IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v360y2024ics0306261924000084.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Regional carbon emission pressure and corporate green innovation

Author

Listed:
  • Zhang, Yongji
  • Lan, Minghui
  • Zhao, Yapu
  • Su, Zhi
  • Hao, Yu
  • Du, Heran

Abstract

China's ambitious endeavor to curtail carbon emissions has led to heightened governmental attention on addressing the issue of excessive carbon emissions. As governmental tolerance for such emissions diminishes, governments promote and support more proactive emission reduction methods of green innovation in enterprises. This study analyzes panel data from Chinese-listed businesses to explore the correlation between regional carbon emission pressure and green innovation. Our findings indicate a positive relationship between carbon emission pressure and enterprises' engagement in green innovation initiatives. Governmentenvironmental attention, punitive regulations, and incentive subsidies are the main channels. Market policies, including carbon emission trading and green credit policies, potentially impact the interplay between carbon emission pressure and green innovation. Moreover, our heterogeneity analysis underscores that enterprises facing looser financing constraints, exhibiting more social responsibility initiatives, and operating within polluting industries tend to experience a more pronounced positive impact than their counterparts in other sectors.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Yongji & Lan, Minghui & Zhao, Yapu & Su, Zhi & Hao, Yu & Du, Heran, 2024. "Regional carbon emission pressure and corporate green innovation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 360(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:360:y:2024:i:c:s0306261924000084
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2024.122625
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261924000084
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2024.122625?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kathuria, Vinish, 2007. "Informal regulation of pollution in a developing country: Evidence from India," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2-3), pages 403-417, August.
    2. Holmstrom, Bengt, 1989. "Agency costs and innovation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 305-327, December.
    3. Marius Ley, Tobias Stucki, and Martin Woerter, 2016. "The Impact of Energy Prices on Green Innovation," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1).
    4. Yu, Chin-Hsien & Wu, Xiuqin & Zhang, Dayong & Chen, Shi & Zhao, Jinsong, 2021. "Demand for green finance: Resolving financing constraints on green innovation in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    5. Philippe Aghion & Antoine Dechezleprêtre & David Hémous & Ralf Martin & John Van Reenen, 2016. "Carbon Taxes, Path Dependency, and Directed Technical Change: Evidence from the Auto Industry," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 124(1), pages 1-51.
    6. Zhu, Junpeng & Lin, Boqiang, 2022. "Economic growth pressure and energy efficiency improvement: Empirical evidence from Chinese cities," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    7. Guoyou Qi & Hailiang Zou & Xuemei Xie, 2020. "Governmental inspection and green innovation: Examining the role of environmental capability and institutional development," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(4), pages 1774-1785, July.
    8. Rubashkina, Yana & Galeotti, Marzio & Verdolini, Elena, 2015. "Environmental regulation and competitiveness: Empirical evidence on the Porter Hypothesis from European manufacturing sectors," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 288-300.
    9. Yang, Lisha & Li, Yutianhao & Liu, Hongxun, 2021. "Did carbon trade improve green production performance? Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    10. Du, Kerui & Cheng, Yuanyuan & Yao, Xin, 2021. "Environmental regulation, green technology innovation, and industrial structure upgrading: The road to the green transformation of Chinese cities," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    11. Paul Lanoie & Jérémy Laurent‐Lucchetti & Nick Johnstone & Stefan Ambec, 2011. "Environmental Policy, Innovation and Performance: New Insights on the Porter Hypothesis," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(3), pages 803-842, September.
    12. Chen, Huiyao & Chu, Fengming & Yang, Lijun & Ola, Oluwafunmilola & Du, Xiaoze & Yang, Yongping, 2018. "Enhanced photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide in optical fiber monolith reactor with transparent glass balls," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 230(C), pages 1403-1413.
    13. Carrión-Flores, Carmen E. & Innes, Robert & Sam, Abdoul G., 2013. "Do voluntary pollution reduction programs (VPRs) spur or deter environmental innovation? Evidence from 33/50," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 444-459.
    14. Stucki, Tobias & Woerter, Martin & Arvanitis, Spyros & Peneder, Michael & Rammer, Christian, 2018. "How different policy instruments affect green product innovation: A differentiated perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 245-261.
    15. Du, Kerui & Li, Jianglong, 2019. "Towards a green world: How do green technology innovations affect total-factor carbon productivity," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 240-250.
    16. Wurlod, Jules-Daniel & Noailly, Joëlle, 2018. "The impact of green innovation on energy intensity: An empirical analysis for 14 industrial sectors in OECD countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 47-61.
    17. Hong, Soonpa & Yang, Taeyong & Chang, Hyun Joon & Hong, Sungjun, 2020. "The effect of switching renewable energy support systems on grid parity for photovoltaics: Analysis using a learning curve model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    18. Albrizio, Silvia & Kozluk, Tomasz & Zipperer, Vera, 2017. "Environmental policies and productivity growth: Evidence across industries and firms," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 209-226.
    19. Kleer, Robin, 2010. "Government R&D subsidies as a signal for private investors," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 1361-1374, December.
    20. Yang, Chih-Hai & Tseng, Yu-Hsuan & Chen, Chiang-Ping, 2012. "Environmental regulations, induced R&D, and productivity: Evidence from Taiwan's manufacturing industries," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 514-532.
    21. Chen, Zhongfei & Zhang, Xiao & Chen, Fanglin, 2021. "Do carbon emission trading schemes stimulate green innovation in enterprises? Evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    22. Wayne B. Gray & Jay P. Shimshack, 2011. "The Effectiveness of Environmental Monitoring and Enforcement: A Review of the Empirical Evidence," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 5(1), pages 3-24, Winter.
    23. Safiullah, Md & Kabir, Md. Nurul & Miah, Mohammad Dulal, 2021. "Carbon emissions and credit ratings," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    24. He, Kang & Chen, Wanyi & Zhang, Liguang, 2021. "Senior management's academic experience and corporate green innovation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    25. Liu, Bin & Gan, Lu & Huang, Kun & Hu, Shiyang, 2023. "The impact of low-carbon city pilot policy on corporate green innovation: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PA).
    26. Garen, John E, 1994. "Executive Compensation and Principal-Agent Theory," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(6), pages 1175-1199, December.
    27. Amore, Mario Daniele & Bennedsen, Morten, 2016. "Corporate governance and green innovation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 54-72.
    28. Toni M. Whited & Guojun Wu, 2006. "Financial Constraints Risk," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 19(2), pages 531-559.
    29. Wang, Ge & Zhang, Qi & Li, Yan & Li, Hailong, 2018. "Policy simulation for promoting residential PV considering anecdotal information exchanges based on social network modelling," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 223(C), pages 1-10.
    30. Perdan, Slobodan & Azapagic, Adisa, 2011. "Carbon trading: Current schemes and future developments," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 6040-6054, October.
    31. Gollop, Frank M & Roberts, Mark J, 1983. "Environmental Regulations and Productivity Growth: The Case of Fossil-Fueled Electric Power Generation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 91(4), pages 654-674, August.
    32. Zhang, Shufan & Zhou, Nan & Feng, Wei & Ma, Minda & Xiang, Xiwang & You, Kairui, 2023. "Pathway for decarbonizing residential building operations in the US and China beyond the mid-century," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 342(C).
    33. Rennings, Klaus, 2000. "Redefining innovation -- eco-innovation research and the contribution from ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 319-332, February.
    34. Chakraborty, Pavel & Chatterjee, Chirantan, 2017. "Does environmental regulation indirectly induce upstream innovation? New evidence from India," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(5), pages 939-955.
    35. Antonella Biscione & Raul Caruso & Annunziata de Felice, 2021. "Environmental innovation in European transition countries," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(5), pages 521-535, January.
    36. Chen, Wen & Zhu, Yufeng & He, Zehui & Yang, Yang, 2022. "The effect of local government debt on green innovation: Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    37. Liu, Baoliu & Cifuentes-Faura, Javier & Ding, Chante Jian & Liu, Xiaoqian, 2023. "Toward carbon neutrality: How will environmental regulatory policies affect corporate green innovation?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 1006-1020.
    38. Zhao Dong & Haodong Xu & Zhifeng Zhang & Yipin Lyu & Yuqi Lu & Hongyan Duan, 2022. "Whether Green Finance Improves Green Innovation of Listed Companies—Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-23, August.
    39. Hou, Xiaohui & Wang, Tengyu & Ma, Caoyuan, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty and corporate fraud," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 97-110.
    40. Sun, Yanming & Shen, Simiao & Zhou, Chuanyu, 2023. "Does the pilot emissions trading system in China promote innovation? Evidence based on green technology innovation in the energy sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    41. Lee H. Seltzer & Laura Starks & Qifei Zhu, 2022. "Climate Regulatory Risk and Corporate Bonds," NBER Working Papers 29994, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    42. Wang, Jiazhen & Chen, Xin & Li, Xiaoxia & Yu, Jing & Zhong, Rui, 2020. "The market reaction to green bond issuance: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    43. Zhao, Xiaoli & Yin, Haitao & Zhao, Yue, 2015. "Impact of environmental regulations on the efficiency and CO2 emissions of power plants in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 238-247.
    44. Michael E. Porter & Claas van der Linde, 1995. "Toward a New Conception of the Environment-Competitiveness Relationship," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 97-118, Fall.
    45. Wang, Han & Chen, Zhoupeng & Wu, Xingyi & Nie, Xin, 2019. "Can a carbon trading system promote the transformation of a low-carbon economy under the framework of the porter hypothesis? —Empirical analysis based on the PSM-DID method," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 930-938.
    46. Mohan Fonseka & Theja Rajapakse & Gao‐Liang Tian, 2019. "The Effects of Environmental Information Disclosure and Energy Types on the Cost of Equity: Evidence from the Energy Industry in China," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 55(2), pages 362-410, June.
    47. Chen, Hong-Yi & Yang, Sharon S., 2020. "Do Investors exaggerate corporate ESG information? Evidence of the ESG momentum effect in the Taiwanese market," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    48. Yongyou Nie & Kai Wan & Fan Wu & Weiyong Zou & Tsangyao Chang, 2022. "Local government competition, development zones and urban green innovation: an empirical study of Chinese cities," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(16), pages 1509-1514, September.
    49. Farzin, Y. Hossein & Bond, Craig A., 2006. "Democracy and environmental quality," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 213-235, October.
    50. Lin, Boqiang & Xie, Yongjing, 2023. "The impact of government subsidies on capacity utilization in the Chinese renewable energy industry: Does technological innovation matter?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 352(C).
    51. Xu, Le & Fan, Meiting & Yang, Lili & Shao, Shuai, 2021. "Heterogeneous green innovations and carbon emission performance: Evidence at China's city level," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    52. Lander, Laura & Tagnon, Chris & Nguyen-Tien, Viet & Kendrick, Emma & Elliott, Robert J.R. & Abbott, Andrew P. & Edge, Jacqueline S. & Offer, Gregory J., 2023. "Breaking it down: A techno-economic assessment of the impact of battery pack design on disassembly costs," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 331(C).
    53. Zhang, Da & Rausch, Sebastian & Karplus, Valerie J. & Zhang, Xiliang, 2013. "Quantifying regional economic impacts of CO2 intensity targets in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 687-701.
    54. Zhang, Wei & Li, Guoxiang & Guo, Fanyong, 2022. "Does carbon emissions trading promote green technology innovation in China?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 315(C).
    55. Hou, Qingsong & Hu, May & Yuan, Yuan, 2017. "Corporate innovation and political connections in Chinese listed firms," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 46(PA), pages 158-176.
    56. Turken, Nazli & Carrillo, Janice & Verter, Vedat, 2020. "Strategic supply chain decisions under environmental regulations: When to invest in end-of-pipe and green technology," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 283(2), pages 601-613.
    57. James R. Brown & Steven M. Fazzari & Bruce C. Petersen, 2009. "Financing Innovation and Growth: Cash Flow, External Equity, and the 1990s R&D Boom," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(1), pages 151-185, February.
    58. Zhang, Bin & Niu, Niu & Li, Hao & Wang, Zhaohua, 2023. "Assessing the efforts of coal phaseout for carbon neutrality in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 352(C).
    59. Hu, Guoqiang & Wang, Xiaoqi & Wang, Yu, 2021. "Can the green credit policy stimulate green innovation in heavily polluting enterprises? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Huwei Wen & Runnan Wang & Yuhan Liu, 2024. "Towards Carbon Neutrality in Agglomeration: Impact of Eco-Industry Development on Urban Carbon Emission Efficiency," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-22, April.
    2. Li Cao & Jiaqi Gao, 2024. "The Impact of Green Finance on Agricultural Pollution and Carbon Reduction: The Case of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-15, July.
    3. Li, Haichao & Su, Yuqi & Ding, Chante Jian & Tian, Gary Gang & Wu, Zhan, 2024. "Unveiling the green innovation paradox: Exploring the impact of carbon emission reduction on corporate green technology innovation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    4. Lin, Chen, 2024. "Asymmetric effects of digitalization, natural resources, capital formation, and green innovations on environmental sustainability in ASEAN countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    5. Xingneng Xia & Xuezhao Chen & Qinqin Chen, 2024. "Evaluating the Impact of Low-Carbon Urban Policy on Corporate Green Innovation—Evidence from China’s National Low-Carbon City Strategy Program," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-26, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Qi, Xiulin & Wu, Zhifang & Xu, Jinqing & Shan, Biaoan, 2023. "Environmental justice and green innovation: A quasi-natural experiment based on the establishment of environmental courts in China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    2. Xie, Ronghui & Teo, Thompson S.H., 2022. "Green technology innovation, environmental externality, and the cleaner upgrading of industrial structure in China — Considering the moderating effect of environmental regulation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    3. Li, Haichao & Su, Yuqi & Ding, Chante Jian & Tian, Gary Gang & Wu, Zhan, 2024. "Unveiling the green innovation paradox: Exploring the impact of carbon emission reduction on corporate green technology innovation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    4. He, Yiqing & Ding, Xin & Yang, Chuchu, 2021. "Do environmental regulations and financial constraints stimulate corporate technological innovation? Evidence from China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    5. Dong, Hanmin & Zhang, Lin & Zheng, Huanhuan, 2024. "Green bonds: Fueling green innovation or just a fad?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    6. Huang, Hongyun & Mbanyele, William & Wang, Fengrong & Song, Malin & Wang, Yuzhang, 2022. "Climbing the quality ladder of green innovation: Does green finance matter?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    7. Zhao, Ziyi & Zhao, Yuhuan & Lv, Xin & Li, Xiaoping & Zheng, Lu & Fan, Shunan & Zuo, Sumin, 2024. "Environmental regulation and green innovation: Does state ownership matter?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    8. Chen, Wen, 2023. "Bank connections, corporate social responsibility and low-carbon innovation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    9. Kopyrina, Olga & Wu, Kai & Ying, Zhanyu, 2023. "Greening through central inspection: The role of legitimacy pressure and risk-taking," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    10. Gao, Yanyan & Zheng, Jianghuai, 2024. "The opposite innovation impacts of air and water pollution regulations: Evidence from the total emissions control policy in China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    11. Ma, Yechi & Sha, Yezhou & Wang, Zilong & Zhang, Wenjing, 2023. "The effect of the policy mix of green credit and government subsidy on environmental innovation," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    12. Liu, Yunqiang & Liu, Sha & Shao, Xiaoyu & He, Yanqiu, 2022. "Policy spillover effect and action mechanism for environmental rights trading on green innovation: Evidence from China's carbon emissions trading policy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    13. Guo, Shu & Zhang, ZhongXiang, 2023. "Green credit policy and total factor productivity: Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    14. Ren, Shenggang & Hu, Yucai & Zheng, Jingjing & Wang, Yangjie, 2020. "Emissions trading and firm innovation: Evidence from a natural experiment in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    15. Lu, Yunguo & Zhang, Lin, 2022. "National mitigation policy and the competitiveness of Chinese firms," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    16. Lin, Boqiang & Ma, Ruiyang, 2022. "Green technology innovations, urban innovation environment and CO2 emission reduction in China: Fresh evidence from a partially linear functional-coefficient panel model," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    17. Sheng, Jichuan & Ding, Rui & Yang, Hongqiang, 2024. "Corporate green innovation in an aging population: Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    18. Zhang, Huiming & Wan, Dayu & Sun, Chuanwang & Wu, Kai & Lin, Caixia, 2023. "Does political inspection promote corporate green innovation?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    19. Zhou, Fengxiu & Wang, Xiaoyu, 2022. "The carbon emissions trading scheme and green technology innovation in China: A new structural economics perspective," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 365-381.
    20. Zhou, Xiaoxiao & Dai, Mengsi & Liu, Li, 2024. "Green credit, carbon emission trading and corporate green innovation: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:360:y:2024:i:c:s0306261924000084. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.