0023-6152

AA00697606

6796266

“Lucid Waters and Lush Mountains Are Invaluable Assets” Policy (hereinafter referred to as “Two Mountains” Bases Policy) is put forward to address the question of how green economic development can be achieved. China implemented the “Two Mountains” Bases Policy in 2016 trying to establish bases verified and evaluated for pilot projects in which way Bases get policy support and government funds from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China. This study empirically analyzed the impact of Bases on green economic development using propensity score matching – differences in different methods and panel data from 2010 – 2019 concluding 2510 areas from the whole country. The benchmark regression results show that Bases enhanced both ecological protection and economic development which remains true after a series of robustness tests. The mechanism analysis results show that the government’s ecological compensation, the level of economic development, and industrial structure promote the development of “Two Mountains”. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the effect of Bases varies with different geographical locations, ocean locations, and the types of development of “Two Mountains”. Bases in the East area and Coastal area work well as well as Bases in the “Lucid Waters and Lush Mountains” leading type area. This study focuses the empirical research on the Bases at the county level, enriches the relevant literature on the practice of the “Two Mountains” Bases Policy, and provides theoretical support and policy enlightenment for the practical significance of promoting the construction of ecological civilization of socialism with Chinese characteristics.