Research on the Impact of Environmental Regulation on China’s Regional Green Technology Innovation: Insights from Threshold Effect Model

Environmental regulation is an important driving force of green technology innovation. In this paper, environmental policy instruments are classified into three categories: command-control, market-incentive and social-will. Based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2010 to 2017, a fixed effect model and a panel threshold regression model are used to test the heterogeneous effects of different types of environmental policy instruments on the green technology innovation in China. The results show that: (1) Overall, China’s environmental policy instruments do not provide sufficient impetus for green technology innovation; (2) The impact of command-control environmental policy instruments on green technology innovation has a single threshold effect. When its intensity exceeds a certain threshold, green technology innovation is improved. The impact of market-incentive environmental policy instruments on the green technology innovation shows a double threshold effect, that is to say, only when its intensity maintained within a reasonable interval, can green technology innovation be promoted by it; (3) There is significant spatial difference in the impact of different types of environmental policy instruments on green technology innovation. In order to induce green technology innovation, it is necessary to formulate a combined and differentiated environmental policy system, while rationally adjusting the strength of different types of environmental policy instruments.

Download Full-text

Environmental Regulation, Government Subsidies, and Green Technology Innovation—A Provincial Panel Data Analysis from China

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph182211991 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (22) ◽

pp. 11991

Author(s):

Pei Wang ◽

Cong Dong ◽

Nan Chen ◽

Ming Qi ◽

Shucheng Yang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Environmental Regulation ◽

Technology Innovation ◽

Panel Data Analysis ◽

Green Technology ◽

Role Of Government ◽

New Era ◽

Government Subsidies ◽

The North ◽

The Impact

Economic development in the “new era” will require green innovation. To encourage the growth of green technology innovation, it has become fashionable to strengthen environmental regulation. However, the impact of environmental regulation on green technology innovation, as well as the role of government subsidies, needs to be examined. Utilizing fixed-effect models and 2SLS models to explore the impact of environmental regulation on green technology innovation in China from 2003 to 2017, this research sought to examine whether environmental regulations impact green technology innovation, as well as the role of government subsidies in the above-mentioned influence path. The findings support the Porter Hypothesis by demonstrating an inverted “U” relationship between environmental regulation and green technology innovation. The impact of environmental regulation on green technology innovation varies by region. To be specific, there is an inverted “U” relationship between environmental regulation and green technology innovation in China’s central and central coast regions. In comparison, the north area, southern coast, and southwest region exhibit a “U” relationship between the two. The relationship is not significant in the Beijing-Tianjin region. Additionally, government subsidies act as an intermediate in this process, positively influencing firms to pursue green technology innovation during the earliest stages of environmental regulation strengthening. However, government subsidies above a certain level are unproductive and should be used appropriately and phased off in due course.

Download Full-text

Research on the Impact of Green Technology Innovation on Energy Total Factor Productivity, Based on Provincial Data of China

Frontiers in Environmental Science ◽

10.3389/fenvs.2021.710931 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Author(s):

Mengxin Wang ◽

Yanling Li ◽

Gaoke Liao

Keyword(s):

Total Factor Productivity ◽

Industrial Structure ◽

Technology Innovation ◽

Threshold Model ◽

Threshold Effect ◽

Green Technology ◽

Mediating Effect ◽

Factor Productivity ◽

Influence Mechanism ◽

The Impact

Against the background of carbon peaking and carbon neutralization, green technology innovation plays an important role in promoting the energy total factor productivity (TFP). This study verifies the impact of green technology innovation on energy TFP in a complete sample and the subsamples by region, by constructing a panel threshold model, and analyzes its influence mechanism on the basis of the mediating effect test based on annual provincial data of mainland China from 2005 to 2018. The empirical results reveal the following: first, with the level of economic development as the threshold variable, there is a threshold effect in the impact of green technology innovation on the energy TFP; second, green technology innovation has an impact on the energy TFP through industrial structure upgrading; that is, industrial structure has a mediating effect in the influence mechanism; and third, there is heterogeneity in the impact of green technology innovation on the energy TFP among different regions in China, and the threshold effect only exists in the western region, since the central and eastern regions have crossed a certain developmental stage.

Download Full-text

Impact of Environmental Regulation Intensity on Green Technology Innovation: From the Perspective of Political and Business Connections

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13094862 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (9) ◽

pp. 4862

Author(s):

Yu-Hong Ai ◽

Di-Yun Peng ◽

Huan-Huan Xiong

Keyword(s):

Environmental Regulation ◽

Technology Innovation ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Early Stage ◽

Green Technology ◽

Political Connections ◽

Long Run ◽

Business Connections ◽

The Impact ◽

The Relationship

With heavy air pollution and the highest CO2 emissions in the world, China is in urgent need of technology innovation to improve the energy efficiency and control the pollution emission. This study empirically investigates the impact of environmental regulation intensity, political connections, and business connections on green technology innovation in China’s firms. The authors employ a panel data regression analysis on a dataset that comprises 884 observations for A-share listed companies from 2016 to 2019, owing to the availability of data. The results show: (1) Environmental regulation intensity (ERI) has a U-shaped effect on green technology innovation (GTI), which means GTI is inhibited by ERI in the early stage but gets promoted in the long run; (2) Political connections positively moderate the relationship between ERI and GTI mainly because of crowding-out effect and resource effect; (3) Business connections have a negative impact on the relationship between ERI and GTI, resulting from knowledge acquisition and lock-in; (4) Business connections have a greater moderating effect than political connections probably because political ties lack an effective mechanism to ensure long-term cooperation with the enterprises; (5) However, with regard to those firms in the non-heavily polluting industry, both connections moderate the relationship between ERI and GTI in an opposite direction to the main effect. The research results help policy makers formulate relevant policies, based on the impact of environmental regulation and social connections on green technology innovation.

Download Full-text

Research on the Optimal Path of Enterprise Green Technology Innovation

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/202125203036 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 252 ◽

pp. 03036

Author(s):

Zhiyu Li ◽

Pengjuan Lv ◽

Shuai Hong

Keyword(s):

Environmental Regulation ◽

Technological Innovation ◽

Technology Innovation ◽

Optimal Path ◽

Innovation System ◽

Green Technology ◽

Policy Tools ◽

Green Development ◽

The Impact

The construction of a green technology innovation system should not only give attention to technological innovation, but also pay attention to the heterogeneity of the enterprise itself. Therefore, from the dual perspectives of environmental regulation and corporate heterogeneity, we analyze the impact of corporate green technology innovation and believe that building a market-oriented green technology innovation system requires improving green development efficiency, promoting green technology R&D and application, and strengthening the combination of policy tools. Thus to support green transformation and development.

Download Full-text

The Nexus between Misallocation of Land Resources and Green Technological Innovation: A Novel Investigation of Chinese Cities

10.21203/rs.3.rs-168330/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Xincai Gao ◽

Shuai Wang ◽

Fayyaz Ahmad ◽

Abbas Ali Chandio ◽

Munir Ahmad ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Local Governments ◽

Technology Innovation ◽

Local Economic Development ◽

Innovation System ◽

Threshold Effect ◽

Green Technology ◽

Production Factor ◽

Land Resources ◽

High Level ◽

The Impact

Abstract As an important production factor, land resources significantly impact green technology innovation (GTI). However, the misallocation of land resources caused by the government's "second-hand" land supply strategy has become increasingly prominent, which will adversely affect GTI by affecting the allocation of innovative elements. Based on the research data of 252 cities in China from 2008 to 2017, this paper uses panel space measurement estimation and panel threshold estimation empirical methods to test the theoretical hypothesis of the impact of misallocation of land resources on GTI. The study finds that local or neighboring land resources' misallocation has a hindering effect on local GTI. Furthermore, the misallocation of land resources has a threshold effect on the impact of GTI. The relatively high level of local economic development and environmental regulation reduces the restraining effect of the misallocation of land resources on GTI, and vice versa. Therefore, local governments should optimize the allocation of innovative elements, accelerate the construction of an efficient and market-oriented green technology innovation system, reduce the excessive intervention in land resources, and enhance the vitality of innovation entities to improve the level of green technology innovation.

Download Full-text

An Empirical Study on the Impact of Environmental Regulation on the Efficiency of Green Technology Innovation

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/202124802029 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 248 ◽

pp. 02029

Author(s):

Wu Min

Keyword(s):

Empirical Study ◽

Environmental Regulation ◽

Direct Effect ◽

Indirect Effect ◽

Technology Innovation ◽

Spillover Effect ◽

Green Technology ◽

Total Effect ◽

Two Stage ◽

The Impact

This paper uses two-stage super efficiency network SBM DEA model to calculate the efficiency of green technology innovation, and analyzes the spillover effect of three different environmental regulations, namely command control, market incentive and independent participation. The results show that the direct effect of the command control environmental regulation on the efficiency of green technology innovation is positive, the indirect effect and the total effect are negative; the direct effect, indirect effect and total effect of market incentive environmental regulation and independent participation Environmental Regulation on the efficiency of green technology innovation are positive.

Download Full-text

The Influence of Host Country’s Environmental Regulation on Enterprises’ Risk Preference of Multinational Investment

Frontiers in Environmental Science ◽

10.3389/fenvs.2021.667633 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Author(s):

Cheng Peng ◽

Hui Jiang

Keyword(s):

Social Responsibility ◽

Environmental Protection ◽

Environmental Regulation ◽

Host Country ◽

Foreign Investment ◽

Technology Innovation ◽

Risk Preference ◽

Green Technology ◽

High Quality ◽

The Impact

At present, China is in an important period of promoting high-quality economic development. In order to promote enterprises to “go global” and realize high-quality foreign investment, China advocates enterprises to abide by the environmental protection laws and regulations of the host country and standardize their environmental protection behaviors in foreign investment cooperation. However, the impact of the host country’s environmental regulation on Chinese enterprise’s multinational investment risk preference has not been paid enough attention. This paper makes an empirical analysis on how the host country’s environmental regulation affects the enterprises’ risk preference of multinational investment (MIRP) by using the samples of A-share listed companies in China from 2010 to 2018 and emphatically examines the moderating effects of enterprise’s green technology innovation and social responsibility on the relationship between host country’s environmental regulation and enterprises’ MIRP. It is found that, on the whole, the environmental regulation of the host country will significantly promote the enterprises’ MIRP. The green technology innovation will positively moderate the impact of the environmental regulation of host country on enterprises’ MIRP, while the engagement of corporate social responsibility will inhibit this positive impact.

Download Full-text

A Three-Player Game Model for Promoting the Diffusion of Green Technology in Manufacturing Enterprises from the Perspective of Supply and Demand

Mathematics ◽

10.3390/math8091585 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (9) ◽

pp. 1585

Author(s):

Manman Wang ◽

Shuai Lian ◽

Shi Yin ◽

Hengmin Dong

Keyword(s):

Environmental Regulation ◽

Government Regulation ◽

Technology Innovation ◽

Supply And Demand ◽

Green Technology ◽

Manufacturing Enterprises ◽

Starting Point ◽

Potential Demand ◽

The Government ◽

The Impact

Taking the rational use of environmental regulations to promote the diffusion of green technology innovation in China’s manufacturing enterprises as the starting point, this study analyzed the benefits to the government, innovation-supplying enterprises, and potential demand-oriented enterprises. In addition, a tripartite evolutionary model was constructed to examine the impact of command-and-control environmental regulation and market-driven environmental regulation on the diffusion of green technology innovation in manufacturing enterprises. Finally, the study compared and analyzed the heterogeneous effects of different types of environmental regulation tools on the diffusion of green technology innovation in manufacturing enterprises using local stability analysis and numerical simulation. The results are as follows: (i) When the government does not implement environmental regulation tools or the regulation intensity is relatively small, the diffusion depth of green technology innovation in manufacturing enterprises is zero. (ii) When government regulation reaches a certain level, the system of manufacturing enterprises, innovation-supplying enterprises, and potential demand-oriented enterprises will choose to actively promote the diffusion of green technology innovation following a long evolution process. (iii) Increasing the punishment intensity and subsidy rate of green technology innovation can stimulate the diffusion of green technology innovation in manufacturing enterprises. (iv) The comprehensive use of the two kinds of environmental regulation tools has a heterogeneous influence on the strategic choice of green technology innovation diffusion subjects of manufacturing enterprises, and its incentive effect on potential demand-oriented enterprises is relatively poor.

Download Full-text

Financial Speculation or Capital Investment? Evidence From Relationship Between Corporate Financialization and Green Technology Innovation

Frontiers in Environmental Science ◽

10.3389/fenvs.2020.614101 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

Author(s):

Zhehao Huang ◽

Xue Li ◽

Shuanglian Chen

Keyword(s):

Capital Investment ◽

Technology Innovation ◽

Capital Expenditure ◽

External Environment ◽

Green Technology ◽

Mediating Effect ◽

Effect Model ◽

Financial Speculation ◽

Decision Making Behavior ◽

The Impact

In this paper, 3,493 non-financial listed companies in China from 2007 to 2018 are selected as samples to study the impact of corporate financialization on green technology innovation through the panel regression model as well as the mediating effect model, so as to identify whether enterprises tend to financial speculation or capital investment. The main conclusions are as follows. First, corporate financialization has a speculative tendency instead of strategic capital investment. Second, corporate financialization shows heterogeneous impact on green technology innovation, which is dominated by capital expenditure. Third, the heterogeneity is reflected in two aspects: attribute characteristics and external environment. The attribute characteristics of the enterprise includes whether the industry belongs to pollution industry and the ownership structure. The external environment includes the location of enterprise and the degree of financing constraints. Fourth, there are significant differences between attribute characteristics and external environment of enterprises in the impact of financialization decision-making behavior. The deviation caused by enterprise attributes is less than 10%, but the deviation caused by external environment is close to 80%.

Download Full-text