative impact. (2) Factory density, environmental human resources, political party and environmental performance showed significant positive impact. (3) The average disposable income per-capita each year and the environmental performance showed an inverted U and nonlinear relationship. (4) Employment rate, education, reelection of county magistrate and city mayors, and environmental performance did not show significant difference. Two: Green Conditions: (1) Population density, factory density, employment rate, environmental human resources, and environmental performance showed significant positive impact. (2) Education, environmental budgets, political party, and environmental performance showed significant negative impact. (3) The average disposable income per-capita each year and the environmental performance showed an inverted U and nonlinear relationship. (4) The reelection of county magistrate and city mayors, and the environmental performance did not show significant difference. In general, population density, factory density, environmental budgets, environmental human resources, political party, and two dependent variables of environmental performance showed significant impact. The average disposable income per-capita each year and the two dependant variables of environmental performance showed an inverted U and nonlinear relationship. Reelection and the two dependant variables of environmental performance did not show significant and linear relationship. Employment rate, higher education rate of college and above, and green conditions showed significant impact however they did not show significant and linear relationship with air pollution. The study aimed to provide reference for county and city governments in the improvement of environmental performance through understanding the environmental characteristics, status and mutual comparison between counties and cities in Taiwan. Under threats of facing global environmental issues, Taiwan not only has to fulfill its responsibilities to the global village but also needs to seek good countermeasures in sustainable conservation and utilization with regards to future social and economic development for the current environment.