The Heterogeneous Relationship between Pollution Charges and Enterprise Green Technology Innovation, Based on the Data of Chinese Industrial Enterprises

Enterprises' green technology innovation is critical to achieving the win-win of enterprise competitiveness and environmental protection. The impact of environmental regulation on green technology innovation by enterprises has been widely considered, but the conclusion has not yet been determined, and needs to be studied in detail. To this end, we studied the impact of pollution charge policy on different types of green technology innovation by industrial enterprises in China. We found that (1) the impact of pollution charges on most types of green technology innovation by enterprises has increased significantly over time; (2) the pollution charge policy has a certain inhibition effect on the end-of-pipe technology innovation, but can promote the process improvement of reducing industrial wastewater emissions; (3) there is a U-shaped relationship between the pollution charges and some green technological innovation (e.g., emission intensity of SO2, industrial wastewater emission intensity, and industrial wastewater removal intensity), which is dynamically adjusted over time; and (4) the larger the enterprise's solid assets, the faster the asset depreciation will inhibit the enterprise from adopting the green process innovation strategy.

Automated summary

The study finds that the pollution charge policy has an impact on enterprise green technology innovation, promoting process improvement in reducing industrial wastewater emissions and inhibiting end-of-pipe technology innovation to some extent. It also observes a dynamically adjusted U-shaped relationship between pollution charges and certain green technological innovation. Additionally, the study reveals that larger enterprise solid assets result in a stronger inhibiting effect of asset depreciation on adopting the green process innovation strategy.