IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v153y2021ics030142152100121x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does green investment improve energy firm performance?

Author

Listed:
  • Chen, Yufeng
  • Ma, Yanbai

Abstract

This paper aims to provide new evidence on the relationship between green investment and firm performance through micro-level data. Data of energy listed firms in China from 2008 to 2017 are used here to explore this relationship. The research results show that green investment has a significant and positive correlation with financial performance, that is, increasing green investment helps improve financial performance. In the third year after investment in energy conservation and emission reduction, financial performance has been significantly improved. Additionally, environmental tax, government subsidies, and technological innovation have different positive moderating effects on green investment in promoting financial performance, and this result is more obvious in the long-term performance. Lastly, this paper finds that green investment helps reduce environmental violations and promote environmental performance, and environmental performance can strengthen the impact of green investment in improving the long-term performance of firms. This conclusion implies that firms should take environmental investment as its long-term strategy.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen, Yufeng & Ma, Yanbai, 2021. "Does green investment improve energy firm performance?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:153:y:2021:i:c:s030142152100121x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112252
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030142152100121X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112252?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. Nadja Guenster & Rob Bauer & Jeroen Derwall & Kees Koedijk, 2011. "The Economic Value of Corporate Eco†Efficiency," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 17(4), pages 679-704, September.
    2. Stefan Ambec & Mark A. Cohen & Stewart Elgie & Paul Lanoie, 2013. "The Porter Hypothesis at 20: Can Environmental Regulation Enhance Innovation and Competitiveness?," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 7(1), pages 2-22, January.
    3. Philippe Aghion & Roland Bénabou & Ralf Martin & Alexandra Roulet, 2023. "Environmental Preferences and Technological Choices: Is Market Competition Clean or Dirty?," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 1-20, March.
    4. Long, Xingle & Wu, Chao & Zhang, Jijian & Zhang, Jing, 2018. "Environmental efficiency for 192 thermal power plants in the Yangtze River Delta considering heterogeneity: A metafrontier directional slacks-based measure approach," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 3962-3971.
    5. Birte Schaltenbrand & Kai Foerstl & Arash Azadegan & Kevin Lindeman, 2018. "See What We Want to See? The Effects of Managerial Experience on Corporate Green Investments," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(4), pages 1129-1150, July.
    6. Cui, Lianbiao & Huang, Yuran, 2018. "Exploring the Schemes for Green Climate Fund Financing: International Lessons," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 173-187.
    7. Daron Acemoglu & Ufuk Akcigit & Douglas Hanley & William Kerr, 2016. "Transition to Clean Technology," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 124(1), pages 52-104.
    8. Popp, David & Newell, Richard G. & Jaffe, Adam B., 2010. "Energy, the Environment, and Technological Change," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 873-937, Elsevier.
    9. Mingfeng Tang & Grace Walsh & Daniel Lerner & Markus A. Fitza & Qiaohua Li, 2018. "Green Innovation, Managerial Concern and Firm Performance: An Empirical Study," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 39-51, January.
    10. Adam B. Jaffe et al., 1995. "Environmental Regulation and the Competitiveness of U.S. Manufacturing: What Does the Evidence Tell Us?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 33(1), pages 132-163, March.
    11. Cheng-Wen Lee, 2010. "The effect of environmental regulation on green technology innovation through supply chain integration," International Journal of Sustainable Economy, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 2(1), pages 92-112.
    12. Andrew A. King & Michael J. Lenox, 2001. "Does It Really Pay to Be Green? An Empirical Study of Firm Environmental and Financial Performance: An Empirical Study of Firm Environmental and Financial Performance," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 5(1), pages 105-116, January.
    13. Luo, Yusen & Lu, Zhengnan & Long, Xingle, 2020. "Heterogeneous effects of endogenous and foreign innovation on CO2 emissions stochastic convergence across China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    14. Clarkson, Peter M. & Li, Yue & Richardson, Gordon D. & Vasvari, Florin P., 2011. "Does it really pay to be green? Determinants and consequences of proactive environmental strategies," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 122-144, March.
    15. Jong-Seo Choi & Young-Min Kwak & Chongwoo Choe, 2010. "Corporate social responsibility and corporate financial performance: Evidence from Korea," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 35(3), pages 291-311, December.
    16. Popp, David, 2006. "International innovation and diffusion of air pollution control technologies: the effects of NOX and SO2 regulation in the US, Japan, and Germany," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 46-71, January.
    17. Stuart L. Hart & Gautam Ahuja, 1996. "Does It Pay To Be Green? An Empirical Examination Of The Relationship Between Emission Reduction And Firm Performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(1), pages 30-37, March.
    18. Jing‐Lin Duanmu & Maoliang Bu & Russell Pittman, 2018. "Does market competition dampen environmental performance? Evidence from China," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(11), pages 3006-3030, November.
    19. Fan, Haichao & Graff Zivin, Joshua & Kou, Zonglai & Liu, Xueyue & Wang, Huanhuan, 2019. "Going Green in China: Firms’ Responses to Stricter Environmental Regulations," University of California at San Diego, Economics Working Paper Series qt7tt8g4s3, Department of Economics, UC San Diego.
    20. Fleishman, Rachel & Alexander, Rob & Bretschneider, Stuart & Popp, David, 2009. "Does regulation stimulate productivity? The effect of air quality policies on the efficiency of US power plants," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(11), pages 4574-4582, November.
    21. Lars Hassel & Henrik Nilsson & Siv Nyquist, 2005. "The value relevance of environmental performance," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 41-61.
    22. Sabrina T. Howell, 2017. "Financing Innovation: Evidence from R&D Grants," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(4), pages 1136-1164, April.
    23. Ji, Qiang & Zhang, Dayong, 2019. "How much does financial development contribute to renewable energy growth and upgrading of energy structure in China?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 114-124.
    24. Leiter, Andrea M. & Parolini, Arno & Winner, Hannes, 2011. "Environmental regulation and investment: Evidence from European industry data," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(4), pages 759-770, February.
    25. Liao, Xianchun & Shi, Xunpeng (Roc), 2018. "Public appeal, environmental regulation and green investment: Evidence from China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 554-562.
    26. Carraro, Carlo & Siniscaico, Domenico, 1994. "Environmental policy reconsidered: The role of technological innovation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(3-4), pages 545-554, April.
    27. Christoph Trumpp & Thomas Guenther, 2017. "Too Little or too much? Exploring U‐shaped Relationships between Corporate Environmental Performance and Corporate Financial Performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 49-68, January.
    28. Subhabrata Bobby Banerjee, 2001. "Managerial perceptions of corporate environmentalism: interpretations from industry and strategic implications for organizations," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(4), pages 489-513, June.
    29. Eyraud, Luc & Clements, Benedict & Wane, Abdoul, 2013. "Green investment: Trends and determinants," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 852-865.
    30. Kaustia, Markku & Rantala, Ville, 2015. "Social learning and corporate peer effects," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(3), pages 653-669.
    31. 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.
    32. Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1994. "Politicians and Firms," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(4), pages 995-1025.
    33. Jordi Surroca & Josep A. Tribó & Sandra Waddock, 2010. "Corporate responsibility and financial performance: the role of intangible resources," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 463-490, May.
    34. Vanessa Oltra & Maïder Saint Jean, 2009. "Sectoral systems of environmental innovation: an application to the French automotive industry," Post-Print hal-00274413, HAL.
    35. Yang, Xiaolei & He, Lingyun & Xia, Yufei & Chen, Yufeng, 2019. "Effect of government subsidies on renewable energy investments: The threshold effect," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 156-166.
    36. Robert D. Klassen & Curtis P. McLaughlin, 1996. "The Impact of Environmental Management on Firm Performance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(8), pages 1199-1214, August.
    37. John Maxwell & Christopher Decker, 2006. "Voluntary Environmental Investment and Responsive Regulation," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 33(4), pages 425-439, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Yiwan Sun & Fan Yang, 2022. "Does Green Investment Improve the Comprehensive Performance of Enterprises? A Study on Large and Medium-Sized Steel Enterprises in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-18, November.
    2. Chen, Han & Deng, Jianping & Lu, Meiting & Zhang, Pengdong & Zhang, Qihao, 2024. "Government environmental attention, credit supply and firms' green investment," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    3. Ma, Yanbai & Lu, Ling & Cui, Jingbo & Shi, Xunpeng, 2024. "Can green credit policy stimulate firms’ green investments?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 123-137.
    4. Lingxiao Zhao & Yunpeng Tang & Yan Liu, 2023. "How Does Environmental Tax Influence the Scale and Efficiency of Green Investment among China’s Heavily Polluting Enterprises?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-26, October.
    5. Josep Garcia‐Blandon & David Castillo‐Merino & Nour Chams, 2020. "Sustainable development: The stock market's view of environmental policy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3273-3285, December.
    6. Markus Hang & Jerome Geyer‐Klingeberg & Andreas W. Rathgeber, 2019. "It is merely a matter of time: A meta‐analysis of the causality between environmental performance and financial performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 257-273, February.
    7. Stefan Ambec & Paul Lanoie, 2007. "When and Why Does It Pay To Be Green?," CIRANO Working Papers 2007s-20, CIRANO.
    8. Stephen Bahadar & Muhammad Nadeem & Rashid Zaman, 2023. "Toxic chemical releases and idiosyncratic return volatility: A prospect theory perspective," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(2), pages 2109-2143, June.
    9. Cameron Hepburn & Jacquelyn Pless & David Popp, 2018. "Policy Brief—Encouraging Innovation that Protects Environmental Systems: Five Policy Proposals," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 12(1), pages 154-169.
    10. Surender Kumar & Pritika Dua, 2022. "Environmental management practices and financial performance: evidence from large listed Indian enterprises," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 65(1), pages 37-61, January.
    11. Dang, Tri Vi & Wang, Youan & Wang, Zigan, 2022. "The role of financial constraints in firm investment under pollution abatement regulation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    12. Zhang, Dan & Zheng, Mingbo & Feng, Gen-Fu & Chang, Chun-Ping, 2022. "Does an environmental policy bring to green innovation in renewable energy?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 1113-1124.
    13. Li, Qian & Xue, Qiuzhi & Truong, Yann & Xiong, Jie, 2018. "MNCs' industrial linkages and environmental spillovers in emerging economies: The case of China," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 346-355.
    14. Sisi Zheng & Shanyue Jin, 2023. "Can Enterprises in China Achieve Sustainable Development through Green Investment?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-25, January.
    15. Fang, Zhenming & Kong, Xiaoran & Sensoy, Ahmet & Cui, Xin & Cheng, Feiyang, 2021. "Government’s awareness of Environmental protection and corporate green innovation: A natural experiment from the new environmental protection law in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 294-312.
    16. Herman, Kyle S. & Xiang, Jun, 2019. "Induced innovation in clean energy technologies from foreign environmental policy stringency?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 198-207.
    17. Flori, Andrea & Borghesi, Simone & Marin, Giovanni, 2024. "The environmental-financial performance nexus of EU ETS firms: A quantile regression approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    18. Chotia, Varun & Cheng, Yue & Agarwal, Reeti & Vishnoi, Sushant Kumar, 2024. "AI-enabled Green Business Strategy: Path to carbon neutrality via environmental performance and green process innovation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    19. Ghisetti, Claudia & Quatraro, Francesco, 2017. "Green Technologies and Environmental Productivity: A Cross-sectoral Analysis of Direct and Indirect Effects in Italian Regions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 1-13.
    20. Li, Kai & Yan, Yaxue & Zhang, Xiaoling, 2021. "Carbon-abatement policies, investment preferences, and directed technological change: Evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 172(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:enepol:v:153:y:2021:i:c:s030142152100121x. 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/locate/enpol .

    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.