How Does the Carbon Emission Trading Policy Enhance Corporate Green Technology Innovation? Evidence from Advanced Manufacturing Enterprises

As global climate change progresses and the “dual carbon” strategy advances, market-based carbon emission trading systems are of great theoretical and practical importance for green technology innovation. In this paper, A-share listed advanced manufacturing enterprises in pilot regions from 2010 to 2023 are taken as samples, and a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) method is employed to probe into the mechanism by which this policy influences green technology innovation in China’s advanced manufacturing enterprises. Empirical analysis reveals that carbon emission trading exerts a remarkable promoting impact on green technology innovation in China’s advanced manufacturing enterprises. The study indicates that the policy’s influence on enterprises is indirect; specifically, government policies encourage enterprises to raise their R&D investment, thus facilitating green technology innovation to some degree. Moreover, carbon emission rights prices play a positive moderating role, which is vital for maintaining the policy’s incentive function in long-term green transition—within a reasonable range, carbon prices can enhance the policy’s promoting effect. In addition, enterprise-specific features like company size and asset-liability ratio have certain effects on enterprises’ green technology innovation behaviors. The research findings will offer a theoretical foundation and practical reference for optimizing China’s carbon market mechanism in advanced manufacturing and advancing the green transformation of China’s advanced manufacturing industry.