IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i4p1365-d1585917.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of Carbon Emissions Trading Policy on the ESG Performance of Heavy-Polluting Enterprises: The Mediating Role of Green Technological Innovation and Financing Constraints

Author

Listed:
  • Yuhang Dai

    (School of Government, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing 100081, China)

  • Rui He

    (Institute of Curriculum and Textbook Research, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100029, China
    Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China)

Abstract

The carbon emissions trading policy is a key policy driving China’s low-carbon economic transition. Based on the policy environment of China’s carbon emissions trading pilot program from 2010 to 2021, this research selects representative heavy-polluting listed enterprises from this period as research subjects. Using the DID model, it investigates the impact of the carbon emissions trading policy on corporate ESG performance. The results of the research show that: (1) The carbon emissions trading policy significantly improves the ESG performance of heavy-polluting enterprises. (2) The carbon emissions trading policy enhances corporate ESG performance primarily by alleviating external financing constraints and stimulating green technological innovation within enterprises. (3) Due to differences in corporate characteristics and decision-making structures, the impact of carbon emissions trading policies on the ESG performance of heavily polluting enterprises exhibits heterogeneity. The findings of research are of great significance for a comprehensive understanding of the carbon emissions trading policy, facilitating fundamental changes in enterprises, promoting the construction of the carbon emissions trading market, and ensuring the timely achievement of the “dual carbon” goals.

Suggested Citation

  • Yuhang Dai & Rui He, 2025. "The Impact of Carbon Emissions Trading Policy on the ESG Performance of Heavy-Polluting Enterprises: The Mediating Role of Green Technological Innovation and Financing Constraints," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-22, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:4:p:1365-:d:1585917
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/4/1365/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/4/1365/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Myers, Stewart C. & Majluf, Nicholas S., 1984. "Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 187-221, June.
    2. Stewart C. Myers & Nicholas S. Majluf, 1984. "Corporate Financing and Investment Decisions When Firms Have InformationThat Investors Do Not Have," NBER Working Papers 1396, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Yonghong Jiang & Chun Yang & Dandan Zhao & Yuhao Shao & Tapan Senapati, 2024. "The Impact of Low-Carbon City Pilot Policy on Corporate Environmental Performance: Evidence from China," Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society, Hindawi, vol. 2024, pages 1-17, July.
    4. Michael Greenstone & John A. List & Chad Syverson, 2011. "The Effects of Environmental Regulation on the Competiveness of U.S. Manufacturing," Working Papers 11-03, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    5. 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.
    6. Qiuyan Yan & Kai Wan, 2024. "Energy-Consuming Right Trading Policy and Corporate ESG Performance: Quasi-Natural Experimental Evidence from China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-20, July.
    7. Yu, Fan & Xiao, De & Chang, Meng-Shiuh, 2021. "The impact of carbon emission trading schemes on urban-rural income inequality in China: A multi-period difference-in-differences method," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    8. Hua Tang, 2022. "The Effect of ESG Performance on Corporate Innovation in China: The Mediating Role of Financial Constraints and Agency Cost," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-21, March.
    9. Lin, Yongjia & Fu, Xiaoqing & Fu, Xiaolan, 2021. "Varieties in state capitalism and corporate innovation: Evidence from an emerging economy," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    10. Alexandre Clément & Élisabeth Robinot & Léo Trespeuch, 2023. "The use of ESG scores in academic literature: a systematic literature review," Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 19(1), pages 92-110, March.
    11. Alessio Baratta & Antonio Cimino & Francesco Longo & Vittorio Solina & Saverino Verteramo, 2023. "The Impact of ESG Practices in Industry with a Focus on Carbon Emissions: Insights and Future Perspectives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-20, April.
    12. Xiaoqi Li & Dingfei Guo & Chao Feng, 2022. "The Carbon Emissions Trading Policy of China: Does It Really Promote the Enterprises’ Green Technology Innovations?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-15, November.
    13. Zhaoyang Zhao & Shuning Zhou & Siying Wang & Chong Ye & Tuolei Wu, 2022. "The Impact of Carbon Emissions Trading Pilot Policy on Industrial Structure Upgrading," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-25, August.
    14. 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).
    15. Shuangpeng Yang & Zhonglu Chen & Muhammad Umar & Ambreen Khursheed, 2022. "Environmental regulation and high-quality sustainable development of China's economy – an empirical study based on a spatial durbin model and threshold model," Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(1), pages 5699-5718, December.
    16. Wang, Peng-Tao & Xu, Qing-Chuang & Wang, Fei-Yin & Xu, Mao, 2024. "Investigating the impacts of the Dual Carbon Targets on energy and carbon flows in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 313(C).
    17. Xi, Bin & Jia, Weifang, 2025. "Research on the impact of carbon trading on enterprises' green technology innovation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 197(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. Ningning Kong & Yu Bao & Yiyuan Sun & Yawen Wang, 2023. "Corporations’ ESG for Sustainable Investment in China: The Moderating Role of Regional Marketization," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-22, February.
    2. Liu, Duan & Yu, Nizhou & Wan, Hong, 2022. "Does water rights trading affect corporate investment? The role of resource allocation and risk mitigation channels," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    3. 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).
    4. Ibishova, Banovsha & Misund, Bård & Tveterås, Ragnar, 2024. "Driving green: Financial benefits of carbon emission reduction in companies," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PB).
    5. Fafaliou, Irene & Giaka, Maria & Konstantios, Dimitrios & Polemis, Michael, 2022. "Firms’ ESG reputational risk and market longevity: A firm-level analysis for the United States," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 161-177.
    6. Chen, Lifeng & Khurram, Muhammad Usman & Gao, Yuying & Abedin, Mohammad Zoynul & Lucey, Brian, 2023. "ESG disclosure and technological innovation capabilities of the Chinese listed companies," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    7. Geng, Yong & Liu, Wei & Li, Kai & Chen, Hanshu, 2021. "Environmental regulation and corporate tax avoidance: A quasi-natural experiment based on the eleventh Five-Year Plan in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    8. Min Hong & Zhenghui Li & Benjamin Drakeford, 2021. "Do the Green Credit Guidelines Affect Corporate Green Technology Innovation? Empirical Research from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-21, February.
    9. Marco Botta & Luca Colombo, 2016. "Macroeconomic and Institutional Determinants of Capital Structure Decisions," DISCE - Working Papers del Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza def038, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimenti e Istituti di Scienze Economiche (DISCE).
    10. Nam, Changwoo, 2016. "Impact of Corporate Tax Cuts on Corporate Investment," KDI Policy Forum 264, Korea Development Institute (KDI).
    11. Lu, Yao & Zhan, Shuwei & Zhan, Minghua, 2024. "Has FinTech changed the sensitivity of corporate investment to interest rates?—Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    12. Khémiri, Wafa & Noubbigh, Hédi, 2020. "Size-threshold effect in debt-firm performance nexus in the sub-Saharan region: A Panel Smooth Transition Regression approach," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 335-344.
    13. Dirk Czarnitzki & Hanna Hottenrott & Susanne Thorwarth, 2011. "Industrial research versus development investment: the implications of financial constraints," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 35(3), pages 527-544.
    14. Florian Meier, 2020. "The Age of Cheap Money and Passive Investing: Are Pro Forma Earnings Value Relevant?," Journal of Finance and Investment Analysis, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 9(2), pages 1-1.
    15. Bo-Hung Chiou & Shen-Ho Chang, 2020. "Influence of Investment Efficiency by Managers and Accounting Conservatism on Idiosyncratic Risks to Investors," Advances in Management and Applied Economics, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 10(1), pages 1-8.
    16. Asmund Rygh & Gabriel R. G. Benito, 2018. "Capital Structure of Foreign Direct Investments: A Transaction Cost Analysis," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 389-411, June.
    17. Bruinshoofd Allard & Kool Clemens, 2002. "The Determinants of Corporate Liquidity in the Netherlands," Research Memorandum 014, Maastricht University, Maastricht Research School of Economics of Technology and Organization (METEOR).
    18. Jie Ning & Matthew J. Sobel, 2018. "Production and Capacity Management with Internal Financing," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 20(1), pages 147-160, February.
    19. Stolowy, Hervé & Jeanjean, Thomas & Erkens, Michael, 2011. "The economic consequences of increasing the international visibility of financial reports," HEC Research Papers Series 957, HEC Paris.
    20. Mark Schankerman, 1991. "Revisions of Investment Plans and the Stock Market Rate of Return," STICERD - Economics of Industry Papers 05, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, LSE.

    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:17:y:2025:i:4:p:1365-:d:1585917. 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.