IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finlet/v64y2024ics1544612324004963.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Energy intensity constraints and corporate investment strategies: Evidence from Chinese listed enterprises

Author

Listed:
  • Ge, Tao
  • Hao, Zixuan
  • Chen, Yuan
  • Chen, Zhanbo

Abstract

This study theoretically analyzes and empirically tests the impact and mechanism of energy intensity constraints on corporate investment strategies. The results find that energy intensity constraints significantly increase corporate green investment, particularly in front-prevention investment. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the optimization effect of energy intensity constraints on corporate investment strategies is stronger in state-owned enterprises and high energy-consuming industries. Mechanism analysis reveals that energy intensity constraints optimize corporate investment strategies by increasing policy incentives and policy restraints. The findings provide important implications for policymakers to promote corporate sustainability and potential directions for future related research.

Suggested Citation

  • Ge, Tao & Hao, Zixuan & Chen, Yuan & Chen, Zhanbo, 2024. "Energy intensity constraints and corporate investment strategies: Evidence from Chinese listed enterprises," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:64:y:2024:i:c:s1544612324004963
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2024.105466
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1544612324004963
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.frl.2024.105466?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. Zhang, Weike & Luo, Qian & Zhang, Yufeng & Yu, Ao, 2023. "Does green credit policy matter for corporate exploratory innovation? Evidence from Chinese enterprises," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 820-834.
    2. Estrin, Saul & Meyer, Klaus E. & Nielsen, Bo B. & Nielsen, Sabina, 2016. "Home country institutions and the internationalization of state owned enterprises: A cross-country analysis," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 294-307.
    3. Li, Zhen & Wu, Baijun & Wang, Danyang & Tang, Maogang, 2022. "Government mandatory energy-biased technological progress and enterprises' environmental performance: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment of cleaner production standards in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    4. Song, Yuegang & Du, Chongmiao & Du, Peiliang & Liu, Rong & Lu, Zhou, 2024. "Digital transformation and corporate environmental performance: Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    5. Liu, Taoxiong & Yan, Wenwen & Zhang, Yadi, 2023. "Functional or selective policy? - Research on the relationship between government intervention and enterprise innovation in China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 82-96.
    6. Shao, Yanmin & Chen, Zhongfei, 2022. "Can government subsidies promote the green technology innovation transformation? Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 716-727.
    7. Yang, Zhenbing & Shi, Qingquan & Shao, Shuai & Lu, Minwei & Yang, Lili, 2023. "Stricter energy regulations and water consumption: Firm-level evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    8. Gu, Wentao & Yuan, Wenyu, 2024. "Research on the influence of chain shareholder network on enterprise green innovation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    9. Yasir Shahab & Collins G. Ntim & Ye Chengang & Farid Ullah & Samuel Fosu, 2018. "Environmental policy, environmental performance, and financial distress in China: Do top management team characteristics matter?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1635-1652, December.
    10. Jiang, Qisheng & Tang, Pengcheng, 2023. "All roads lead to Rome? Carbon emissions, pollutant emissions and local officials’ political promotion in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    11. Liu, Yang & Huang, Yihan, 2024. "Assessing the interrelationship between fossil fuels resources and the biomass energy market for achieving a sustainable and green economy," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    12. Brammer, Stephen & Brooks, Chris & Pavelin, Stephen, 2009. "The stock performance of America's 100 Best Corporate Citizens," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 1065-1080, August.
    13. Huang, Hongyun & Mo, Renbian & Chen, Xingquan, 2021. "New patterns in China's regional green development: An interval Malmquist–Luenberger productivity analysis," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 161-173.
    14. Deng, Wenyueyang & Zhang, Zenglian & Guo, Borui, 2024. "Firm-level carbon risk awareness and Green transformation: A research on the motivation and consequences from government regulation and regional development perspective," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    15. Hu, Shuya & Wang, Shengnian, 2024. "Does air pollution affect the accrual anomaly in the Chinese capital market? From the perspective of investment adjustment strategy," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    16. Zhou, Zhongsheng & Li, Zhuo & Du, Shanzhong & Cao, June, 2024. "Robot adoption and enterprise R&D manipulation: Evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    17. Di Chen & Haiqing Hu & Chun‐Ping Chang, 2023. "Green finance, environment regulation, and industrial green transformation for corporate social responsibility," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(5), pages 2166-2181, September.
    18. Zhang, Bingbing & Wang, Ning & Yan, Zhijun & Sun, Chuanwang, 2023. "Does a mandatory cleaner production audit have a synergistic effect on reducing pollution and carbon emissions?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    19. Hassan, Qaraman Mohammed & Khudir, Ibrahim Mustafa & Olawuyi, San, Damilola S., 2023. "Regulating corporate social responsibility in energy and extractive industries: The case of international oil companies in a developing country," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    20. Xu, Chao & Sun, Guanglin & Kong, Tao, 2024. "The impact of digital transformation on enterprise green innovation," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 1-12.
    21. Xu, Yuhong & Yang, Zhenlin, 2020. "Specification Tests for Temporal Heterogeneity in Spatial Panel Data Models with Fixed Effects," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    22. Chien, Chin-Chen & Peng, Chih-Wei, 2012. "Does going green pay off in the long run?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(11), pages 1636-1642.
    23. Fang, Hanming & Liu, Chang & Zhou, Li-An, 2023. "Window dressing in the public sector: Evidence from China’s compulsory education promotion program," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    24. Jie, Guo & Jiahui, Lv, 2023. "Media attention, green technology innovation and industrial enterprises’ sustainable development: The moderating effect of environmental regulation," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 873-889.
    25. Lu, Yuchen & Gao, Yuqiang & Zhang, Yu & Wang, Junrong, 2022. "Can the green finance policy force the green transformation of high-polluting enterprises? A quasi-natural experiment based on “Green Credit Guidelines”," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    26. Kristel Buysse & Alain Verbeke, 2003. "Proactive environmental strategies: a stakeholder management perspective," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(5), pages 453-470, May.
    27. Yu, Zhen & Shen, Yiran & Jiang, Shengjun, 2022. "The effects of corporate governance uncertainty on state-owned enterprises' green innovation in China: Perspective from the participation of non-state-owned shareholders," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    28. Tang, Pengcheng & Jiang, Qisheng & Mi, Lili, 2021. "One-vote veto: The threshold effect of environmental pollution in China's economic promotion tournament," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    29. Bashir, Muhammad Farhan & Ma, Beiling & Sharif, Arshian & Ao, Tong & Koca, Kemal, 2023. "Nuclear energy consumption, energy access and energy poverty: Policy implications for the COP27 and environmental sustainability," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    30. 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).
    31. Zhang, Mengtao & Li, Wenwen & Luo, Yalin & Chen, Wenchuan, 2023. "Government audit supervision, financialization, and executives' excess perks: Evidence from Chinese state-owned enterprises," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    32. Buso, Marco & Moretto, Michele & Zormpas, Dimitrios, 2021. "Excess returns in Public-Private Partnerships: Do governments pay too much?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    33. Huixiang Zeng & Xuemei Li & Qiong Zhou & Lin Wang, 2022. "Local government environmental regulatory pressures and corporate environmental strategies: Evidence from natural resource accountability audits in China," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7), pages 3060-3082, November.
    34. Saeed, Asif & Chaudhry, Sajid M. & Arif, Ahmed & Ahmed, Rizwan, 2023. "Spillover of energy commodities and inflation in G7 plus Chinese economies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(PA).
    35. Höfer, Hanna-Helena & Rommel, Jens, 2015. "Internal governance and member investment behavior in energy cooperatives: An experimental approach," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 52-56.
    36. Ding, Chante Jian & Chen, Hang & Liu, Yin & Hu, Jin & Hu, Mingjun & Chen, Dong & Irfan, Muhammad, 2024. "Unleashing digital empowerment: Pioneering low-carbon development through the broadband China strategy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 295(C).
    37. Lin, Boqiang & Zhang, Qianxiang, 2023. "The transfer of energy-intensive projects under carbon constraints: Does energy structure matter?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    38. Ding, Jian & Liu, Baoliu & Shao, Xuefeng, 2022. "Spatial effects of industrial synergistic agglomeration and regional green development efficiency: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    39. Yang, Shengyi, 2023. "Carbon emission trading policy and firm's environmental investment," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    40. Wang, Hainan & Liu, Fengshuo, 2024. "Digital finance and enterprise innovation efficiency: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    41. Cai, Zongwu & Fang, Ying & Xu, Qiuhua, 2022. "Testing capital asset pricing models using functional-coefficient panel data models with cross-sectional dependence," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 227(1), pages 114-133.
    42. Tan, Xiujie & Liu, Gufeng & Cheng, Si, 2024. "How does ESG performance affect green transformation of resource-based enterprises: Evidence from Chinese listed enterprises," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    43. Sun, Xing & Lin, Minzhen & Zhong, Huaming, 2024. "The motivation and impact of polluting Enterprises' diversifications: Quasi-natural experiments from environmental protection interview," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    44. Zhang, Weiwei & Xi, Bin, 2024. "The effect of carbon emission trading on enterprises’ sustainable development performance: A quasi-natural experiment based on carbon emission trading pilot in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    45. Meng, Tianguang & Su, Zheng, 2021. "When top-down meets bottom-up: Local officials and selective responsiveness within fiscal policymaking in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    46. Xie, Linlin & Zuo, Shiyue & Xie, Ziqin, 2023. "Environmental protection fee-to-tax and enterprise investment efficiency: Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    47. Guangqin Li & Shiyu Lu & Shuai Shao & Lili Yang & Ke Zhang, 2021. "Do environmental regulations hamper small enterprises' market entry? Evidence from China," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 252-266, January.
    48. Martin Esch & Benedikt Schnellbächer & Andreas Wald, 2019. "Does integrated reporting information influence internal decision making? An experimental study of investment behavior," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(4), pages 599-610, May.
    49. 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.
    50. Du, Weijian & Li, Mengjie, 2023. "Opening the black box of environmental governance: Environmental target constraints and industrial firm pollution reduction," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 283(C).
    51. (Ian) Lee, In Hyeock & Kim, Sung Min & Green, Seth, 2021. "Social enterprises and market performance: The moderating roles of innovativeness, sectoral alignment, and geographic localization," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 491-506.
    52. Siyu Ren & Yu Hao & Haitao Wu, 2022. "How Does Green Investment Affect Environmental Pollution? Evidence from China," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 81(1), pages 25-51, January.
    53. Pan, Xiongfeng & Xu, Haitao & Feng, Shenghan, 2022. "The economic and environment impacts of energy intensity target constraint: Evidence from low carbon pilot cities in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(PA).
    54. Shuai Shao & Zhigao Hu & Jianhua Cao & Lili Yang & Dabo Guan, 2020. "Environmental Regulation and Enterprise Innovation: A Review," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 1465-1478, March.
    55. Ge, Tao & Li, Chunying & Li, Jinye & Hao, Xionglei, 2023. "Does neighboring green development benefit or suffer from local economic growth targets? Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    56. Li, Cong & Liu, Jiaxuan & Zhou, Yunxu & Yang, Benshuo & Sun, Jiawen, 2024. "Can green credit policy alleviate inefficient investment of heavily polluting enterprises? A quasi-natural experiment based on the Green Credit Guidelines," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    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. Yuan, Kaihua & Cui, Jingyuan & Zhang, Haipeng & Gao, Xiang, 2023. "Do cleaner production standards upgrade the global value chain position of manufacturing enterprises? Empirical evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    2. Xu, Le & Yang, Lili & Li, Ding & Shao, Shuai, 2023. "Asymmetric effects of heterogeneous environmental standards on green technology innovation: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    3. Franck Brulhart & Sandrine Gherra & Bertrand V. Quelin, 2019. "Do Stakeholder Orientation and Environmental Proactivity Impact Firm Profitability?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(1), pages 25-46, August.
    4. Abdul Majid & Muhammad Yasir & Muhammad Yasir & Asad Javed, 2020. "Nexus of institutional pressures, environmentally friendly business strategies, and environmental performance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(2), pages 706-716, March.
    5. James J. Cordeiro & Giorgia Profumo & Ilaria Tutore, 2021. "Family ownership and stockholder reactions to environmental performance disclosure: A test of secondary agency relationships," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 2091-2107, May.
    6. Bai Xue & Zhuang Zhang & Pingli Li, 2020. "Corporate environmental performance, environmental management and firm risk," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 1074-1096, March.
    7. Bulent Menguc & Seigyoung Auh & Lucie Ozanne, 2010. "The Interactive Effect of Internal and External Factors on a Proactive Environmental Strategy and its Influence on a Firm's Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 94(2), pages 279-298, June.
    8. Ricky Y. K. Chan, 2021. "Do chief information officers matter for sustainable development? Impact of their regulatory focus on green information technology strategies and corporate performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 2523-2534, July.
    9. Rizwan Raheem Ahmed & Grigorios L. Kyriakopoulos & Dalia Streimikiene & Justas Streimikis, 2021. "Drivers of Proactive Environmental Strategies: Evidence from the Pharmaceutical Industry of Asian Economies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-28, August.
    10. Garcés-Ayerbe, Concepción & Cañón-de-Francia, Joaquín, 2017. "The Relevance of Complementarities in the Study of the Economic Consequences of Environmental Proactivity: Analysis of the Moderating Effect of Innovation Efforts," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 21-30.
    11. Gun Jea Yu & Seung-Yoon Rhee, 2015. "Effect of R&D Collaboration with Research Organizations on Innovation: The Mediation Effect of Environmental Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(9), pages 1-19, August.
    12. Palmer, Mark & Truong, Yann, 2017. "The Impact of Technological Green New Product Introductions on Firm Profitability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 86-93.
    13. A.D. Nuwan Gunarathne & Ki‐Hoon Lee & Pubudu K. Hitigala Kaluarachchilage, 2021. "Institutional pressures, environmental management strategy, and organizational performance: The role of environmental management accounting," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 825-839, February.
    14. Adam Sulich & Letycja Sołoducho-Pelc, 2021. "Renewable Energy Producers’ Strategies in the Visegrád Group Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-21, May.
    15. Chen Liu & Dongmin Kong, 2021. "Business strategy and sustainable development: Evidence from China," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 657-670, January.
    16. X. H. Meng & S. X. Zeng & X. M. Xie & G. Y. Qi, 2016. "The impact of product market competition on corporate environmental responsibility," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 267-291, March.
    17. Wenbin Long & Le Luo & Hongfeng Sun & Qiqi Zhong, 2023. "Does going abroad lead to going green? Firm outward foreign direct investment and domestic environmental performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 484-498, January.
    18. Leal, Ana R. & Husted, Bryan W. & Flores Segovia, Miguel Alejandro, 2021. "Environmental performance spillovers among Mexican industrial facilities: The case of greenhouse gases," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 711-720.
    19. Qi Guoyou & Zeng Saixing & Tam Chiming & Yin Haitao & Zou Hailiang, 2013. "Stakeholders' Influences on Corporate Green Innovation Strategy: A Case Study of Manufacturing Firms in China," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(1), pages 1-14, January.
    20. 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.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Energy intensity constraints; Corporate investment strategies; Front-prevention investment; End-treatment investment; Corporate sustainability;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:finlet:v:64:y:2024:i:c:s1544612324004963. 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/frl .

    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.