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Mitigating pollution emissions of manufacturing firms: Does input servitization matter? Empirical evidence from China

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  • Chen, Fenglan
  • Chen, Xing

Abstract

Against the backdrop of green processes guiding global economic reorientation and input servitization revolutionizing manufacturing, microscopic evidence on the environmental effects of input servitization remains scarce, particularly for China, a major manufacturing nation. This study uses global input-output tables to measure manufacturing input servitization levels and combines data from Chinese A-share listed manufacturing firms (2008–2021) to investigate how input servitization affects corporate pollution emissions. We find: 1) Input servitization reduces Chinese manufacturing firms' pollution emissions by improving production efficiency, promoting green innovation, and optimizing the industrial structure. 2) Service inputs from developed countries have stronger emission reduction effects than those from developing countries, while domestical service inputs show no significant effect; furthermore, knowledge-intensive service industries, particularly telecommunications and finance, demonstrate more pronounced emission reduction effects compared to labor-intensive producer services. 3) Enhanced corporate financing capacity, absorption capacity, and local government environmental regulation strengthen the emission reduction effect of input servitization. This study extends the literature on manufacturing servitization's environmental effects and provides policy insights for achieving economic green transformation through input servitization.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen, Fenglan & Chen, Xing, 2025. "Mitigating pollution emissions of manufacturing firms: Does input servitization matter? Empirical evidence from China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 320(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:320:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225007960
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.135154
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