Various roads lead to Roman: inter-governmental governance modes and regional environmental improvement in Chinese air-pollution control

Scholars have paid increasing attention to regional environmental governance. However, it is puzzling under what conditions regional environmental improvement can be effective. In this study, we propose a theoretical framework of regional environmental governance from the perspective of the governance system and conduct a Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) on the 13 key regions of air pollution control in China. The result of configuration analysis suggests that regional environmental improvement is dependent on combinations of conditions, rather than individual determinants, and identifies different modes of regional governance resulting in environmental improvement. Further, the result reveals that the authoritative integration by superior government and institutional empowerment plays a fundamental role in improving regional environmental outcomes. This article provides evidence on how to reach effective regional environmental governance and emphasizes the top-down governance in regional governance and environmental governance.