IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i16p9812-d883820.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Can Digital Economy Promote Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction in Heavily Polluting Enterprises? Empirical Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Rongwu Zhang

    (School of Management, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China)

  • Wenqiang Fu

    (School of Management, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China)

  • Yingxu Kuang

    (College of Business, University of Houston-Victoria, Victoria, TX 77901, USA)

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of digital economy on corporate energy conservation and emission reduction (CECER) using China’s A-share listed heavily polluting enterprises from 2012 to 2019 as a sample. Our results show that: (1) Digital economy can significantly increase CECER, and this effect is significant for mining and manufacturing enterprises, and less significant for power, heat production and supply enterprises; (2) Mechanism research shows that digital economy promotes CECER through enhancing the green technology innovation capability, easing the financing constraints, and boosting market competition; (3) Heterogeneity research indicates that the promotion of digital economy to CECER is more significant in economically developed regions and regions with less financial pressure from local governments. This paper clarifies the factors influencing CECER and provides empirical evidence for achieving digital economy development and government goals for CECER.

Suggested Citation

  • Rongwu Zhang & Wenqiang Fu & Yingxu Kuang, 2022. "Can Digital Economy Promote Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction in Heavily Polluting Enterprises? Empirical Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-21, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:16:p:9812-:d:883820
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/16/9812/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/16/9812/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael Greenstone & Rema Hanna, 2014. "Environmental Regulations, Air and Water Pollution, and Infant Mortality in India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(10), pages 3038-3072, October.
    2. Chen, Zhuo & He, Zhiguo & Liu, Chun, 2020. "The financing of local government in China: Stimulus loan wanes and shadow banking waxes," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(1), pages 42-71.
    3. Lee, Ji Hye & Byun, Hee Sub & Park, Kyung Suh, 2019. "How does product market competition affect corporate takeover in an emerging economy?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 26-45.
    4. Zihanxin Li & Nuoyan Li & Huwei Wen, 2021. "Digital Economy and Environmental Quality: Evidence from 217 Cities in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-20, July.
    5. Zhang, Dongyang & Zheng, Wenping, 2019. "Less financial constraints, more clean production? New evidence from China," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 80-83.
    6. Emily Oster, 2019. "Unobservable Selection and Coefficient Stability: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 187-204, April.
    7. 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).
    8. Bai, Chong-En & Liu, Qiao & Lu, Joe & Song, Frank M. & Zhang, Junxi, 2004. "Corporate governance and market valuation in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 599-616, December.
    9. Michael Greenstone & Richard Hornbeck & Enrico Moretti, 2010. "Identifying Agglomeration Spillovers: Evidence from Winners and Losers of Large Plant Openings," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 118(3), pages 536-598, June.
    10. Ren, Siyu & Hao, Yu & Xu, Lu & Wu, Haitao & Ba, Ning, 2021. "Digitalization and energy: How does internet development affect China's energy consumption?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    11. Hering, Laura & Poncet, Sandra, 2014. "Environmental policy and exports: Evidence from Chinese cities," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 296-318.
    12. Kong, Qunxi & Tong, Xin & Peng, Dan & Wong, Zoey & Chen, Huy, 2021. "How factor market distortions affect OFDI: An explanation based on investment propensity and productivity effects," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 459-472.
    13. El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Kwok, Chuck C.Y. & Mishra, Dev R., 2011. "Does corporate social responsibility affect the cost of capital?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 2388-2406, September.
    14. Masazumi Hattori & Andreas Schrimpf & Vladyslav Sushko, 2016. "The Response of Tail Risk Perceptions to Unconventional Monetary Policy," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 8(2), pages 111-136, April.
    15. Chong, Terence Tai-Leung & Lu, Liping & Ongena, Steven, 2013. "Does banking competition alleviate or worsen credit constraints faced by small- and medium-sized enterprises? Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 3412-3424.
    16. Healy, Paul M. & Palepu, Krishna G., 2001. "Information asymmetry, corporate disclosure, and the capital markets: A review of the empirical disclosure literature," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 405-440, September.
    17. Nathan Nunn & Nancy Qian, 2014. "US Food Aid and Civil Conflict," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(6), pages 1630-1666, June.
    18. Choi, Wonseok & Chung, Chune Young & Rabarison, Monika K. & Wang, Kainan, 2022. "Related party transactions and corporate environmental responsibility," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 46(PA).
    19. Xu, Qiong & Zhong, Meirui & Li, Xin, 2022. "How does digitalization affect energy? International evidence," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    20. Xiuxiu Jiang & Xia Wang & Jia Ren & Zhimin Xie, 2021. "The Nexus between Digital Finance and Economic Development: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-17, June.
    21. Sueyoshi, Toshiyuki & Yuan, Yan, 2015. "China's regional sustainability and diversified resource allocation: DEA environmental assessment on economic development and air pollution," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 239-256.
    22. Daniel Broby, 2021. "Financial technology and the future of banking," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 7(1), pages 1-19, December.
    23. Lu Huang & Lihua Wang & Zhusheng Liu & Yujie Li, 2021. "Evolutionary game analysis of green industry development in the age of sharing economy," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(27), pages 3065-3079, June.
    24. Xavier Giroud & Holger M. Mueller, 2011. "Corporate Governance, Product Market Competition, and Equity Prices," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(2), pages 563-600, April.
    25. Zhou, Xiaoyong & Zhou, Dequn & Wang, Qunwei & Su, Bin, 2019. "How information and communication technology drives carbon emissions: A sector-level analysis for China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 380-392.
    26. Kong, Gaowen & Ji, Mianmian & Guo, Yuemei, 2021. "Political promotion events and energy conservation decisions: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    27. Dongmin Kong & Shasha Liu & Yunhao Dai, 2014. "Environmental Policy, Company Environment Protection, and Stock Market Performance: Evidence from China," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(2), pages 100-112, March.
    28. Chen, Shawn Xiaoguang, 2017. "The effect of a fiscal squeeze on tax enforcement: Evidence from a natural experiment in China," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 62-76.
    29. Lange, Steffen & Pohl, Johanna & Santarius, Tilman, 2020. "Digitalization and energy consumption. Does ICT reduce energy demand?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    30. Feng, Suling & Zhang, Rong & Li, Guoxiang, 2022. "Environmental decentralization, digital finance and green technology innovation," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 70-83.
    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. Shunbin Zhong & Huafu Shen & Ziheng Niu & Yang Yu & Lin Pan & Yaojun Fan & Atif Jahanger, 2022. "Moving towards Environmental Sustainability: Can Digital Economy Reduce Environmental Degradation in China?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-23, November.
    2. Liang Liu & Yuhan Zhang & Xiujuan Gong & Mengyue Li & Xue Li & Donglin Ren & Pan Jiang, 2022. "Impact of Digital Economy Development on Carbon Emission Efficiency: A Spatial Econometric Analysis Based on Chinese Provinces and Cities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-21, November.
    3. Qian Zhang & Qizhen Wang, 2023. "Digitalization, Electricity Consumption and Carbon Emissions—Evidence from Manufacturing Industries in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-21, February.
    4. Zhuoxi Yu & Shan Liu & Zhichuan Zhu & Lianyan Fu, 2023. "Spatial Imbalance, Dynamic Evolution and Convergence of the Digital Economy: Analysis Based on Panel Data of 278 Cities in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-26, April.
    5. Hui Fang & Qixin Huo & Kaouakib Hatim, 2023. "Can Digital Services Trade Liberalization Improve the Quality of Green Innovation of Enterprises? Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-22, April.
    6. Shuangcheng Luo & Yangli Yuan, 2023. "The Path to Low Carbon: The Impact of Network Infrastructure Construction on Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-20, February.
    7. Qiuqiu Guo & Xiaoyu Ma, 2023. "How Does the Digital Economy Affect Sustainable Urban Development? Empirical Evidence from Chinese Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-21, February.
    8. Xuemei Jia & Qing Liu & Jiahao Feng & Yuru Li & Lijun Zhang, 2023. "The Induced Effects of Carbon Emissions for China’s Industry Digital Transformation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-20, August.
    9. Zhang, Rongwu & Fu, Wenqiang & Lu, Tong, 2023. "Capital market opening and corporate environmental performance: Empirical evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).

    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. Lin, Boqiang & Huang, Chenchen, 2023. "How will promoting the digital economy affect electricity intensity?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    2. Shunbin Zhong & Huafu Shen & Ziheng Niu & Yang Yu & Lin Pan & Yaojun Fan & Atif Jahanger, 2022. "Moving towards Environmental Sustainability: Can Digital Economy Reduce Environmental Degradation in China?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-23, November.
    3. Jie Zhou & Hanlin Lan & Cheng Zhao & Jianping Zhou, 2021. "Haze Pollution Levels, Spatial Spillover Influence, and Impacts of the Digital Economy: Empirical Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-18, August.
    4. Ma, Dan & Zhu, Qing, 2022. "Innovation in emerging economies: Research on the digital economy driving high-quality green development," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 801-813.
    5. Junhong Qu & Xiaoli Hao, 2022. "Digital Economy, Financial Development, and Energy Poverty Based on Mediating Effects and a Spatial Autocorrelation Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-24, July.
    6. Wu, Fang & Cao, June & Zhang, Xiaosan, 2023. "Do non-executive employees matter in curbing corporate financial fraud?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    7. Bing Wang & Si Xu & Kung-Cheng Ho & I-Ming Jiang & Hung-Yi Huang, 2019. "Information Disclosure Ranking, Industry Production Market Competition, and Mispricing: An Empirical Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-16, January.
    8. Zihanxin Li & Nuoyan Li & Huwei Wen, 2021. "Digital Economy and Environmental Quality: Evidence from 217 Cities in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-20, July.
    9. Wang, Ke-Liang & Sun, Ting-Ting & Xu, Ru-Yu & Miao, Zhuang & Cheng, Yun-He, 2022. "How does internet development promote urban green innovation efficiency? Evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    10. Ruixi Long & Shuyang Jia, 2023. "Foreground or background my social responsibility: impact of the trade war on the readability of corporate social responsibility disclosures," Information Technology and Management, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 79-97, March.
    11. Lee, Chien-Chiang & He, Zhi-Wen & Xiao, Fu, 2022. "How does information and communication technology affect renewable energy technology innovation? International evidence," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 546-557.
    12. Zhou, Fengxiu & Wen, Huwei & Lee, Chien-Chiang, 2022. "Broadband infrastructure and export growth," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(5).
    13. Lin, Boqiang & Huang, Chenchen, 2023. "Nonlinear relationship between digitization and energy efficiency: Evidence from transnational panel data," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    14. Zhidong Liu & Yang Cai & Xiaojing Hao, 2020. "The Agglomeration of Manufacturing Industry, Innovation and Haze Pollution in China: Theory and Evidence," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-28, March.
    15. Axenbeck, Janna & Berner, Anne & Kneib, Thomas, 2022. "What drives the relationship between digitalization and industrial energy demand? Exploring firm-level heterogeneity," ZEW Discussion Papers 22-059, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    16. Liu, Chengcheng & Li, Qing & Lin, Yu-En, 2023. "Corporate transparency and firm value: Does market competition play an external governance role?," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1).
    17. Zhao, Haoran & Guo, Sen, 2023. "Analysis of the non-linear impact of digital economy development on energy intensity: Empirical research based on the PSTR model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    18. Ye, Bing & Lin, Ling, 2020. "Environmental regulation and responses of local governments," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    19. Wu, Haitao & Xue, Yan & Hao, Yu & Ren, Siyu, 2021. "How does internet development affect energy-saving and emission reduction? Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    20. Xiaohong Liu, 2023. "Impacts of Environmental Pollution and Digital Economy on the New Energy Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-15, June.

    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:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:16:p:9812-:d:883820. 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.