IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i16p10385-d893591.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How the COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts Green Inventions: Evidence from a Quasi-Natural Experiment in China

Author

Listed:
  • Xuan Wei

    (School of Statistics and Mathematics, Shandong University of Finance and Economics, Jinan 250014, China)

  • Ranran Liu

    (College of Industry and Commerce, Shandong Management University, Jinan 250014, China)

  • Wei Chen

    (School of Economic and Management, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150009, China)

Abstract

This paper investigates whether the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic affects the green inventions of firms, universities, and firm–university collaborations (FUCs) differently. Our identification used provincial-level monthly data from China. Results from the difference-in-differences (DID) model showed that the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted the output of three types of green invention patents. After the parallel-trend test, placebo test, and triple-difference estimation, our conclusion has good robustness. However, the COVID-19 pandemic also influences the role of other policies, such as the SO 2 -emissions-trading pilot policy for universities’ green inventions. There has been a slight change in the effect of dual carbon targets on green inventions since the start of the pandemic. The positive effect of the COVID-19 pandemic has been weaker for provinces where the pandemic has been more severe than in other provinces. The results of this study are compared with the results and empirical evidence of other related studies and the theoretical logic of COVID-19 crisis-promoted green inventions are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Xuan Wei & Ranran Liu & Wei Chen, 2022. "How the COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts Green Inventions: Evidence from a Quasi-Natural Experiment in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-15, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:16:p:10385-:d:893591
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/16/10385/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/16/10385/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Xia, Lan & Wang, Joyce (Feng) & Santana, Shelle, 2021. "Nostalgia: Triggers and its role on new product purchase intentions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 183-194.
    2. Zhang, Hua & Xu, Tiantian & Feng, Chao, 2022. "Does public participation promote environmental efficiency? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment of environmental information disclosure in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    3. Ryan Hanna & Yangyang Xu & David G. Victor, 2020. "After COVID-19, green investment must deliver jobs to get political traction," Nature, Nature, vol. 582(7811), pages 178-180, June.
    4. Dosi, Giovanni & Soete, Luc, 2022. "On the syndemic nature of crises: A Freeman perspective," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(1).
    5. Zhu, Wenge & He, Yuanjie, 2017. "Green product design in supply chains under competition," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 258(1), pages 165-180.
    6. Zheng, Mingbo & Feng, Gen-Fu & Jang, Chyi-Lu & Chang, Chun-Ping, 2021. "Terrorism and green innovation in renewable energy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    7. Liu, Zugang (Leo) & Anderson, Trisha D. & Cruz, Jose M., 2012. "Consumer environmental awareness and competition in two-stage supply chains," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 218(3), pages 602-613.
    8. Zvi Griliches, 1998. "Patent Statistics as Economic Indicators: A Survey," NBER Chapters, in: R&D and Productivity: The Econometric Evidence, pages 287-343, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Dziallas, Marisa & Blind, Knut, 2019. "Innovation indicators throughout the innovation process: An extensive literature analysis," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 80, pages 3-29.
    10. Dosi, Giovanni, 1993. "Technological paradigms and technological trajectories : A suggested interpretation of the determinants and directions of technical change," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 102-103, April.
    11. Ruxi Wang & Frank Wijen & Pursey P.M.A.R. Heugens, 2018. "Government's green grip: Multifaceted state influence on corporate environmental actions in China," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(2), pages 403-428, February.
    12. repec:fth:harver:1473 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Kenneth Arrow, 1962. "Economic Welfare and the Allocation of Resources for Invention," NBER Chapters, in: The Rate and Direction of Inventive Activity: Economic and Social Factors, pages 609-626, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Yu-Shan Chen & Shyh-Bao Lai & Chao-Tung Wen, 2006. "The Influence of Green Innovation Performance on Corporate Advantage in Taiwan," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 67(4), pages 331-339, September.
    15. Rothwell, R. & Freeman, C. & Horlsey, A. & Jervis, V. T. P. & Robertson, A. B. & Townsend, J., 1974. "SAPPHO updated - project SAPPHO phase II," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 3(3), pages 258-291, November.
    16. Gerard George & Karim R. Lakhani & Phanish Puranam, 2020. "What has changed? The Impact of Covid Pandemic on the Technology and Innovation Management Research Agenda," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(8), pages 1754-1758, December.
    17. Yang, Deli, 2008. "Pendency and grant ratios of invention patents: A comparative study of the US and China," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(6-7), pages 1035-1046, July.
    18. Rennings, Klaus, 2000. "Redefining innovation -- eco-innovation research and the contribution from ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 319-332, February.
    19. Martina Pilloni & József Kádár & Tareq Abu Hamed, 2022. "The Impact of COVID-19 on Energy Start-Up Companies: The Use of Global Financial Crisis (GFC) as a Lesson for Future Recovery," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-15, May.
    20. Meng-Jun Hsu & Ming-Chia Hsieh & Emmanuel Kwame Opoku, 2022. "Knowledge Co-Creation during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Dual-Regulated Learning Model in Virtual Hospitality Communities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-18, April.
    21. Hu, Albert Guangzhou & Jefferson, Gary H., 2009. "A great wall of patents: What is behind China's recent patent explosion?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 57-68, September.
    22. Meyer, Bruce D, 1995. "Natural and Quasi-experiments in Economics," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 13(2), pages 151-161, April.
    23. Hermundsdottir, Fanny & Haneberg, Dag Håkon & Aspelund, Arild, 2022. "Analyzing the impact of COVID-19 on environmental innovations in manufacturing firms," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    24. Yu-Shan Chen & Ching-Hsun Chang, 2013. "The Determinants of Green Product Development Performance: Green Dynamic Capabilities, Green Transformational Leadership, and Green Creativity," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(1), pages 107-119, August.
    25. Mouratidis, Kostas & Peters, Sebastian, 2022. "COVID-19 impact on teleactivities: Role of built environment and implications for mobility," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 251-270.
    26. Jia, Zhijie & Lin, Boqiang, 2021. "How to achieve the first step of the carbon-neutrality 2060 target in China: The coal substitution perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    27. Silke Beck & Martin Mahony, 2018. "The IPCC and the new map of science and politics," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 9(6), November.
    28. Brunnermeier, Smita B. & Cohen, Mark A., 2003. "Determinants of environmental innovation in US manufacturing industries," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 278-293, March.
    29. Nicholas Stern & Anna Valero, 2021. "Innovation, growth and the transition to net-zero emissions," CEP Discussion Papers dp1773, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    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. Maxim Kotsemir & Alexander Abroskin & Dirk Meissner, 2013. "Innovation concepts and typology – an evolutionary discussion," HSE Working papers WP BRP 05/STI/2013, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    2. Jianfei Zhao & Anan Pongtornkulpanich & Wenjin Cheng, 2022. "The Impact of Board Size on Green Innovation in China’s Heavily Polluting Enterprises: The Mediating Role of Innovation Openness," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-20, July.
    3. Leo Wangler, 2010. "Renewables and Innovation - Empirical Assessment and Theoretical Considerations," Jena Economics Research Papers 2010-002, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    4. Chengming Li & Han Shi & Liangen Zeng & Xiaomeng Dong, 2022. "How Strategic Interaction of Innovation Policies between China’s Regional Governments Affects Wind Energy Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-20, February.
    5. Kim, Yeong Jae & Brown, Marilyn, 2019. "Impact of domestic energy-efficiency policies on foreign innovation: The case of lighting technologies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 539-552.
    6. Vanessa OLTRA & Maïder SAINT JEAN, 2009. "Environmental Innovations and Industrial Dynamics (In French)," Cahiers du GREThA (2007-2019) 2009-22, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée (GREThA).
    7. Peters, Michael & Schneider, Malte & Griesshaber, Tobias & Hoffmann, Volker H., 2012. "The impact of technology-push and demand-pull policies on technical change – Does the locus of policies matter?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(8), pages 1296-1308.
    8. Costantini, Valeria & Crespi, Francesco & Martini, Chiara & Pennacchio, Luca, 2015. "Demand-pull and technology-push public support for eco-innovation: The case of the biofuels sector," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 577-595.
    9. 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.
    10. Cohen, Wesley M., 2010. "Fifty Years of Empirical Studies of Innovative Activity and Performance," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 129-213, Elsevier.
    11. Vitaliy Roud & Thomas Wolfgang Thurner, 2018. "The Influence of State‐Ownership on Eco‐Innovations in Russian Manufacturing Firms," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 22(5), pages 1213-1227, October.
    12. Wei Zhang & Xiuli Zhong & Xue Li, 2024. "The impact of degree of internationalization of MNEs on green innovation performance: The moderating role of absorptive capacity and global dynamic management capability," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(1), pages 659-675, January.
    13. Grafström, Jonas & Poudineh, Rahmat, 2023. "No evidence of counteracting policy effects on European solar power invention and diffusion," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    14. Giovanni Marin & Francesca Lotti, 2017. "Productivity effects of eco-innovations using data on eco-patents," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 26(1), pages 125-148.
    15. Tan, Yafei & Zhu, Zhaohui, 2022. "The effect of ESG rating events on corporate green innovation in China: The mediating role of financial constraints and managers' environmental awareness," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    16. Tom Broekel & Lars Mewes, 2017. "Analyzing the impact of R&D policy on regional diversification," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1726, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Sep 2017.
    17. Romain Debref, 2012. "The Paradoxes of Environmental Innovations: The Case of Green Chemistry," Post-Print hal-02047209, HAL.
    18. Maximilian Gasser & Simon Pezzutto & Wolfram Sparber & Eric Wilczynski, 2022. "Public Research and Development Funding for Renewable Energy Technologies in Europe: A Cross-Country Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-28, May.
    19. Quatraro, Francesco, 2010. "Knowledge coherence, variety and economic growth: Manufacturing evidence from Italian regions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 1289-1302, December.
    20. Barbieri, Nicolò, 2015. "Investigating the impacts of technological position and European environmental regulation on green automotive patent activity," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 140-152.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:16:p:10385-:d:893591. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.