IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i22p11991-d679719.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Environmental Regulation, Government Subsidies, and Green Technology Innovation—A Provincial Panel Data Analysis from China

Author

Listed:
  • Pei Wang

    (School of Business Administration, China University of Petroleum-Beijing, Beijing 102249, China)

  • Cong Dong

    (School of International Trade and Economics, University of International Business and Economics, Beijing 100029, China)

  • Nan Chen

    (School of Business Administration, China University of Petroleum-Beijing, Beijing 102249, China)

  • Ming Qi

    (School of Business Administration, China University of Petroleum-Beijing, Beijing 102249, China)

  • Shucheng Yang

    (School of Business Administration, China University of Petroleum-Beijing, Beijing 102249, China)

  • Amuji Bridget Nnenna

    (School of Business Administration, China University of Petroleum-Beijing, Beijing 102249, China)

  • Wenxin Li

    (School of Business Administration, China University of Petroleum-Beijing, Beijing 102249, China)

Abstract

Economic development in the “new era” will require green innovation. To encourage the growth of green technology innovation, it has become fashionable to strengthen environmental regulation. However, the impact of environmental regulation on green technology innovation, as well as the role of government subsidies, needs to be examined. Utilizing fixed-effect models and 2SLS models to explore the impact of environmental regulation on green technology innovation in China from 2003 to 2017, this research sought to examine whether environmental regulations impact green technology innovation, as well as the role of government subsidies in the above-mentioned influence path. The findings support the Porter Hypothesis by demonstrating an inverted “U” relationship between environmental regulation and green technology innovation. The impact of environmental regulation on green technology innovation varies by region. To be specific, there is an inverted “U” relationship between environmental regulation and green technology innovation in China’s central and central coast regions. In comparison, the north area, southern coast, and southwest region exhibit a “U” relationship between the two. The relationship is not significant in the Beijing-Tianjin region. Additionally, government subsidies act as an intermediate in this process, positively influencing firms to pursue green technology innovation during the earliest stages of environmental regulation strengthening. However, government subsidies above a certain level are unproductive and should be used appropriately and phased off in due course.

Suggested Citation

  • Pei Wang & Cong Dong & Nan Chen & Ming Qi & Shucheng Yang & Amuji Bridget Nnenna & Wenxin Li, 2021. "Environmental Regulation, Government Subsidies, and Green Technology Innovation—A Provincial Panel Data Analysis from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-19, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:22:p:11991-:d:679719
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/22/11991/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/22/11991/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Martin Falk, 2006. "What drives business Research and Development (R&D) intensity across Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(5), pages 533-547.
    2. Paul Lanoie & Michel Patry & Richard Lajeunesse, 2008. "Environmental regulation and productivity: testing the porter hypothesis," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 121-128, October.
    3. Abay Mulatu, 2018. "Environmental regulation and international competitiveness: a critical review," International Journal of Global Environmental Issues, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 17(1), pages 41-63.
    4. Grossman, Gene M. & Helpman, Elhanan, 1989. "Growth and Welfare in a Small Open Economy," Foerder Institute for Economic Research Working Papers 275466, Tel-Aviv University > Foerder Institute for Economic Research.
    5. Weimin Ma & Ranran Zhang & Shiwei Chai, 2019. "What Drives Green Innovation? A Game Theoretic Analysis of Government Subsidy and Cooperation Contract," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-24, October.
    6. Pedroni, Peter, 2004. "Panel Cointegration: Asymptotic And Finite Sample Properties Of Pooled Time Series Tests With An Application To The Ppp Hypothesis," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(3), pages 597-625, June.
    7. Lichtenberg, Frank R, 1988. "The Private R&D Investment Response to Federal Design and Technical Competitions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(3), pages 550-559, June.
    8. Nelson, Randy A & Tietenberg, Tom & Donihue, Michael R, 1993. "Differential Environmental Regulation: Effects on Electric Utility Capital Turnover and Emissions," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 75(2), pages 368-373, May.
    9. Jung, Seung Hwan & Feng, Tianjun, 2020. "Government subsidies for green technology development under uncertainty," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 286(2), pages 726-739.
    10. Cole, Matthew A. & Elliott, Robert J.R. & Okubo, Toshihiro, 2010. "Trade, environmental regulations and industrial mobility: An industry-level study of Japan," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 1995-2002, August.
    11. Adam B. Jaffe & Karen Palmer, 1997. "Environmental Regulation And Innovation: A Panel Data Study," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 79(4), pages 610-619, November.
    12. Sung, Bongsuk, 2019. "Do government subsidies promote firm-level innovation? Evidence from the Korean renewable energy technology industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 1333-1344.
    13. Kao, Chihwa, 1999. "Spurious regression and residual-based tests for cointegration in panel data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 1-44, May.
    14. Im, Kyung So & Pesaran, M. Hashem & Shin, Yongcheol, 2003. "Testing for unit roots in heterogeneous panels," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 115(1), pages 53-74, July.
    15. Hans-Werner Sinn, 2008. "Public policies against global warming: a supply side approach," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 15(4), pages 360-394, August.
    16. Francesc Hernandez-Sancho & Andres Picazo-Tadeo & Ernest Reig-Martinez, 2000. "Efficiency and Environmental Regulation," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 15(4), pages 365-378, April.
    17. M. Ishaq Nadiri, 1993. "Innovations and Technological Spillovers," NBER Working Papers 4423, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Gene M. Grossman & Elhanan Helpman, 1991. "Quality Ladders and Product Cycles," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(2), pages 557-586.
    19. Dan J. Laughhunn & John W. Payne & Roy Crum, 1980. "Managerial Risk Preferences for Below-Target Returns," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(12), pages 1238-1249, December.
    20. Cohen, Wesley M & Levinthal, Daniel A, 1989. "Innovation and Learning: The Two Faces of R&D," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 99(397), pages 569-596, September.
    21. Susmita Dasgupta & Ashoka Mody & Subhendu Roy & David Wheeler, 2001. "Environmental Regulation and Development: A Cross-country Empirical Analysis," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(2), pages 173-187.
    22. Chengliang Liu & Tao Wang & Qingbin Guo, 2019. "Does Environmental Regulation Repress the International R&D Spillover Effect? Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-16, August.
    23. K. J. Arrow, 1971. "The Economic Implications of Learning by Doing," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: F. H. Hahn (ed.), Readings in the Theory of Growth, chapter 11, pages 131-149, Palgrave Macmillan.
    24. Walter, Jason M., 2020. "Comparing the effectiveness of market-based and choice-based environmental policy," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 173-191.
    25. Klaus Rennings & Christian Rammer, 2011. "The Impact of Regulation-Driven Environmental Innovation on Innovation Success and Firm Performance," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(3), pages 255-283.
    26. Joakim Westerlund, 2005. "New Simple Tests for Panel Cointegration," Econometric Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3), pages 297-316.
    27. J. Bradford De Long & Lawrence H. Summers, 1991. "Equipment Investment and Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(2), pages 445-502.
    28. Awasthi, Anjali & Chauhan, Satyaveer S. & Goyal, S.K., 2010. "A fuzzy multicriteria approach for evaluating environmental performance of suppliers," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(2), pages 370-378, August.
    29. Wang, Zhaohua & Li, Yiming & Cai, Hailin & Yang, Yuantao & Wang, Bo, 2019. "Regional difference and drivers in China's carbon emissions embodied in internal trade," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 217-228.
    30. Jaffe Adam B. & Stavins Robert N., 1995. "Dynamic Incentives of Environmental Regulations: The Effects of Alternative Policy Instruments on Technology Diffusion," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 43-63, November.
    31. Saul Lach, 2002. "Do R&D Subsidies Stimulate or Displace Private R&D? Evidence from Israel," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(4), pages 369-390, December.
    32. Nadiri, M.I., 1993. "Innovations and Technological Spillovers," Working Papers 93-31, C.V. Starr Center for Applied Economics, New York University.
    33. Bruce Domazlicky & William Weber, 2004. "Does Environmental Protection Lead to Slower Productivity Growth in the Chemical Industry?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 28(3), pages 301-324, July.
    34. Bergek, Anna & Berggren, Christian, 2014. "The impact of environmental policy instruments on innovation: A review of energy and automotive industry studies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 112-123.
    35. Matthew A. Cole & Robert J. R. Elliott, 2003. "Do Environmental Regulations Influence Trade Patterns? Testing Old and New Trade Theories," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(8), pages 1163-1186, August.
    36. M A Cole & R J R Elliott, 2003. "Do Environmental Regulations Influence Trade Patterns? Testing New and Old Trade Theories," Economics Discussion Paper Series 0310, Economics, The University of Manchester.
    37. Mohr, Robert D., 2006. "Environmental performance standards and the adoption of technology," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 238-248, June.
    38. James G. March & Zur Shapira, 1987. "Managerial Perspectives on Risk and Risk Taking," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 33(11), pages 1404-1418, November.
    39. Wurlod, Jules-Daniel & Noailly, Joëlle, 2018. "The impact of green innovation on energy intensity: An empirical analysis for 14 industrial sectors in OECD countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 47-61.
    40. Henriques, Irene & Sadorsky, Perry, 1996. "The Determinants of an Environmentally Responsive Firm: An Empirical Approach," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 381-395, May.
    41. Qiu, Larry D. & Zhou, Mohan & Wei, Xu, 2018. "Regulation, innovation, and firm selection: The porter hypothesis under monopolistic competition," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 638-658.
    42. Sterner, Thomas & Turnheim, Bruno, 2009. "Innovation and diffusion of environmental technology: Industrial NOx abatement in Sweden under refunded emission payments," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(12), pages 2996-3006, October.
    43. Levin, Andrew & Lin, Chien-Fu & James Chu, Chia-Shang, 2002. "Unit root tests in panel data: asymptotic and finite-sample properties," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 108(1), pages 1-24, May.
    44. Yingyuan Guo & Xingneng Xia & Sheng Zhang & Danping Zhang, 2018. "Environmental Regulation, Government R&D Funding and Green Technology Innovation: Evidence from China Provincial Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-21, March.
    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. Xinyu Wang & Yuanze Chai & Wensen Wu & Adnan Khurshid, 2023. "The Empirical Analysis of Environmental Regulation’s Spatial Spillover Effects on Green Technology Innovation in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-14, January.
    2. Eleftherios Spyromitros, 2023. "Determinants of Green Innovation: The Role of Monetary Policy and Central Bank Characteristics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-23, May.
    3. Jing Tang & Shilong Li, 2022. "How Do Environmental Regulation and Environmental Decentralization Affect Regional Green Innovation? Empirical Research from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-16, June.
    4. Jun Wen & Lingxiao Li & Xinxin Zhao & Chenyang Jiao & Wenjie Li, 2022. "How Government Size Expansion Can Affect Green Innovation—An Empirical Analysis of Data on Cross-Country Green Patent Filings," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-22, June.
    5. Xiaoli Shi & Ying Chen & Qianju Cheng, 2022. "Environmental Regulation, Environmental Knowledge Spillover, and Regional Economic Growth in China: An Empirical Test Based on the Spatial Durbin Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-23, November.
    6. Lixia Chen & Jianyuan Huang, 2023. "Study on the Interaction Effect between the Intensity of Government Low-Carbon Subsidies and the Growth Ability of Green and Low-Carbon Emerging Enterprises," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-17, January.
    7. Wanli Zhang & Bin Zhu & Yongling Li & Dan Yan, 2024. "Revisiting the Porter hypothesis: a multi-country meta-analysis of the relationship between environmental regulation and green innovation," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.
    8. Wu, Wei & Hu, Yingying & Wu, Qinwen, 2023. "Subsidies and tax incentives - Does it make a difference on TFP? Evidences from China's photovoltaic and wind listed companies," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 645-656.
    9. Xiaoming Song & Ze Tian & Chenhui Ding & Chao Liu & Wei Wang & Ronggai Zhao & Yingchun Xing, 2022. "Digital Economy, Environmental Regulation, and Ecological Well-Being Performance: A Provincial Panel Data Analysis from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-21, September.
    10. Weizhou Su & Gaowen Lei & Sidai Guo & Hongche Dan, 2022. "Study on the Influence Mechanism of Environmental Management System Certification on Enterprise Green Innovation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-20, September.
    11. Huacheng Rao & Dongxu Chen & Feichao Shen & Yangyang Shen, 2022. "Can Green Bonds Stimulate Green Innovation in Enterprises? Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-19, November.
    12. Liping Wu & Kai Hu & Oleksii Lyulyov & Tetyana Pimonenko & Ishfaq Hamid, 2022. "The Impact of Government Subsidies on Technological Innovation in Agribusiness: The Case for China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-15, October.
    13. Mingxing Li & Xinxing Wang & Zihao Wang & Babar Maqbool & Abid Hussain & Waris Ali Khan, 2022. "Bibliometric Analysis of the Research on the Impact of Environmental Regulation on Green Technology Innovation Based on CiteSpace," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-26, October.
    14. Yuanshuo Xu & Jiahe Liang & Zhaoyingzi Dong & Minjun Shi, 2022. "Can Environmental Regulation Promote Green Innovation and Productivity? The Moderating Role of Government Interventions in Urban China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-17, October.
    15. Chen, Shi & Huang, Fu-Wei & Lin, Jyh-Horng, 2022. "Life insurance policyholder protection, government green subsidy, and cap-and-trade transactions in a black swan environment," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    16. Maohui Ren & Tao Zhou & Di Wang & Chenxi Wang, 2023. "Does Environmental Regulation Promote the Infrastructure Investment Efficiency? Analysis Based on the Spatial Effects," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-24, February.
    17. Peiyan Zhou & Shuya Zhou & Ming Zhang & Shujuan Miao, 2022. "Executive Overconfidence, Digital Transformation and Environmental Innovation: The Role of Moderated Mediator," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-28, May.
    18. Xin Zhang & Feng Xu, 2023. "Environmental Regulation and Spatial Spillover Effect of Green Technology Innovation: An Empirical Study on the Spatial Durbin Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-19, September.
    19. Xiaonan Fan & Sainan Ren & Yang Liu, 2023. "The Driving Factors of Green Technology Innovation Efficiency—A Study Based on the Dynamic QCA Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-25, June.

    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. Karmaker, Shamal Chandra & Hosan, Shahadat & Chapman, Andrew J. & Saha, Bidyut Baran, 2021. "The role of environmental taxes on technological innovation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 232(C).
    2. Johan Brolund & Robert Lundmark, 2017. "Effect of Environmental Regulation Stringency on the Pulp and Paper Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-16, December.
    3. Yingyuan Guo & Xingneng Xia & Sheng Zhang & Danping Zhang, 2018. "Environmental Regulation, Government R&D Funding and Green Technology Innovation: Evidence from China Provincial Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-21, March.
    4. Nuno Carlos Leitão & Jeremiás Máté Balogh, 2020. "The impact of intra-industry trade on carbon dioxide emissions: The case of the European Union," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 66(5), pages 203-214.
    5. Hosan, Shahadat & Rahman, Md Matiar & Karmaker, Shamal Chandra & Saha, Bidyut Baran, 2023. "Energy subsidies and energy technology innovation: Policies for polygeneration systems diffusion," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 267(C).
    6. Franco Malerba & Maria Mancusi & Fabio Montobbio, 2013. "Innovation, international R&D spillovers and the sectoral heterogeneity of knowledge flows," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 149(4), pages 697-722, December.
    7. Adediran, Idris A. & Yinusa, Olalekan D. & Lakhani, Kanwal Hammad, 2021. "Where lies the silver lining when uncertainty hang dark clouds over the global financial markets?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    8. Ismail Senturk & Fiaz Ahmad Sulehri & Syeda Mehak Ali, 2022. "Financial Development and Innovation Led-Growth: A Case of Selected Developing Countries," Journal of Policy Research (JPR), Research Foundation for Humanity (RFH), vol. 8(3), pages 81-97, September.
    9. António Afonso & Christophe Rault, 2010. "What do we really know about fiscal sustainability in the EU? A panel data diagnostic," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 145(4), pages 731-755, January.
    10. Xiaoxin Ma & Qiang Fu, 2020. "The Influence of Financial Development on Energy Consumption: Worldwide Evidence," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-15, February.
    11. Hajer Dachraoui & Mounir Smida & Maamar Sebri, 2020. "Role of capital flight as a driver of sovereign bond spreads in Latin American countries," International Economics, CEPII research center, issue 162, pages 15-33.
    12. Chris Belmert Milindi & Roula Inglesi-Lotz, 2023. "Impact of technological progress on carbon emissions in different country income groups," Energy & Environment, , vol. 34(5), pages 1348-1382, August.
    13. Gharehgozli, Orkideh, 2021. "An empirical comparison between a regression framework and the Synthetic Control Method," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 70-81.
    14. Dobdinga Cletus Fonchamnyo & Gildas Dohba Dinga & Vahsegmi Carolle Ngum, 2021. "Revisiting the nexus between domestic investment, foreign direct investment and external debt in SSA countries: PMG‐ARDL approach," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 33(3), pages 479-491, September.
    15. Le, Thai-Ha & Bui, Manh-Tien & Uddin, Gazi Salah, 2022. "Economic and social impacts of conflict: A cross-country analysis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    16. Ma, Xuejiao & Ahmad, Najid & Oei, Pao-Yu, 2021. "Environmental Kuznets curve in France and Germany: Role of renewable and nonrenewable energy," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 88-99.
    17. Le, Thi Ngoc Lan & Nasir, Muhammad Ali & Huynh, Toan Luu Duc, 2023. "Capital requirements and banks performance under Basel-III: A comparative analysis of Australian and British banks," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 146-157.
    18. Zhongye Sun & Xin Zhang & Yifei Gao, 2023. "The Impact of Financial Development on Renewable Energy Consumption: A Multidimensional Analysis Based on Global Panel Data," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-20, February.
    19. Weiqing Li & Huaping Sun & Dang Khoa Tran & Farhad Taghizadeh-Hesary, 2020. "The Impact of Environmental Regulation on Technological Innovation of Resource-Based Industries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-15, August.
    20. Xie, Bofeng & Rehman, Mubeen Abdur & Zhang, Junyan & Yang, Runze, 2022. "Does the financialization of natural resources lead toward sustainability? An application of advance panel Granger non-causality," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).

    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:18:y:2021:i:22:p:11991-:d:679719. 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.